197th Fires Brigade Deployment 2010-2011

Conclusion Throughout this deployment, the 197th FIB played its part on the world stage, finding itself at an interesting place and time in history. The Iraqi troop drawdown was only in draft stage at the time of the 197th's first notification of deployment. Yet ultimately, the brigade was instrumental in helping prepare for the combat troop drawdown to be completed by the end of 2011.

The 197th was itself impacted by the overall troop drawdown throughout its entire deployment. Initially the Brigade was to deploy at 110% strength.

However, drawdown mandates required that the additional 10% be cut from the Deployment Manning Document (DMD) and the 197th had to reevaluate every subordinate mission assignment and re-allocate missions based on the new DMD in order to do more with less.

With the deadline of 31 December 2011 for all troops to be out of Iraq, the 197th FIB and its subordinate battalions set about the construction of a Retrograde Property Assistance Team (RPAT) yard designed to quickly process and redistribute vehicles and equipment brought in by units leaving the theater. The stations of the RPAT yard cover the spectrum from turning in ammunition and vehicle equipment to the final signing over of the hand receipt by the unit commander. From there, the drivers would be bussed back to their unit area, while the vehicles would receive maintenance and cleaning before being shipped home, or back out to a new location. Thus, the 197th had helped set the stage for the combat troop withdrawal from Iraq, and it departed just before the first troops and vehicles began rolling through in late August 2011.

Yet another impact of the drawdown was the July 2011 diversion of two incoming battalions from Afghanistan, where their brigade was headed, to Kuwait where they were assigned to the 197th FiB. The Brigade and their replacement Brigade collaborated together as the 197th again had to evaluate and reallocate missions in order to provide a "home" and mission for these two new battalions.

Another issue that has always been mentioned in the history of the New Hampshire Army National Guard is the animosity of the Regular Army towards the National Guard troops during deployments from WW I through Vietnam (yet the Guard troops always earning their respect in the end). It