3 Texas Brothers Shipping Out for Iraq

Army 1st Sgt. Allen Mouton, from left, and his brothers, Sgt. Reginald Mouton and 1st Sgt. Michael Mouton laugh during an interview Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006, at Fort Hood, Texas. The three brothers will deploy to the same forward operating base in Iraq next month.

FORT HOOD, Texas -- When brothers Michael, Allen and Reginald Mouton of the Army's Ironhorse Brigade got their orders for Iraq, they could have asked the military to split them up. But they say they never even considered asking. They will ship out for the Middle East next month, an extremely rare instance of three brothers from the same unit being sent to the same base in a combat zone.

They will be, in every sense, brothers in arms.

"Lord forbid if the ultimate price is paid. It is hard to imagine that," said Staff Sgt. Reginald Mouton, 31. But he said it is important "to be there with your brother and know you can support the other brother and you can tell your family, `I was there with him and he didn't suffer.'"

Reginald is a medic who runs a battalion aid station for about 1,000 troops. Allen, a 40-year-old first sergeant, leads about 100 soldiers in a combat group, and Michael, 42, also a first sergeant, does the same for a logistical support group.

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