101st cases colors for transfer to Iraq

Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner took the colors with him when he boarded a plane for Kuwait on Friday night. They will be uncased in Iraq, symbolizing the departure of the division headquarters from Fort Campbell.

The soldiers have been preparing for the deployment since returning from Iraq in early 2004, Turner told the Kentucky New Era of Hopkinsville.

“Today’s soldier is the smartest, best trained, best led, most mentally and physically tough soldier our nation has ever produced,” Turner said.

The division is deploying with confidence, he said.

“When you know you’re going to deploy and you know you’re going for a year, there’s a much better chance of preparing folks here for that deployment,” Turner said.

About 19,000 soldiers from the division deployed to Iraq in 2003. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the division was assigned to the Mosul area of northern Iraq.

As Turner spoke, parts of the division were flying into Kuwait and Iraq. Soldiers of the Sustainment Brigade, 101st Aviation Brigade and 3rd Brigade Combat Team were on the ground in Kuwait and moving toward Iraq. The 1st, 2nd and 4th Brigades will be headed there throughout the fall.

The movement of the 101st and 159th Aviation Brigades and the division’s four combat brigades involves more than 20,000 troops.

The 101st has lost more than 60 soldiers since the beginning of combat operations in Iraq.

Soldiers said watching the color casing ceremony Friday morning made their deployment official.

“Soldiers follow the colors,” said Lt. Colonel Stephen Toumajan. “It’s been that way since the Civil War time. We are soldiers and we will follow the colors.”

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Information from: Kentucky New Era, http://www.kentuckynewera.com