the 173d Airborne Brigade was reactivated on 12 June 2000 at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy. The 172d light infantry was assigned the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry, an airborne infantry battalion, one of only three existing outside of the 82nd Airborne Division. (The other two battalions were part of the 173d Airborne Brigade based in Italy.) The 172d Infantry Brigade was designed as a "Pacific theater contingency brigade." Located in Alaska, the 172d would be able to deploy to any contingencies in Alaska, Europe (over the north pole) or the Pacific. In July 2001 the US Army announced that the 172d Infantry Brigade was to become one of the Army's new Interim Brigade Combat Teams, later to be known as Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs). Changes to the brigade included the addition of some 300 Stryker vehicles, and several Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The transformation was intended to increase the brigade's mobility in operations as well as reduce its logistical footprint. The project entailed around $1.2 billion in construction costs for training facilities, motor pools, and other buildings. This transformation was completed when the unit was formally redesignated on 16 October 2003. After the transformation was complete, the 172d became the third Stryker brigade in the US Army, with a force of 3,500 soldiers. In 2005, the new Brigade Commander, Colonel Mike Shields, changed the motto of the infantry brigade from "Snow Hawks" to "Arctic Wolves". In early 2005, the brigade was alerted that it would be deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom for the first time. To prepare, it participated in several large exercises at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The 220th Military Police Brigade, a reserve unit, provided additional soldiers to assist the brigade in the exercises during their final preparations for deployment. Operation Iraqi Freedom In August 2005, the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit deployed to Mosul, Iraq. 4-14 CAV and a Stryker infantry company (A/4-23 IN and later, B/2-1 IN) were attached to 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, and stationed at COP Rawah; away from the rest of the BDE. Duties of the unit during deployment included numerous patrol operations, searches for weapons caches, and counterinsurgency operations. Its tour was to have ended on 27 July 2006, but the U.S. Army unexpectedly extended the deployment until the end of November 2006. During the