The US military is preparing to deploy at least 2,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days as hostilities with Iran continue despite indications of a potential de-escalation.
The development, reported by AP, comes a couple of days after Donald Trump announced "very productive" talks with Iran and said that he would hold off from ordering US strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure.
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What we know about the deployment The deployment of the 82nd Airborne Division will take place under the command of division chief Major General Brandon Tegtmeier, AP reported citing people familiar with the plans.
The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that the deployment of the 82nd Airborne would involve at least 2,000 troops, with two battalions of 800 troops each, in addition to division staff.
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are scheduled to receive a classified briefing from Department of War officials on Capitol Hill where the potential deployment is expected to be discussed, a US official told AP.
It is currently unclear where the paratroopers will be sent to in the Middle East, but the location would be within striking distance of Iran, US officials further told NYT.
However, it remains unclear whether a ground invasion is still on the cards — the White House, when asked about the development, merely noted, "President Trump always has all military options at his disposal".
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Troop build-up in Middle East continues The deployment, if carried out, will add 1,000 more personnel to the 5,000 Marines already dispatched by the Department of War to the Middle East — earlier, the Japan-based USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit had been ordered to the Middle East, while the Navy had also deployed a set of ships carrying a rapid response Marine unit to the region from San Diego.
The aforementioned deployments are expected to add around 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the Middle East, which already has around 50,000 US troops.
The 82nd Airborne has a storied past Although US Marine units are trained in various mission scenarios, including assisting US embassies and evacuating civilians and providing disaster relief, the 82nd Airborne Division is particularly trained to parachute in behind enemy lines to secure strategic points, key territories, and airfields.
First activated in 1917, the 82nd Airborne (then known as the 82nd Infantry Division) saw action during World War I, fighting in the Battle of Lorraine in 1918 and the campaigns of St Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne in 1918.
The division was reconstituted as the US Army's first airborne division in 1942, and fought in multiple campaigns in World War II, including in Operation Husky in Sicily, and most famously in Operation Overlord on D-Day.