![\"last](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/last-convoy-out-of-Iraq.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nThe other day we reported that the Army was sending a division headquarters to Iraq in order to manage activities there. Today, Chief tango sends us a link to the news that it’s 1st Infantry Division’s soldiers who are deploying from Fort Riley, Kansas according to The Army Times<\/a>;<\/p>\n About 500 soldiers will deploy in late October to the Central Command area of operations, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Thursday in a briefing with reporters.<\/p>\n About 200 of those soldiers will be in Iraq as part of the 475-troop increase announced Sept. 10 by President Obama, Kirby said.<\/p>\n Of that group, 138 will be in the Baghdad joint operations center, 68 in Irbil, and 10 at the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will have command and control of ongoing advise and assist efforts in support of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, and continue to help us all degrade and destroy [the Islamic State],\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n The remaining 300 soldiers from 1st Infantry Division headquarters will be based in the CENTCOM AOR; Kirby would not specify where they will be stationed. These soldiers will support the rest of the headquarters element, \u201cbut right now there\u2019s no plan to put them inside Iraq,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I’ve pretty much lost count – I think that will make almost two thousand “boots on the ground” – well, four thousand if we’re counting actual boots. It seems to be getting away from us, or getting away from someone. My brigade was attached to The Big Red One for Desert Storm, so my best wishes go with them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"