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Secret deployment sends 10th Special Forces group back to Iraq
Associated Press
FORT CARSON, Colo. - The 10th Special Forces group, a unit that includes nearly 1,000 Colorado-based soldiers, has left for Iraq in a secret deployment that occurred during the last few weeks, Army officials have confirmed.
Army Special Operations Command, headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C., refused to specify exactly how many soldiers had deployed from Fort Carson. But The Gazette of Colorado Springs, citing unnamed sources, reported in Tuesday's editions that almost all of the troops from the 10th Group were gone.
"As a matter of policy we don't like to discuss the specifics of our unit's deployments," said Maj. Rob Gowan, confirming that soldiers had left Fort Carson. "The 10th Special Forces Group continues to contribute to the war on terror by supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom."
Officials also declined to say how long soldiers from the 10th would be deployed or where in Iraq the members of the unit had landed.
The 10th Group, with expertise in fighting guerrilla groups and training forces in other countries, could play a key role during the next few weeks as Iraq prepares to hold national elections Jan. 30 - but the soldiers' exact role during their tour of duty will likely remain secret until the unit returns home, The Gazette said.
Two Green Berets from the 10th Special Forces Group were killed in action during previous deployments to the country, which required soldiers to work in some of Iraq's most dangerous northern cities.
The secret deployment marked the most recent movement of troops from the Army base near Colorado Springs to locations overseas. Some 8,000 soldiers from Fort Carson will have departed for Iraq by March.
Approximately 1,800 members of the 43rd Area Support Group began deploying to Kuwait last month, and will continue to depart from Fort Carson for several more weeks. Meantime, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, with about 5,200 soldiers in the unit, is scheduled to begin deploying for Iraq as early as February for a tour of duty expected to last about a year.
Repeated deployments of the Green Berets to Iraq and Afghanistan, however, have been - and likely will continue to be - shrouded in secrecy.
But the Army, Gowan said, will try to assist the soldiers' family members who were left behind at the base as much as possible.
"Families are a priority with the Army Special Forces Command," Gowan said.
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