The Army has announced that three brigades will deploy this fall to three different theaters, underscoring that many soldiers continue to serve far away from home even though the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ended.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division is headed to the U.S. Central Command theater of operations, the Army recently announced. The brigade combat team will replace the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which is currently supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led mission against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
The 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is also deploying to Europe as part of the latest rotation of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which was launched to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The unit will replace the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
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And the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division will go to South Korea to replace the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, which falls under III Corps.
“The Army has a total commitment of 135,200 Soldiers worldwide, with 132,600 Soldiers overseas in over 140 countries supporting Unified Combatant Commands (CCMDs) and another 13,500 within the U.S. and its territories supporting CCMDs,” an Army official told Task & Purpose.
Meanwhile, the Army is cutting 24,000 active-duty billets. Army’s most recent budget request would fund a total of 442,300 active-duty soldiers, down from an active-duty end strength of 485,900 soldiers in Fiscal Year 2021.
It’s worth noting that it takes a total of three brigades to make such deployments: One brigade is already deployed, another is getting ready to go, and a third just got back, said retired Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. “Tony” Grinston.
To be ready for such deployments, soldiers go through extensive preparation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and elsewhere, further keeping them away from their families, Grinston told Task & Purpose.
Grinston now serves as CEO of Army Emergency Relief, which helps soldiers and their families in financial distress. His job involves helping soldiers deployed across the globe who need to take emergency leave.
The deployments and training exercises underscore that the Army has not returned to garrison life even though the war in Afghanistan ended nearly three years ago, Grinston said.
“From my time, when I left a year ago, the soldiers were just as busy then as they were in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Grinston said. “Clearly it’s less dangerous, but time away from families is still time away from families.”
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