Army's III Corps to Deploy as Command Element for ISIS Fight

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Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland (right), III Corps and Fort Hood commanding general cases the unit colors during a ceremony outside the corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas, Aug. 31, 2015. The ceremony marked III Corps' deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. (U.S. Army/Todd Pruden, Fort Hood Public Affairs)
Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland (right), III Corps and Fort Hood commanding general cases the unit colors during a ceremony outside the corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas, Aug. 31, 2015. The ceremony marked III Corps' deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. (U.S. Army/Todd Pruden, Fort Hood Public Affairs)

The Army has announced it will deploy the service's III Corps Headquarters to Iraq this fall to lead operations against Islamic State militants.

As a regularly-scheduled rotation, the Fort Hood, Texas-based headquarters unit will replace XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters as the command element of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, according to an Army news release.

"The III Corps has a distinguished history of combat success, and our soldiers have trained several months for this important mission," Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Hendrex, the III Corps command sergeant major, said in the release. "Our headquarters is ready, again, to lead operations against Daesh with our coalition nations and partner organizations to create enduring security in the region."

Daesh is often used to refer to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

III Corps soldiers previously made up the headquarters element for CJTF-OIR from August 2017-Sept. 2018.

In April, the Army announced it will deploy the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, this summer to replace the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team in support of OIR in Iraq, according to another news release.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

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