The following correction to this story was posted April 3: "An April 2 story about shifting the 100th Brigade Support Battalion directly from Iraq to Afghanistan should have said the unit worked mainly from Balad, Iraq, with a small detachment in Kirkush."
An Army unit in Iraq has been shifted directly to Afghanistan, marking what defense officials said was the first time such a move has been made between the two war zones.
The 100th Brigade Support Battalion had been serving in Iraq since December, but was “repositioned” to southern Afghanistan at the end of March, officials said.
The shift comes amid a larger change in the focus of U.S. military efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan. Last week, President Barack Obama announced a revamped war strategy, part of which involves sending at least 4,000 additional military trainers to Afghanistan.
Obama also had previously announced that 17,000 more U.S. troops would be added in Afghanistan this year. The new strategy also beefs up the number of civilian specialists in the country, along with putting increased emphasis on Pakistan and the tribal areas surrounding the border.
Several other U.S. military units have had their orders changed from Iraq to Afghanistan before they left their home bases, officials said. But the 100th BSB got word in Iraq. The unit was headquartered at Balad, but a small number of its troops had been training Iraqis in Kirkush.
The 100th BSB is an active-duty unit from Fort Sill, Okla. Officials said the move would also be the first time that a logistics unit has shifted from one combat zone to another while not attached to a larger combat group.
“Historically, this is a big deal for this organization. It’s a new chapter and a fast moving chapter for this battalion,” Lt. Col. Brent D. Bush, the battalion commander, was quoted as saying in a news release.
The move was attributed to “increased capabilities of Iraqi security forces,” though the Iraqis’ logistical abilities have lagged behind other aspects of their growth.
Command Sgt. Maj. Bryant D. Williams of the 100th BSB said the unit had trained for the move to Afghanistan, preparing soldiers for a different operating environment.
“Altitude is going to place some challenges on our soldiers,” he said in the news release.
Military officials said the unit’s 12-month tour length was not expected to change because of the shift to Afghanistan.
