US: 25,000 Troops to be Deployed to Iraq

The Pentagon says about 25,000 U.S. soldiers will be deployed to Iraq beginning in the fall, replacing troops scheduled to come home by the end of the year.

Among the seven Army combat brigades and one division headquarters unit that would be sent to Iraq this year is the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, from Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

The deployments announced Monday would maintain a level of 15 brigades in Iraq, or roughly 140,000 troops — the number that military leaders expect will remain on the warfront at the end of July, once the planned withdrawals are finished.

Under a new Pentagon policy effective in August, those Army units will serve for 12 months, rather than the 15-month tours that units in Iraq now are serving.

Source: USA Today.

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