CAMP NEW YORK, Kuwait—The 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, will move out of Baghdad and into Kuwait, U.S. Army officials said Thursday.
While the Fort Benning, Ga.-based brigade has been ordered south, Army officials made it clear that it hasn't yet received orders to return home.
"This is a repositioning of troops. We have not received orders to redeploy home," said Lt. Col. Geoff Ward, the brigade's executive officer, part of an advance party that arrived in Kuwait three weeks ago. "There's a sense we'll be here until the situation in Baghdad gets a little clearer."
Earlier this week, the brigade began transferring some of its vehicles, including M1A1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Humvees, to its sister brigades. The division's 1st and 2nd brigades, both based in Fort Stewart, Ga., have been ordered to remain in Iraq indefinitely.
Citing security concerns, the 3rd Brigade declined to publicly disclose when its 4,000 troops will arrive at Camp New York, one of a number of Army "cabals" in the Kuwaiti desert.
The 2nd Brigade, which has been in the Persian Gulf for nine months, was redeployed this week to Fallujah, a Baath Party stronghold west of Baghdad that has been the scene of unrest since the war ended. The 1st Brigade, which arrived in Kuwait in January, will remain in Baghdad and assist the 1st Armored Division, which assumed control of the city last month.
Most 3rd Brigade soldiers have spent 12 of the past 15 months in Kuwait and Iraq. They are scheduled for a one-month rotation at the National Training Center in Southern California's Mojave Desert in November.
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(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Iraq