WASHINGTON (AFP) — Seven army national guard brigades with 18,000 troops were alerted Friday to prepare for deployment to Iraq as replacement forces beginning next August, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Two of the brigades will replace army active duty combat brigades now in Iraq, said spokesman Bryan Whitman.
He said four other brigades will replace about 160 smaller units that currently protect bases and roads and perform other security missions. The seventh brigade will run prisons and detainee operations, he said.
"All of these are replacement forces," Whitman said.
Current plans call for drawing down the number of combat brigades in Iraq from 20 to 15 by July. The number of troops in a brigade ranges between 2,500 and 3,000 soldiers.
With the changeout, the number of brigades occupying "battlespace" will remain at 15 even though the overall number will go up because the security mission is being assigned brigade formations rather than disparate smaller units.
The 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the North Carolina National Guard and the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 28th Infantry division of the Pennsylvania National Guard will replace active duty combat brigades.
Brigades from the Texas National Guard, the Hawaii National Guard, the Washington National Guard and the Oklahoma National Guard will be used as security brigades, it said.
A enhanced brigade from the New Jersey National Guard will conduct detention operations, the Pentagon said.
Whitman also announced that the 33rd Brigade Combat Team of the Illinois National Guard has been alerted to prepare for deployment to Afghanistan in the summer of 2008.
It will be used to train the Afghan National Army, he said.
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