The Rakkasan symbol marks the 3rd Brigade training facilities at Fort Campbell.
War-weary Fort Campbell is being tapped to send more than 5,000 troops back to Afghanistan. The Department of Defense has announced deployments later this year from the 101st Airborne Division.
The Rakkasans of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team first deployed to Afghanistan more than a decade ago. The unit’s most recent deployment was part of President Obama’s surge in 2010. Soldiers patrolled along the violent border with Pakistan. Sixteen men were killed.
The 101st Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade was also part of that surge and will return again for another tour in the fall along with the Rakkasans.
Unlike the surge, this deployment comes as overall U.S. troop levels are on the decline. An additional 23,000 troops are supposed to be pulled out of Afghanistan before Fort Campbell soldiers even get there.
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