The U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s alert brigade has been issued orders to deploy rapidly to Kuwait amid the unrest in Baghdad, three U.S. defense officials told Fox News on Tuesday. At least 750 paratroopers are set to deploy to the region immediately, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement. Within that alert brigade, three rifle battalions had a certain alert sequence, 18 hours, 36 hours and 54 hours for the third. Approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately, and additional forces from the IRF are prepared to deploy over the next several days. The U.S. Army has kept an alert brigade of roughly 4,000 paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne for crisis response like this.

Source: Fox News December 31, 2019 23:18 UTC