Fort Hood: III Corps HQ to return to Iraq for third time

Fort Hood’s III Corps Headquarters is headed back to Iraq this fall for a third time as part of a regular force rotation, replacing XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters, as the headquarters of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the Department of the Army announced Friday.

The joint task force is comprised of 74 nations and five international organizations that form the global coalition opposing ISIS in the region.

“Our headquarters is ready, again, to lead operations against Daesh (ISIS) with our coalition nations and partner organizations to create enduring security in the region,” III Crops Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Hendrex said.

The deployment, involving several hundred soldiers, could last for as long as a year.

III Corps Headquarters previously deployed to Iraq from September 2015 to August 2016 and from September 2017 to September 2018.

The announcement Friday comes just days before Maj. Gen. Pat White takes over leadership of III Corps and Fort Hood next week from Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, who will become commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

White most recently served as director of operations, United States European Command.

White and his wife, Emma, moved to Fort Hood from Stuttgart, Germany, this month.

Over the course of his three-decade career, White has deployed to Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve.