FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters on Wednesday that he thinks his unit will bring “fresh eyes” to the fight against the Islamic State when they deploy to the Middle East next month.
“We expect to bring some new ideas” Townsend said. “That’s true of any changeover. Even if it was exactly the same kind of unit, there would be some new perspectives and some new ideas.”
Townsend is the commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps and will take over as the leader of the Islamic State fight when his troops deploy in just a few weeks. His troops will replace members of III Corps, which is lead by Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland.
Some of the troops have already begun the trip to Kuwait, but Townsend said all 450 soldiers will be in place by mid-August. His unit will bring over its own equipment if it is unique or more up-to-date than what is already there, but Townsend said the soldiers will make use of whatever equipment they can that III Corps will leave behind.
The deployment is expected to last a year, according to a fact sheet.
Townsend spoke with traveling press on the flight line of Pope Army Air Field after a day of meetings with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who addressed members of the XVIII Airborne Division who are about to deploy.
“We now have momentum in this fight and clear results on the ground,” Carter said during the troop event. “The president, the country and the world are counting on you to take the next steps, and execute our next plays, so we can help our partners collapse ISIL’s control over Mosul and Raqqa.”
Carter’s meetings also included an afternoon at the Joint Special Operations Command on Fort Bragg, where the secretary spoke with special operators who recently returned from duty in Iraq and Syria, according to a senior defense official.
