from HHC, 2-1 ID) 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry (reflagged from 1–26 Infantry) 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry (reflagged from 1–18 Infantry) 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor (reflagged from 1–77 Armor) Troop E, 5th Cavalry (reflagged from Troop E, 4th Cavalry) 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery (reflagged from 1–7 Field Artillery) 172nd Support Battalion (reflagged from 299th Forward Support Battalion) 57th Signal Company, 9th Engineer Battalion and 504th Military Intelligence Company remain attached to 172nd but were not reflagged. When the brigade converts to a modular design, the Brigade Special Troops Battalion will be given organic, unnumbered signal, engineer and military intelligence companies along with a chemical and military police platoons. After its activation, the brigade began moving its components from Schweinfurt to Grafenwöhr, Germany, as part of the Grow the Army plan. Simultaneously, the brigade converted to a modular structure to become a Brigade Combat Team upon completion. In May 2008, the brigade was alerted that it would be returning to Iraq in the fall of that year. The deployment was set to last 12 months, and was set to start after the unit's 12-month out-of-action cycle ended in November 2008. This would be the brigade's third tour to Iraq, as it completed a tour of duty in Iraq shortly before being redesignated from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. The brigade began training for its deployment to the country as soon as it received orders for deployment. German military officers trained with the brigade during this preparation. The soldiers of the brigade were part of a 40,000-soldier troop rotation into Iraq and Afghanistan, intended to maintain previous troop levels in both countries until late 2009. In fall of 2008, the brigade completed its transition to a brigade combat team, and was redesignated as the 172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. In late October 2008 the brigade began moving equipment and vehicles by train from Germany in preparation for their tour in Iraq. 385 containers full of gear, as well as 75 M1A1 Abrams Tanks, M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and HMMWVs were sent by train on 28 October. the brigade picked up additional MRAP and uparmored HMMWVs in Kuwait. The brigade deployed into theater by December 2008, replacing the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. A proposal was made to relocate the unit to White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico in 2012 as the 7th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division,