JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — A Joint Base Lewis-McChord unit heading to Afghanistan this summer for a year-long deployment will play a crucial role in beginning to draw down U.S. Forces.
The Defense Department is sending the I (First) Corps Headquarters to serve as the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command Headquarters in Kabul, in charge of day-to-day operations.
The unit has 700 soldiers and is led by Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti. The News Tribune reports he’ll be expected to manage the withdrawal President Obama has set to begin in July. The unit returned last year from Iraq.
Other Washington-based military personnel heading for Afghanistan include the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and airmen with the 62nd Airlift Wing and 446th Reserve Airlift Wing. More than 80 Washington National Guard members are in Afghanistan now.
