Fort Liberty brigade to deploy in the fall

Rachael Riley, Fayetteville Observer
·1 min read

FORT LIBERTY — The 82nd Airborne Division Combat Aviation Brigade will deploy this fall to the U.S. Central Command area of operation, the division announced Tuesday.

The deployment is part of a regular rotation of forces. The brigade will replace the 185th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade of the Mississippi Army National Guard, a news release stated.

About 1,500 troops, aircraft and ground equipment from the Fort Liberty brigade will continue operations under Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve to advise, assist, and enable partner forces in the region, the news release stated.

Helicopter crews assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, conduct a joint air assault operation with paratroopers assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82n Airborne Division during an Aug. 19, 2023, Culminating Training Exercise - Falcon Giant on Fort Liberty. The Combat Aviation Brigade will be deploying in the fall.
Helicopter crews assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, conduct a joint air assault operation with paratroopers assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82n Airborne Division during an Aug. 19, 2023, Culminating Training Exercise - Falcon Giant on Fort Liberty. The Combat Aviation Brigade will be deploying in the fall.

The mission of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve is to defeat Daesh, which is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, through regional partners in Iraq and Syria in four phases, the campaign’s website states.

In preparation for the deployment, the brigade has logged more than 1,800 flight hours, and conducted three major Brigade-focused collective-training exercises and eight gunneries, the news release stated.

Paratroopers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division load onto a UH-60 Black Hawk provided by paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division during an Aug. 19, 2023, Culminating Training Exercise - Falcon Giant on Fort Liberty. The Combat Aviation Brigade will be deploying this fall.
Helicopter crews assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, conduct a joint air assault operation with Paratroopers assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division during an Aug. 19, 2023, Culminating Training Exercise - Operation Giant on Fort Liberty. The Combat Aviation Brigade will be deploying in the fall.

Col. Khirsten Schwenn, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division Combat Aviation Brigade, said troops are ready to assume the mission “and continue to strengthen our security cooperation” with partnered forces.

“Our soldiers and aviators have been training hard and are ready to reinforce our enduring commitment to the security and territorial defense of our regional partners,” Schwenn said in a statement.

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

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: 82nd Airborne Division Combat Aviation Brigade to deploy in fall