Washington’s largest Army National Guard unit begins training next month for an expected overseas deployment to Eastern Europe in 2021.
The 81st Brigade Combat Team has been put on the list for a yearlong assignment to Poland as part of a multinational force known as Enhanced Forward Presence, said Col. Shaughnessy Hodge, the brigade commander.
While there, the brigade will participate in a series of training exercises with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as some exercises with individual countries, Hodge said. The United States deploys a combat unit to Europe for a year to be available for multiple exercises rather than sending different groups for each individual exercise.
The training will take place in multiple locations throughout the year, but the 81st will be based in two or three locations in Poland, Hodge said.
It will also help with a training academy for noncommissioned officers from the Ukrainian army to help bolster “institutional professionalism,” Hodge said.
The brigade, which is equipped with Stryker armored fighting vehicles, has its headquarters at Camp Murray near Tacoma. It has about 4,000 members assigned to units based in Washington, Oregon and California.
Soldiers will begin preparations for the deployment in June at the Yakima Training Center. Next summer, they will be sent to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., for a second round of training before the one-year deployment in 2021.
The brigade will also be looking to bolster its Eastern European language proficiencies, Hodge said.
The 81st was deployed twice to Iraq for one-year stints, first in March 2004 and again in August 2008. About two years ago, it began making the transition from Bradley fighting vehicles to Strykers.
