3rd ID Soldiers to Deploy to Europe this Year in Response to Russia

The U.S. Army plans to deploy more soldiers to Eastern Europe later this year in a show of force against Russian military involvement in the Ukraine, a general said.

Soldiers with the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division in September will deploy to the region “to conduct exercises and response to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe,” Gen. Dennis Via, head of Army Materiel Command, said during a conference on Wednesday in Huntsville, Ala.

The troops will succeed the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division in taking over a suite of equipment known as the European Activity Set, which includes hundreds of Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Paladin self-propelled howitzers in such countries as Estonia near the Russian border, he said.

His command is working to build the set, which includes more than 1,000 combat vehicles, from battalion-sized to brigade-sized, Via said.

The decision last year to deploy additional soldiers and weapons to Europe was a critical part of demonstrating the military’s commitment to allies in the region, according to Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, who spoke at the conference organized by the Association of the United States Army. (Read more from “3rd ID Soldiers to Deploy to Europe this Year in Response to Russia” HERE)

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