The Department of Defense announced today the first of the major units scheduled to deploy as part of the next Operation Iraqi Freedom rotation. This announcement involves one Army division headquarters and five Army combat brigades consisting of approximately 20,000 service members. The scheduled rotation for the forces identified in this announcement will begin in early 2007.

Force levels in Iraq continue to be conditions-based, and are determined based on the recommendations of military commanders in Iraq and in consultation with the Iraqi government. U.S. force rotations will be tailored based upon changes in the security situation. Iraqi security forces continue to develop capability and assume responsibility for security in Iraq.

This rotation continues the U.S. commitment to the stability and security of Iraq, yet is flexible and adaptable in order to meet the evolving requirements for the mission.

For Operation Iraqi Freedom, the major units announced today are:

3rd Infantry Division Headquarters, Fort Stewart, Ga.

4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Ks.

4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wa.

3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.

1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C

173rd Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy

The department also alerted approximately 27,000 active duty and 10,000 reserve component troops in combat support and combat service support units smaller than brigade-size elements for deployment beginning in 2007.

DoD will continue to announce major unit deployments as they are identified and those units are alerted. The individual services will announce the smaller, supporting units for this rotation. For information on the units announced today or other units involved in this rotation, please contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.