Approximately 3,500 soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division will deploy for a three-month rotation to Europe later this month for their second rotation as U.S. Army, Europe's Regionally Aligned Force.
The brigade will be operating throughout nine countries in Europe, conducting multinational training exercises focused on improving interoperability with our NATO allies.
"We are excited to build off the brigade's last rotation and continue to train with our multinational allies and partners," said Col. Winston Brooks, the commander for 1st Brigade. "These exercises not only improve our interoperability, but they also reassure our allies of the United States' continued commitment to our collective defense in light of increased tensions in Eastern Europe."
Approximately 1,500 soldiers will deploy in support of Atlantic Resolve. Atlantic Resolve is a demonstration of continued U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and to enduring regional peace and stability.
As a part of Atlantic Resolve, soldiers will be conducting exercises in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. These exercises give soldiers the opportunity to work with and train alongside our NATO allies, forge relationships that foster trust and mutual understanding, strengthen interoperability and demonstrate the United States' commitment to the NATO alliance.
Another 400 soldiers from 1st Brigade will deploy to Spain to take part in Trident Juncture 2015. Trident Juncture will be the largest NATO exercise conducted in over a decade. More than 30,000 troops from more than 30 troop contributing NATO member nations and partners will be conducting land, air and maritime exercises to enhance interoperability and teamwork between the NATO alliance and partners.
An additional 1,500 soldiers will deploy to Germany for exercise Combined Resolve V, a multinational exercise designed to train the U.S. Army's Regionally Aligned Forces to the U.S. European Command. The exercise will include approximately 4,000 participants from 10 NATO and European partner nations to prepare forces in Europe to operate together to promote stability and security in the region.
For this deployment, 1st Brigade soldiers will be using the European Activity Set of equipment. The EAS is a brigade-sized group of vehicles and equipment that is pre-positioned in Germany to outfit U.S. Army units when they rotate into theater for training or contingency operations. The EAS fleet includes vehicle systems and equipment that would outfit a U.S. Army Armored Brigade Combat Team, such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, artillery pieces, engineer equipment, and a standard array of tracked and wheeled support systems.
As the RAF for Europe, 1st Brigade is responsible for serving as the European Rotational Force and the NATO Response Force. The brigade is responsible for the ERF/NRF mission through 2016 and is expected to make additional deployments to Europe over the next year.
"The training and engagement opportunities our soldiers will receive as the rotational force to Europe will enable us to empower and develop our junior leaders," said Brooks. "This rotation gives us the unique opportunity to train side-by-side with our allies, improve interoperability, and strengthen the NATO Alliance."