FORT RILEY, Kansas – More than 3,000 Soldiers with the 2nd Armored Brigadefollowing a nine-month deployment to Europe in support of Atlantic Resolve.
The “Dagger” brigade deployed to Europe in September 2017 as the second
iteration of heel-to-toe rotations of U.S. armored brigades in Europe,
designed to provide a continuous U.S. armored presence for the foreseeable
future. While deployed, 2nd ABCT trained closely with NATO allies to build
interoperability between their forces and strengthen their collective
defensive capabilities to deter aggression in the region.
During the deployment, the brigade sustained a high level of readiness by
conducting more than 58 combined training events across eight countries,
involving more than 140 movements by rail and line haul. The training events
included squad-based live-fire exercises, crew gunnery qualification tables
for all their major weapon systems, joint direct and indirect live-fire
exercises with NATO allies, utilizing land and air assets and multiple
multinational force-on-force exercises.
One of the special highlights from the deployment are the three deployment
readiness exercises the brigade conducted, where units moved company-size
elements from Poland and Germany into the Baltic region on a 48-hour notice.
This sent a powerful message that they could rapidly respond to crises
anywhere, at any time if called upon.
the capabilities on an armored brigade combat team, expending nearly two
million rounds of small arms ammunition, more than 4,800 tank rounds and
more than 1,800 artillery rounds while sustaining its readiness to meet any
threat.
The brigade also sustained an impressive and robust logistical network and
line of operations, performing more than 550 logistical missions and
traveling over 100,000 miles to support the presence and operations of units
spread over several countries in central Europe, including Poland, Romania,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.