10th Mountain back in Afghanistan

Armored Security Vehicles move into Forward Operating Base Shank as part of a convoy that carried Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Bagram Air Field to the FOB on 24 January 09. Soldiers of the brigade will continue to move into their respective FOBs until early February. Photo and story by Sgt. Amber Robinson, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs.

10th Mountain Division Troops Move Into Logar, Wardak Provinces

Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division have left their home station at Fort Drum, N.Y., and are now moving into position for operations in Regional Command-East, Afghanistan.

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division have left their home station at Fort Drum, N.Y., and are now moving into position for operations in Regional Command - East, Afghanistan.

Task Force Spartan will serve under Combined Joint Task Force - 101 as a unit in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and be responsible for the provinces of Wardak and Logar in RC East. The area has been sparsely occupied most recently by units from the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

The brigade is the first element of its size to deploy exclusively into these two provinces, increasing the U.S. presence there by thousands. All forward operating bases throughout these provinces will be reinforced to accommodate the influx of troops.

Soldiers began to fly out of Fort Drum as early as mid-November. Task Force Spartan, originally slated to deploy to Iraq, was officially re-routed to Afghanistan in early September. The brigade is the first substantial illustration of the new military focus in Afghanistan.

The brigade’s mission has been called expeditionary, given how undeveloped their new area of operations is by U.S. military forces.

Good luck, men.