Welcome to Stories from the 28th Division Archives. I am Dr. Walter Zapotoczny. While working as the 28th Division Command Historian, I discovered stories in the archives that were not in the history books. In this episode, we are going to take a look the 3rd Battalion, 103rd Armor’s deployment to Afghanistan.

In October of 2007, the Division turned its attention to Afghanistan as the 3rd Battalion, 103rd Armor Soldiers received telephone calls alerting them of a possible deployment. Over several weeks soldiers learned that if the deployment occurred it would be to the Afghanistan Theater of Operations in support of Operations Enduring Freedom.

On December 6, 2007 the battalion began to moved by bus to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After completing their training at Fort Bragg, the unit, now known as Task Force Pacesetter, began moving to Afghanistan on February 29, 2008. They occupied Forward Operating Base Lam and Command Outpost Najil. Task organized into four infantry companies and a headquarters company; the Battalion was tasked to support each of eleven Provincial Reconstruction Teams with a 42 man Security Force. The Battalion was also tasked with the management of a 3,408 square kilometer space in Lag-a-man Province. Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion conducted missions as mounted and dismounted Infantry and conducted air assault operations while in theater.

Task Force Pacesetter coordinated all coalition force actions in Lag-a-man Province, totaling over 500 soldiers, to include: a platoon from the 1st Battalion, 527th Military Police; Company G, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery; United States Marine Embedded Training Team; Police Mentor Team; Task Force Paladin Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team; and a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha. In total, these forces conducted over 2,000 combat missions throughout the area of operations. The 3rd Battalion elements conducted over 700 of these combat missions. Task Force Pacesetter also made vast improvements to the security of Lag-a-man Province through development of Afghan National Security Forces, construction of force protection projects, and decisive information operations.

Soldier, Non-commissioned Officers and Officers of the Unit rose to the challenges while conducting joint and combined combat contingency operations with multiple services, contractors, and Afghans. They added to the historical legacy of the 3rd Battalion, 103rd Armor Armored Regiment and the 28th Infantry Division.

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So, until next time, Roll On.