Oregon Public Broadcasting

Beginning next spring, soldiers from Fort Lewis, Washington will take control of day-to-day military operations in Iraq. The Department of Defense made that announcement Tuesday.

In addition, two more Fort Lewis Stryker Brigades will also deploy. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Until now troops from Fort Lewis have played an important role in fighting the war in Iraq. Come next year, they’ll be running the war.

Fort Lewis commander Charles Jacoby has been tapped to take his 900 member headquarters staff to Baghdad. There he says his soldiers will assume responsibility for the ground fight.

Jacoby will answer directly to General Raymond Odierno – the top commander in Iraq.

Charles Jacoby: “We’ll be planning, we’ll be issuing orders to subordinate divisions in the field, we’ll be conducting intelligence analysis and operations and we’ll be providing logistics to the forward deployed forces and we’ll be bringing forces into and out of theater.”

In addition to the headquarters staff, the 3rd and 5th Stryker Brigades from Fort Lewis will deploy next year. By next summer roughly 10,000 Fort Lewis Army soldiers could be on the ground in Iraq – some for their third tour of duty.