Staff Sgt. Justin Hill spent two tough tours in Iraq. The first deployment felt like a year serving in the Wild West. The insurgency was at a full boil when he returned two years later.

And as 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division prepares for its third Iraq tour, and the 26-year-old Fort Lewis soldier wants to find out if all the hard work, the time away from family and the buddies lost on the battlefield were worth it.

"Everything you do takes time, and I want to see all the hard work we put in pay off," said Hill, a platoon sergeant from Texas. "The Iraqis want to take over their own situation. That’s cool. That’s understandable. We’ve come this far, but we need to help them get all the way there."

The brigade of about 4,000 soldiers is heading back for its third Iraq tour and cased its colors during a departure ceremony Friday at Watkins Field. Hill, who has served with the same company since the first deployment, will serve as a platoon sergeant in Diyala province, an area in the country’s east where his brigade has history.

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Fort Lewis will bid farewell to 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at an on-post ceremony tomorrow morning.

The brigade of about 4,000 soldiers is preparing for its third deployment to Iraq. It served in 2003-04 in Samarra and Mosul. Its 2006-07 deployment saw it spread across the country, with missions in Mosul, Ninevah Province, Baghdad, Najaf and Baqubah.

We’ll be there tomorrow and should have a story up here at noontime.

A Catholic priest who was critically injured while deployed with his Fort Lewis unit died Saturday, more than five years after his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Iraq.

The Rev. Tim Vakoc becomes the first chaplain to die of wounds sustained during the war in Iraq. The former major from Minnesota – known to most as Father Tim – suffered brain damage and lost an eye from the May 30, 2004, attack. He had most recently lived at a nursing home in New Hope, Minn.

"He was a great man of God," said Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek, who served with Vakoc on the fateful deployment to northern Iraq. "He was universally known and universally loved by the soldiers."

According to an online journal that tracked Vakoc’s recovery, the 49-year-old died Saturday night while surrounded by friends and family. No further detail on the cause of the priest’s death was given, and family members couldn’t be reached Monday.

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Local troops in the news today:

3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division:
4th Brigade Combat Team welcomes new commander during ceremony at Fort Polk (Alexandria Town Talk)

14th Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade:
1st Cavalry's 4th Brigade Combat team honors FALLEN at memorial (Killeen Daily Herald)

Navy:
Band to salute Navy vet (The Olympian)

62nd Security Forces Squadron
On the Way to the Market (DVIDS)

Col. Bruce Antonia, the former commander of 3rd Stryker Brigade's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Division will take command of 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division at a ceremony this week in Fort Polk, La., the Leesville Daily Leader reported.

From the story:

Antonia’s previous duty assignments include commander of 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, where he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and battalion operations officer and executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

His many awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with V-device and one Oak Leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, and the Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak Leaf clusters. He has earned the Ranger Tab, the Senior Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Infantryman Badge.

He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

A $1.1 million simulator to train Fort Lewis soldiers on the Mobile Gun System is up and running at the Battle Command Training Center.

My Olympian colleague, Christian Hill, was there yesterday and filed this report. Check it out.

The Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, Ga., has an article about multiple changes-of-command at Fort Benning.

Among them is the man tapped to be the new deputy commander for 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division:

Lt. Col. Scott W. Halstead with assume command of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment from Lt. Col. Lance E. Davis. …

The 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment trains newly commissioned infantry second lieutenants through a 13-week Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course.

A 1987 graduate of Spencer High School, Halstead received a nomination to attend the United States Army Military Academy at West Point, NY. Upon his graduation from the academy, Halstead was commissioned into the U.S. Army as an infantry officer.

Davis has been reassigned to Fort Lewis, Wash., where he will serve as the deputy commander for the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Almost three years after Lt. Ehren Watada refused to deploy to Iraq and became a hero of the antiwar left, the Army dropped the most serious charges against him.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Army’s request to dismiss the case against the Honolulu native who made national headlines when declared the war illegal as his unit of 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, prepared to deploy.

The brigade has since completed a 15-month deployment to Iraq and is preparing to return again this summer. Watada’s case, meanwhile, has navigated the military and federal court system while he works as an operations officer with I Corps.

He faced up to six years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for missing movement and engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer. Watada said he didn't deploy because he felt his service in Iraq would make him a party to war crimes.

But his legal limbo isn’t yet over. Two charges of conduct unbecoming an officer – stemming from antiwar statements he made to the media – weren’t part of the legal dispute the Ninth Circuit ruled upon and could still be filed in the military court system.

Watada’s lawyer, James Lobsenz, told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that he expects Watada to be discharged soon. The lieutenant plans to return to civilian life and attend law school, Lobsenz said in a press release.

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Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, will visit Fort Lewis tomorrow to visit with soldiers and attend an after-action review for a Minnesota National Guard unit soon deploying to Iraq.

The 60-year-old general will preside over a promotion ceremony for several Fort Lewis noncommissioned officers, according to a post press release, and then award the Army Commendation Medal to a 3rd Stryker Brigade soldier who provided first aid to a 7-year-old girl injured in a car accident.

He also will meet with soldiers from the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, the Minnesota Guard unit that will soon oversee daily operations in southern Iraq. (For those steeped in the lingo, the division is taking over from the 10th Mountain Division as Multi-National Division-South.)

Casey has been chief of staff since April 2007; before that, he was the commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq.

(U.S. Army photo)

The University of Washington softball team will be at Fort Lewis on Saturday to learn about leadership and team-building from an infantry battalion preparing for its third deployment to Iraq.

The Huskies will be paired with the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment – a unit of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – to “conduct team-building exercises and to
establish esprit de corps,” according to a Fort Lewis release.

But an informal boot camp this is not: “Afternoon activities will involve timed team building events requiring good communication and more mental than physical exertion,” Fort Lewis says. So no worries about push-ups like the variety in the photo.

Photo: Pvt. Darrin Carroll, 21, does push-ups as Cpl. Paul Goodyear walks on his hands during physical training with the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment on Sept. 29, 2006. (Tony Overman/The Olympian)

UPDATE: I'm bumping this up because it's been a big talker, and I want to keep the conversation going.

A Stryker brigade could receive orders this month to deploy to Afghanistan, the Associated Press reports.

The story focuses on how the new Obama administration and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will handle increasing troop levels in Iraq. More Marines are expected to go, but the story makes it clear a Stryker brigade isn’t a certainty.

From the story: “Their challenge, however, is to get troops out into the hundreds of tiny villages in the volatile southern region, where the Taliban insurgency has been centered. To do that, Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has asked for more mobile forces and believes the Strykers will allow soldiers to move more easily along the rugged trails to the widely dispersed tribal enclaves.”

But, the story points out, "Army officials have concerns about how to free up the Stryker unit."

Two Fort Lewis Stryker brigades are scheduled to deploy to Iraq this year. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division will leave in early- to mid-summer. 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is expected to follow by summertime.

The use of Strykers in Afghanistan isn't totally new. The Canadians have used the LAV III, which has the same chassis as the Stryker, with success. And Fort Lewis' 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment have used them there -- but the typically mediaphobic unit won't discuss it.

We're interested in hearing your take. Have you served in Afghanistan and with a Stryker unit in Iraq? Are you one of the Rangers that have used the vehicle in Afghanistan? A Canadian soldier with experience in the LAV? Shoot me an e-mail.

Click below to read the full AP story.

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Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Winters received his orders last June to report to Fort Lewis. The Army gave him 30 days to move.

It was Winters’ 11th move in 18 years. He was accustomed to the routine. The biggest headaches may very well belong to his four children.

His son, Steven, had trouble getting into advanced-placement classes at Bethel High School despite a 3.75 grade-point average because a Texas school district lagged in sending official transcripts.

His 15-year-old daughter, Haley, also faced obstacles when her parents tried to enroll her in AP courses.

“When you only get 30 days’ notice to leave, the schools don’t react that quickly,” Winters told a meeting of the Senate Committee on Early Learning and K-12 Education in Olympia on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old is a top enlisted leader in the 296th Brigade Support Battalion, a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He shared his story with state senators, urging them to pass the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children.

The compact is a binding agreement among states that aims to address an array of disruptions military children face when they move, including graduation requirements, standardized testing, eligibility rules for sports and immunization regulations.

Entering the agreement would cost Washington $102,500 next fiscal year, according to a state estimate.

“Local school counselors don’t understand the problems military children face,” said Winters, whose son was on track to graduate early until graduation requirements in his new district intervened.

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