Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division are scheduled to deploy to the Middle East to support potential Iran contingency operations.
A source in the division speaking on the condition of anonymity identified the unit's deployment as the 1-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and an additional company from the 2-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
The 82nd Airborne Division maintains an Immediate Response Force (IRF) that can deploy on short notice in response to emergencies. The currently designated Immediate Response Battalion is 1-504th, which is expected to deploy before the end of the week. The "torch" will also be deployed, which includes 82nd Airborne Division leaders and planners who will work on figuring out what the 82nd's mission will be.
Additionally, two other elements from the 82nd are expected to deploy to the Gulf region, according to a source familiar with the deployments. The division's Long Range Engagement Battery within Division Artillery is slated for its first combat deployment. The battery will field the Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), which is a one-way or kamikaze explosive drone that is ironically patterned after the Shahed drone favored by Iran.
The second element deploying later in the month is the division's Combat Aviation Brigade. The aviation brigade features the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook helicopter, which can handle heavy lifting and troop transportation. Both the Combat Aviation Brigade and the Long Ranger Engagement Battery were scheduled to deploy previously, but it is now expected that they will be taking part in contingency operations in the Persian Gulf.
The Immediate Response Force has previously deployed to the region on short notice in recent years, when the American embassy in Baghdad was under siege and after the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani.
