Colonel James Huggins would not give an exact timetable for thedeployment of 82nd Airborne Division troops. He says the deploymentwould begin later this month and continue through midsummer.
Huggins says between 600 and 800 soldiers from the ThirdBattalon of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment will be the firstto leave.
The troops will relieve the 101st Airborne Division, based atFort Campbell, Kentucky. Huggins would not specify the soldiers' duties other than to saythey would do combat patrols, as members of the 101st AirborneDivision have done.
Tuesday morning, members of COSCOM, the
1st Corp Support Command
, were busy loading equipment for transport to nearby Pope Air Force Base to be loaded onto C-130s.
An advance party will be deployed Wednesday night. COSCOM soldiers are responsible for providing the ammunition, equipment and other supplies troops need in war.
While the soldiers do not usually fight on the front lines of battle, their mission is just as important.
"We're fixing their equipment, ensuring that their weapons are fully functional. They really can't perform their mission if we don't perform ours," said COSCOM Capt. Veronica Pierce.
Pierce returned from a tour in Uzbekistan on April 28.She was the commander over Spec. Jason Disney, a COSCOM soldier who died in a loading accident last year.
"It hit us really hard. It brought home the realization that we're in war and soldiers die," Pierce said.
COSCOM soldiers have been deloyed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since November 2001.
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