A 3rd Infantry Division soldier deployed to Europe as part of the Army's Regionally Aligned Brigade died recently of natural causes, according to a Fort Stewart news release issued today.

 According to the release, Sgt. Brian L. Bounds, 36, of Zachary, Louisiana, who was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, died Saturday while under medical care at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near Kaiserslautern, Germany.

 He became ill May 28 in the Republic of Georgia and was evacuated May 29 to the U.S. military hospital in Germany. His family was with him when he died.

 An infantryman, Bounds joined the Army in March 2009 and arrived at Fort Stewart in October 2012, according to the release. He had two previous deployments and had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

 Elements of the 1st ABCT are deployed throughout Europe, to include Georgia, as part of the U.S. Army's Regionally Aligned Force and the U.S. contribution to the 2015 NATO Response Force, the release says. The deployment is focused on reassuring U.S. allies, building interoperability between allied and other partner-nation armies, and demonstrating the United States' continued commitment to the NATO Alliance, according to the release.