BAGHDAD - Special Troops Battalion, III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas, cased its colors Feb. 4 as it passed headquarters command and control duties for United States Forces - Iraq, to Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Task Force Phantom has been the headquarters support element for USF-I since March 2010, straddling Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, and as such, has provided essential supplies and services, maintained force protection, conducted personnel and property accountability and completed all required training in support of the headquarters.
TF Phantom troopers have played “a significant role in supporting the USF-I headquarters every single day and continue to make positive contributions to the ongoing success we have seen thus far in Operation New Dawn,” said Lt. Col. Robert L. Menti, commander, TF Phantom. “Their personal commitment and those of their families to serving the nation are second to none.”
During its tenure, TF Phantom has provided support for more than 6,600 service members and contractors - caring for their medical, logistical and security needs. That responsibility now falls to Task Force Dragon.
“Many people say a deployment rotation is a marathon, we prefer to view it as a relay race,” said Menti. “In a relay, the most important part of the race is a smooth hand-off…that it exactly what Task Force Phantom and Task Force Dragon have accomplished.”
TF Dragon now “has the responsibility to support USF-I in its efforts to close all operations within Iraq,” said Maj. Michael A. Douglas, acting task force commander, and “we will do so with dignity, success and honor.”
The HHB, XVIII Abn. Corps is expected to be the last battalion to support USF-I.