A battalion of Hawai'i Marines and a helicopter squadron — about 1,400 troops total — will be part of the surge of 17,000 additional American forces ordered to Afghanistan by President Obama.

The 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment of about 1,000 Marines and sailors is expected to leave within a couple of months and will be part of a force of 8,000 Marines that are being assigned to face a resurgent Taliban, officials said.

The 400 Hawai'i members of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 362 and their CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters are expected to be redirected from Iraq to Afghanistan in further evidence of the shift the Corps is making out of Iraq.

On Monday at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson took command of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which will oversee the 8,000 Marines that are being drawn from across the Corps for duty in southern Afghanistan.

"This is a historic day," Navy Times quoted Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik as saying. "This really is a positive change for our country. This formalizes the Marine Corps commitment to Afghanistan."

An Army brigade of about 4,000 soldiers and 5,000 support troops are expected to round out the surge force. The U.S. has more than 30,000 troops already in Afghanistan.

The Hawai'i Marines of the 2nd Battalion are in California training in exercise Mojave Viper for Afghanistan's desert and mountain terrain.

"Marine Corps Base Hawaii has helped Marines and sailors prepare for their vital missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, so we're no stranger to the kind of training it takes to be successful at this mission," said Col. Robert Rice, base commander.

"They're well prepared to conduct counterinsurgency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, or wherever they're called to be part of a task-organized Marine Air Ground Task Force," Rice said.

Several hundred Hawai'i Marines with the 3rd Marine Regiment headquarters and Combat Logistics Battalion 3 already are part of a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force in Afghanistan.