Military Intelligence — Counting the months
For families of the 120 Marines who bused out of Frederick early Monday to deploy to Iraq in October, it's not yet time to plan a May return party.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/notebooks/display.htm?storyid=52636
Published on September 27, 2006
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOKS : ALISON WALKER-BAIRD
The Department of Defense's announcement this week of changes to two units' deployment dates means military servicemembers and their families are forced to take news of sped-up deployments and delayed returns in stride.
About 120 Marines in the Frederick-based reserve unit, Dam Support Unit 3, will deploy from North Carolina. Officials have said the tour is expected to last seven months, putting them back in the United States in May.
Lance Cpl. Brandon Keller of Frederick plans to attend his brother's wedding in late June, but when asked when he thought the unit will return, he said, "I expect to come home when they tell me it's time to get on the plane."
The parents of Lance Cpl. Frank Moran of Westminster, Cecilia and Frank Moran, said they expect their son to return from Iraq within seven to 10 months, but they recognize the possibility his tour could be extended at any time.
Monday, the Department of Defense said the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division, based in Friedberg, Germany, will remain in Ramadi, Iraq for an additional 46 days.
The unit was scheduled to return to Germany in mid-January but now won't come home until late February.
The Pentagon also said Monday a Fort Bliss, Texas-based brigade will deploy to Iraq 30 days earlier than its scheduled deployment of late October. The 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division will relieve the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Relieving the Alaska unit could mean its soldiers leave Iraq before Thanksgiving. In July, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had approved a request to extend the brigade's deployment through mid-December.
For a Lisbon family in Howard County, an extended deployment had disastrous consequences. U.S. Army Sgt. David Davis of Mount Airy died in Iraq on Sept. 17.
A member of the 172nd's 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regimen, Sgt. Davis was scheduled to return home from Mazul, Iraq, in late July. His unit was redirected to Baghdad at the last minute, his brother James Andrew Davis of Emmitsburg told the News-Post on Sept. 20.
Sgt. Davis, who will be buried Thursday, deployed to Iraq in August 2005.