The Department of Defense announced today the deployment of approximately 3,100 additional forces to Afghanistan, part of the 30,000 troops authorized by President Obama on Nov. 30. The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, will deploy approximately 2,600 soldiers to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010.

The DoD will continue to announce major unit deployments.

The Department of Defense announced today the alert for mobilization of a replacement unit scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Approximately 2,600 soldiers from the 29^th Combat Aviation Brigade, headquartered at Edgewood, Md., will begin deploying in the summer of 2011.

This rotation announcement reflects the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people.

U.S. and International Security Forces conducted multiple operations against the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan Monday.

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Approximately 16,000 troops are headed soon to Afghanistan, the first of the some 30,000 authorized by President Barack Obama last week.

President Obama meets with the U.S. commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal and the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry at the White House.

The Department of Defense today announced the deployment of approximately 16,000 additional forces to Afghanistan, the initial elements of the 30,000 troops authorized by President Obama on Nov. 30. An infantry battalion task force, with approximately 1,500 Marines, from Camp Lejeune, N.C., will deploy later this month. Regimental Combat Team-2, headquartered at Camp Lejuene, N.C., will deploy approximately 6,200 Marines in early spring 2010. A Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) headquarters from I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif., will deploy approximately 800 Marines in spring 2010.

Officials with the European Union Naval Forces are confirming Somali pirates have hijacked a tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States.

Military leaders believe that Afghanistan’s Logar Province, which is south of Kabul, is a critical region in the country.

The 57th annual Christmas parade outside of Boston, Massachusetts had a military theme this year as the town of Quincy said goodbye to troops heading overseas.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced plans to add up to 22,000 soldiers to the U.S. Army’s ranks.

The plus-up of active duty troops will take the Army from 547,000 to 569,000 forces in what Gates characterized as a temporary increase of the Army’s “end strength” for three fiscal years.

“This is an important and necessary step to ensure that we continue to properly support the needs of our commanders in the field while providing relief for our current force and their families,” the secretary told reporters during a Pentagon news conference.

Gates pointed to escalating violence in Afghanistan and an added U.S. presence there, political turmoil in Pakistan and elimination of the so-called “stop-loss” policy of involuntarily extending a soldier’s length of service as reasons behind the decision.

“The cumulative effect of these factors is that the Army faces a period where its ability to continue to deploy combat units at acceptable ‘fill rates’ is at risk,” he said. “Based on current deployment estimates, this is a temporary challenge which will peak in the coming year and abate over the course of the next three years.”

Some 130,000 American forces are in Iraq and 58,000 are in Afghanistan, where an influx of deploying troops will bring the number to 68,000 by the end of this year, defense officials said.

“These additional forces will be used to ensure that our deploying units are properly manned, and not to create new combat formations,” the defense secretary said, adding that the decision was made after consulting with the Army’s top military and civilian leadership and with the backing of President Barack Obama.

Gates, who has described the defense budget as “zero sum,” said the cost of the Army increase would be absorbed in funding already allocated in the budget for the next two fiscal years.

“We will take that money from someplace that isn’t as high a priority as [adding] more soldiers and taking some additional steps to relieve the stress on the force,” he said. “This is a very high priority.”

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared alongside Gates today, and also weighed in on the decision.

“I’ve grown increasingly concerned over the last year and a half about stress on the force and our ability to meet the demands out there,” he said. “This temporary increase helps us address that concern. It will also help us get a better handle on [time at home between deployments] and boost the number of people we can deploy with the capabilities our commanders most need.”

Source: Department of Defense