1st ID commander previews changes at Fort Riley

Eds: UDPATES following Brooks' news conference with comments from battalion commander in Iraq; ADDS background on Fort Riley growth; ADDS byline.

By JOHN MILBURN

Associated Press Writer

FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) -- Residents around Fort Riley can expect a busy time in the coming months as some soldiers return from Iraq, others head to combat and a key military mission winds down, the commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division said Friday.

Troops have already begun moving in and out and activity is expected to pick up in the next two or three months, Maj. Gen. Vincent Brooks said in his first news conference since taking over the division with about 15,000 soldiers assigned to the Kansas post.

The general, however, may not be around to see that activity unfold. He and 800 soldiers from the division's headquarters will deploy near the end of 2009 for a year to southeast Iraq near the border with Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. There, the soldiers will advise and help Iraqi forces and civilian governments in five provinces.

"The days of leading operations or conducting unilateral operations, those days are gone," Brooks said. "What we hope to see throughout all of Iraq is a shift from military security forces to civil security and that's clearly an indication of stability."

The Army plans add about 18,000 soldiers at Fort Riley by 2013 as portions of the 1st Infantry Division return from Germany after 10 years. When the move is complete, three of the division's four combat brigades will be based in Kansas, along with its combat aviation brigade and a sustainment brigade that provides support to units.

About 70 percent of the troops have already arrived, but communities around the post can expect another increase in demand for housing and services in the coming months, Brooks said.

The division's 1st Brigade is adding 2,000 soldiers as it rebuilds to a heavy combat brigade, he said. It had been training adviser teams heading to Iraq and Afghanistan, but that work will move to Fort Polk, La.

"That's a hugely important mission," Brooks said. "It's easy to lose sight of that because they aren't the one's at the tip of the spear, but many of them have been."

Also Friday, Lt. Col. Jim Bradford gave reporters an update on his battalion's mission in Iraq near Abu Ghraib. The 800-soldier unit is working with an Iraqi army unit to provide security to some 200,000 residents in an area Bradford described as mainly rural.

The Iraqis are looking forward to Tuesday's transition, when U.S. forces will move out of the cities and hand more authority to Iraqi forces, Bradford said during a video conference from Iraq.

"I think they are ready to take that step," he said.

But while Iraqis hear about the transition daily the media, they, like most Kansans, are concerned at this time of year about getting their crops out of the fields and their children to school, he said.

On any given day, there are 50,000 to 60,000 people at Fort Riley, including soldiers, their families, civilian employees and construction workers. The fort's economic impact was last estimated at $1.6 billion, Brooks said, adding that he expects the figure to grow substantially with the next wave of soldiers.

Brooks said he also wanted to encourage soldiers to bring their families to Kansas, even if they might be deploying. He said the area supports families well, but more importantly families can lean on each other or find out information about their deployed soldiers more easily when they live closer to the post.

"The word about Fort Riley isn't out enough yet," Brooks said.

Post officials will speak with builders and property managers about housing needs, especially for affordable homes, in the coming months, he said. Demand has been met thus far because of the frequency of deployments, but that could change.

"We may see a decrease or even a shortening of deployment tours, which will cause us to rise to the full strength of Fort Riley," Brooks said. "There may come a time where everybody's home."

------

On the Net:

1st Infantry: http://www.1id.army.mil