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America’s First Team set to deploy
By Sgt. Colby Hauser
June 22, 2006


FORT HOOD, Texas (Army News Service, June 22, 2006) – News that the Department of Defense announced the deployment of the 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters element and the 2nd and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams to Iraq spread like wildfire throughout the division this week.



Since their return from a yearlong deployment in March 2005, the Soldiers have contributed to humanitarian missions in New Orleans and hurricane relief efforts in Pakistan. The division also transformed to the Army’s new modularity concept, through which individual headquarters and combat brigades can receive orders to deploy.

“The First Team has been preparing for this announcement and is ready to answer our nation’s call,” said Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil, Jr., 1st Cavalry Division commanding general. “They are the best trained, the best equipped, and they are supported by the best people, their loved ones and the good people of Central Texas.”

Experience replaces concerns and worries for many of the Soldiers, who have already deployed to Iraq once.

“I was worried the first time I deployed,” said Spc. Courtney Yeargin, a signals intelligence analyst with Headquarters Company, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. “I’m more comfortable with it the second time around because I know what to expect, and I guess that makes it not as stressful.”

For others, the deployment offers the opportunity to serve their country in its time of need.

“I was fully aware before I joined the Army there was a possibility of being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan,” said Spc. Micheal Townsend, a human intelligence specialist with Headquarters Company, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. “I joined during a time of war and I understood that. I came in to do something not many Americans get a chance to do.

“My family members have served and told their stories, and I feel like it’s my turn,” he said.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team, also located at Fort Hood, and the 4th Brigade Combat Team, from Fort Bliss, Texas, were not included in the announcement.

“The 1st and 4th Brigades will continue to train and prepare themselves to deploy should they be ordered to do so,” Fil said.

The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Support Brigade received orders to deploy last November and are also scheduled to depart for Iraq later this year.

“I am really excited because that’s what being in the Army is about, being deployed and serving your country,” Yeargin said.

(Editor’s note: Sgt. Colby Hauser writes for the 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs Office.)