I Corps Commanding General Lt. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti and Command Sgt. Major John Troxell cased the Corps colors during a deployment ceremony held May 25 in front of the unit's headquarters on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The ceremony, which involves furling and securing the unit's flag and streamers, is an Army tradition that symbolizes movement to a new theater of operation. The colors, which had been uncased at JBLM for only about 14 months following the unit's redeployment from Iraq last spring, will accompany the unit to Afghanistan this summer.

This year's deployment, which came about a year sooner than expected, will see about 700 I Corps Soldiers move to Afghanistan, where they will assume responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the NATO International Security Assistance Force Joint Command Headquarters (IJC).

"It should come as no surprise that after its last successful mission in 2009 and 2010, where the Corps was responsible for conducting daily operations for over 100,000 Americans on Iraqi soil, that this Corps was chosen to do a similar mission in Afghanistan," said Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, deputy commanding general of U.S. Forces Command, who was on hand for the ceremony.

While some Soldiers are already in country, the main body is set to deploy in early July.

"Our focus will be to maintain the momentum that has been achieved in the surge and to rapidly build the capacity of the Afghans to secure and govern their country - with an eye on their full assumption of security in 2014," Scaparrotti said.