BASRA, Iraq - Historic is a word that has been used often to describe the 34th Infantry Division Red Bulls' deployment to Iraq.
The deployment is historic in its scope. The Red Bull's are the first National Guard Division Headquarters commissioned to command a Multi-National Division in operations that are seen by many as unconventional at the very least.
The deployment is also historic in its timing. The stated goal of the current administration is to begin drawing down all combat troops in Iraq during the deployment of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division.
Finally, the deployment is historic in its mission. The Red Bulls are commanding a division that is not engaged in conventional kinetic operations of war, but rather in transitioning power from Coalition forces to the Iraqi Security Forces.
Though this deployment of the 34th Infantry Division is historic in many ways, the turnover of command from the outgoing division to the incoming one is actually reminiscent.
This is the second time in a century the hand-off of battle has occurred between the 10th Mountain Division and the 34th Infantry Division.
In the fall of 1943 the 34th Infantry was pushing north in Italy, capturing the four peaks of Mount Patano, fighting through the Mignano Gap to take Mount Trocchio and pushing the Germans back in the First Battle of Monte Cassino.
But in their operations, the Red Bulls suffered about 80 percent losses in their infantry battalions. They were in desperate need of relief.
Relief came from the allied forces, but mainly from the Active Duty American Army. Among the divisions that took over for the 34th ID in Italy was the 10th Mountain Division.
The 10th Mountain Division was first composed as a unit that trained skiers and climbers for battles in exactly the type of difficult, mountainous terrain the 34th had be hunkered down in during their entire campaign through Italy.
Some Soldiers in the 10th weren't familiar with skis when they joined, but all were qualified to fight on mountainous terrains by the time they were deployed in 1944.
The 10th Mountain's training and proficiency in the terrain, along with the ground gained by the 34th, contributed greatly to the victory of allied forces in Europe.
Sixty-five years later, the 10th Mountain Division is reciprocating that battle hand-off from the 34th in Italy by handing over command to the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division in MND-S.
The mission is different. The equipment and capabilities are different.
But the ultimate goals of these two divisions through this battle hand-off are the same, to preserve peace throughout the world and to protect freedom.
Editor's note: The New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry division commanded Task Force Liberty in North Central Iraq in 2004-2005, providing command and control for the combat and stability operations of the task force.