'Someday, we all can look back on this': Paratroopers to return to Fort Bragg this summer

Rachael Riley, The Fayetteville Observer
·3 min read
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Polish soldiers assigned to the 21st Rifle Brigade and paratroopers assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division wait to load a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a multi-national training event Feb. 25, 2022, in Nowa Deba, Poland.
Polish soldiers assigned to the 21st Rifle Brigade and paratroopers assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division wait to load a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a multi-national training event Feb. 25, 2022, in Nowa Deba, Poland.

Paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division are expected to return to Fort Bragg this summer, according to an Army news release.

The paratroopers were deployed to Europe in support of NATO countries in February after Russia waged war on Ukraine.

Pentagon officials announced in March that their deployment was extended, with the secretary of defense making "no decisions" on how long the extension would last.

"I think it follows just normal reason that at some point if the length of time gets to a point where commanders on the ground recommend that they swap these units out, the Secretary will certainly be open to that, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in March.

About 4,200 soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, will replace the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, the Army news release said.

The 101st Airborne Division Headquarters, also from Fort Campbell will replace about 500 soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters.

“The units being replaced will return to their home station following an appropriate turnover of responsibilities, and these turnovers will occur over coming weeks, in the next couple of months, even,” Kirby said during a May 13 news conference.

More: 'It makes it personal': Why families of deployed 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers are concerned

More: 'This is what we do': What Fort Bragg paratroopers say about latest deployment to Europe

Kirby said Ukrainians have resisted Russian invaders and prevented Russians from “their strategic objectives,” though both sides have had causalities.

During an April 24 news conference, Maj. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, said more than 4,700 soldiers in the division are deployed including those with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, the 1st Brigade, the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, and the 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade and Division Artillery.

LaNeve said the paratroopers are paired with the Polish 18th Mechanized Division for training.

He said there’s been “multiple” combined arms and live-fire exercises with the Polish force.

“Someday, we all can look back on this, look back on what the Polish army and the Polish people have done,” LaNeve said. “Almost every military member that I talked to in the Polish army, in this area, has a Ukrainian family living with them. They've opened up their arms to, you know, people … they've never met before.”

A paratrooper assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, introduces a Polish soldier to an M110A1 squad designated marksman rifle during a Feb. 28, 2022, training event in Zamość, Poland.
A paratrooper assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, introduces a Polish soldier to an M110A1 squad designated marksman rifle during a Feb. 28, 2022, training event in Zamość, Poland.

The 82nd Airborne Division is falling under the V Corps on the deployment, which is responsible for the operations along the eastern flank of Europe, from Estonia to Bulgaria, V Corps commander Lt. Gen. John Kolasheski said.

“They are here at the direction of the secretary of defense to focus on assurance and deterrence activities here in Eastern and Central Europe,” Kolasheski said.

In March, Kirby said paratroopers were ready to assist with evacuating Americans coming from Ukraine, but only a “handful ended up needing support.”

Most Americans, Kirby said, left Ukraine before the Russian invasion.

He said the paratroopers bolstered the eastern flank of NATO to send “a strong signal,” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and reassure NATO allies.

President Joe Biden visited with the paratroopers in Poland in March and told them that they are part of 100,000 American forces in Europe — the largest there in decades.

Biden said he believes the world is at an inflection point in a battle between democracies and autocracies.

Paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division train members of the Polish military on hot loading procedures on an Army Black Hawk helicopter March 22, 2022, in Bircza, Poland.
Paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division train members of the Polish military on hot loading procedures on an Army Black Hawk helicopter March 22, 2022, in Bircza, Poland.

What’s at stake, he said, goes beyond helping the Ukrainian people and keeping “the massacre from continuing.”

“What’s at stake is what are your kids and grandkids going to look like in terms of their freedom,” the president said.

He said the question is who will prevail.

“Are democracies going to prevail on the values we share, or are autocracies going to prevail?  And that’s really what’s at stake,” Biden said.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: The latest on 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers deployed to Poland