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10th Mountain Division HQ is Afghanistan-bound

The 10th Mountain Division headquarters will deploy to Afghanistan this fall, officials confirmed Wednesday.

The division headquarters most recently deployed to Iraq in 2008, where it was the headquarters for Multi-National Division-South, returning home to Fort Drum, N.Y., in May 2009.

It also has been deployed to Afghanistan, in 2001, 2003 and 2006.

It’s still unknown where the division headquarters will be assigned once it is deployed to Afghanistan, but it will join one of its brigade combat teams — 1st BCT — on the ground. The division’s 1st BCT was the first major Army unit to receive deployment orders as part of President Obama’s 30,000-troop build-up in Afghanistan. One of the brigade’s battalions deployed in January, and the rest of the brigade is scheduled to be in country in March.

The deployment of the 10th Mountain headquarters follows Tuesday’s announcement that about 3,200 soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, of Fort Campbell, Ky., will deploy to Afghanistan late this summer as part of the buildup there.

That announcement means that by late summer, almost the entire 101st Airborne Division — headquarters, four brigade combat teams and a combat aviation brigade — will be serving in Afghanistan.

The 4th BCT returned from its most recent deployment, also to Afghanistan, in March 2009.

In addition to 4th BCT, 101st Airborne, officials also announced Tuesday that about 900 soldiers from several units will deploy to Afghanistan throughout the summer.

This most recent announcement brings the number of troops who have received orders to deploy as part of the buildup to about 29,200.

They include 1st BCT, 10th Mountain Division; 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Division, of Fort Campbell; 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, of Fort Hood, Texas; at least 6,700 support forces; and 8,500 Marines.

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