War reshaping military landscape across Pacific

The Iraq war has altered the dynamic for military units across the Pacific over the past five years. Along the way, there have been no shortages of stress and sacrifice.

It’s carved out new roles for the Air Force and Navy, ushering in a brisk deployment tempo, and intense training sessions built specifically around prepping troops for duty on Iraq’s perilous streets and battlefields.

It has also left South Korea with fewer troops.

The biggest effect on the U.S. military presence there was the August 2004 deployment of 3,900 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division to Iraq, and the subsequent closing of some smaller installations that dotted the countryside near the demilitarized zone.

In October of that year, South Korean and U.S. officials announced the historic 2nd ID deployment was part of a bigger “phased” withdrawal of U.S. forces from the peninsula that would see troop strength drop from about 40,000 to 25,000 by 2008. Instead of returning after its tour, the 2nd Brigade headed to a new home at Fort Carson, Colo.

But it paid a heavy price, losing 68 soldiers and collecting hundreds of Purple Hearts during a yearlong stay in Ramadi in western Iraq.

Pentagon officials stressed then that the move didn’t weaken defensive capabilities on the Korean peninsula, and agreed to maintain a multiple-launch rocket system battalion and other counterfire assets per South Korean request.

On Okinawa, the III Marine Expeditionary Force is a key contributor to the Iraq war. Currently, almost 2,900 III MEF Marines and sailors are deployed for operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, according to Marine officials.

Since 2004, thousands of III MEF troops from the Okinawa-based 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and Marine Corps Base have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as individuals, in detachments and with their units.

In 2006 and 2007, two 3rd Marine Logistics Group battalions with some 1,400 Marines and sailors provided combat service support in Iraq. Right now, a 1st Marine Aircraft Wing squadron with more than 500 Marines is providing aviation logistics support in Iraq.

And each year, hundreds of III MEF and Marine Corps Bases Japan Marines deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan as individual augments to supplement joint commands and other Marine units.

On any given day, about 2,000 Pacific Air Forces troops are supporting Central Command’s mission, including tasks in Iraq. Up to 7,000 can be part of an Aerospace Expeditionary Force rotation.

Combat convoy missions were tacked on to the Air Force’s Vehicle Operations career field in February 2004. PACAF immediately provided airmen to support Army efforts in Iraq.

In recent years, the Army also has turned to the Navy and Air Force for help with security, civil engineering, infrastructure support and other critical roles in the war. In 2007, two Kadena Air Base squadrons, the 31st and the 33rd Rescue Squadrons, provided medical evacuation capabilities to other services in Afghanistan and Iraq. Defense contractors now routinely visit Pacific bases to teach airmen combat skills and convoy-ambush survival tactics.

Four-month rotations remain the standard for most Pacific airmen, but many are away for longer stretches.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were the first in which F-16CJ fighter jets were tasked to fly close-air support, providing cover, reconnaissance and munitions to coalition ground forces.

There are almost 1,400 Pacific Fleet sailors serving as individual augmentees in CENTCOM, with hundreds more at sea, the Navy said. The deployments range from six months to a year.

Navy leaders want to strike a better balance between war-on-terror requirements and improving stability for sailors and families at home, said Petty Officer 1st Class Shane Tuck, a Pacific Fleet spokesman. A new detailing process will be used for permanent-change-of-station transfers, rather than a “midtour, short-notice assignment,” he added.

Stars and Stripes reporters T.D. Flack, Jennifer H. Svan and Cindy Fisher contributed to this story.