Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division conduct vehicle inspections before qualifying on the M1A2 Abrams Battle Tank at Fort Carson, Colo., on Sept. 14, 2020. Tank Crew members prepare the M1A2 Abrams Battle Tank before engaging enemy targets for gunnery table VI qualification. Fort Carson’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division will deploy in the coming weeks to Europe to support operations across the continent including training with NATO allies and efforts to dissuade Russian aggression in the region. (Andrew Greenwood/U.S. Army photo)
Three U.S.-based Army brigades will be on the move in the coming weeks, as the service on Thursday announced upcoming regular troops rotations to the Middle East, South Korea and Europe early next year.
The Army will send a Fort Drum, N.Y., brigade to the Middle East, a Fort Bliss, Texas, brigade to South Korea and a Fort Carson, Colo., brigade to Europe, the announcements said. The deployments will all replace units now serving in those locations, and will not add new troops to the missions, officials said.
Fort Drum’s 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division will deploy to the Middle East in support of the ongoing anti-Islamic State mission known as Operation Inherent Resolve. The unit will replace the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, which deployed from Fort Carson in support of that operation earlier this year.
Operation Inherent Resolve spans multiple countries with the bulk of troops in Kuwait and Iraq. U.S. officials announced this month an end to any combat operations for the about 2,500 American troops remaining in Iraq, however the forces are expected to stay to continue training Iraqi forces to battle the remnants of ISIS, the Pentagon has said.
The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss will deploy to South Korea, where the Pentagon has been sending its heavily armored brigades on nine-month rotations to train alongside Korean forces. The brigade will replace another from its home station, the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division, which deployed to Korea this year.
Fort Carson’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division will deploy in the coming weeks to Europe to support operations across the continent including training with NATO allies and efforts to dissuade Russian aggression in the region.
The brigade will replace the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division, which deployed to Europe in the summer from Fort Riley, Kan. That brigade has trained in several European countries, including in Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Greece and Romania, according to its Facebook page.
It will mark a return to Europe for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, which deployed in 2017 to the continent. The Army began rotating armored brigade combat teams on nine-month tours in Europe in 2014, amid concern from NATO allies after Russian troops invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
