More than 300 Soldiers with the 1st Infantry Division
headquarters are set to return this month from a nine-month deployment to
Iraq and Kuwait. The first welcome-home ceremony is scheduled for 4 a.m.
July 7 on Fort Riley’s Camp Funston.
The “Big Red One” headquarters deployed in October 2016 and assumed the role
of Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent
Resolve. In that role, the division headquarters provided command and
control of Coalition troops training, advising and assisting Iraqi Security
Forces.
While deployed, Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley
commanding general, served as commanding general of CJFLCC. During that
time, 1.8 million people were liberated in Mosul, Iraq, which has been under
ISIS control since June 2014. Since October 2016, more than 350,000 children
have returned to school in Mosul, 320 schools have reopened and 195,000
internally displaced persons have returned to their homes in Mosul.
Under the 1st Inf. Div.’s leadership, 30,000 Iraqi Security Forces Soldiers
were trained and almost 5,000 square kilometers of ground was liberated in
Mosul.
All members of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Inf. Div., are
expected to return by the end of July.