Since 1848 , Fort Bliss has been where U.S. soldiers toil , train and sweat under the strong Southwest sun before departing for battlegrounds around the world . It has also been where their loved ones grieve upon hearing the worst possible news from the war front -- including in 52 cases over eight years of fighting in Iraq . Such heart-wrenching returns from that Middle Eastern nation will soon become history . President Barack Obama announced Friday that the vast majority of the more than 39,000 U.S. troops now stationed in Iraq , including about 3,500 from Fort Bliss , `` will definitely be home for the holidays . '' The decision set off shrieks and tears of joy among family members of the deployed troops . `` Everybody was yelling and screaming and clapping and crying , '' recalled Denise Young , whose husband , John , deployed in July . `` It was very emotional . '' Extreme highs and lows are nothing new for military spouses like Young , who is the daughter of a 28-year Marine . Her husband -- a medic for the 4th Brigade of the 1st Armored Division , which is based at Fort Bliss -- has been in the military for five years . Young said there are plenty of headaches and heartache for her and the couple 's children every time her husband sets off for such countries as Iraq and Afghanistan . Some of it stems from suddenly becoming a single parent , and then there 's the looming nightmare of possibly never seeing her husband alive again . `` It 's always a worry , '' Young said . `` You just have to take it one day at a time . '' Like Young , Brooke Trapnell expected the day she could finally breathe -- when her husband , Tyrone , was finally back in her arms -- would come in July . That would have marked 12 months after the husband was first deployed to Iraq . Trapnell said the separation has been difficult . The rest of her family is 2,000 miles away in Pennsylvania , and she found herself forced to become `` the man and the woman of the house '' when problems , like a broken toilet , arose . She believes Obama 's decision is the right one . The decision came after talks with the Iraqis about extending the U.S. troop presence broke down over the key issue of legal immunity for American military personnel . The campaign has claimed more than 4,400 American lives and has cost upwards of $ 700 billion , according to the Department of Defense . `` It 's been too long , '' Trapnell said . Morgan Herrera does n't think her husband , Leonardo , should return to Iraq , either . He is a petroleum specialist who deployed for the first time in August , less than a month after arriving at Fort Bliss , which covers roughly 1.1 million acres of land in southern Texas and New Mexico . `` It 's been eight years , so I feel like it 's about time , '' she said of the Iraq war . Herrera added she is `` ecstatic '' that her husband should be home in time to celebrate his 21st birthday , and she is eager to cook him his favorite meal of pork chops . But she and other Fort Bliss families know , too , that while their loved ones may not head back to Iraq , that does not mean they wo n't face more danger . While thousands of personnel from the army base are now in Iraq , more -- about 5,000 -- are in Afghanistan . Even as her mind races at `` a million miles an hour '' in anticipation of her husband 's imminent return , Young said she 's trying not to lose the perspective that comes with life as a military spouse . `` It 's the army , '' Young said . `` You do n't know what tomorrow is going to hold . You just do the best you can . '' Trapnell said that she 's heard some Fort Bliss troops might go from Iraq to Kuwait and eventually end up in Afghanistan . But she said that , for now , she is trying to enjoy the fact that her husband will be home , and can not bring herself to consider yet that he may be in harm 's way again , this time in Afghanistan . `` That 's not an option in my mind , '' she said .
Fort Bliss is home to the Army 's 1st Armored Division and has 3,500 personnel in Iraq . The Pentagon says about 11,000 American troops are deployed on active duty around the world, with another 4,000 more expected by next year. A military spouse says `` it was very emotional '' when she and others heard the news . She and others are happy , while cognizant their loved ones could head to Afghanistan .