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Other units placed on alert include the 18th Airborne Corps and the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, KY and the 4th Infantry at Fort Carson, CO. No deployment orders have been issued as of Thursday afternoon.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby made the announcement at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
"The vast majority of the troops that the secretary put on prepare-to-deploy are in fact dedicated to the NATO Response Force. And if and when they're activated, we'll be able to provide more specific detail in terms of breakdowns and numbers," Kirby said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III announced Monday that 8,500 troops were put on heightened alert, so they will be prepared to deploy if needed to reassure NATO allies in the face of ongoing Russian aggression on the border of Ukraine. If the NATO force is activated, Austin's order will allow the United States to rapidly deploy additional brigade combat teams, along with units specializing in logistics, medical, aviation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation and more.
Kirby said Thursday that the buildup of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border has increased “in the last 24 hours.”
"The Immediate Response Force is always prepared to go anywhere," Lt. Col. Brett Lea, a spokesperson for the 82nd Airborne Division told Up & Coming Weekly on Tuesday. "We are always on standby."
Passes and leave for service members on standby have been revoked.
(DoD photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley/Released)