About 4,000 Fort Stewart soldiers serving in Iraq are expected to wrap up their deployment a month early, meaning most of them should be home in time for the Christmas holidays, the Army said.

Maj. Jesse Goldman, a spokesman for Fort Stewart’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, said Wednesday the Army is letting the brigade come home sooner because replacement U.S. forces will have already arrived in advance of January elections in Iraq.
The troops make up the last of the 3rd Infantry Division’s four brigades remaining in Iraq. The rest returned between March and June from the division’s third tour since the war began in 2003.
The 4th Brigade was initially scheduled to deploy for 15 months and return in January.
Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, commander of the 3rd Infantry, said troops should begin arriving before Dec. 18, when the 4th Brigade is scheduled to hand over authority in Iraq to its replacements.
“This is, of course, if there is no change to the situation on the ground in Iraq,” Cucolo said in a statement. “But commanders in Iraq will try to bring all of them home before the holidays.”
(Source: ajc.com)