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Last week, the deployment of the second round of 3,000 paratroopers began to leave Fort Bragg. Several hundred soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault from Fort Campbell on the Kentucky Tennessee border are also headed to Eastern Europe.
Several commercial jets graced the runways at Pope Army Airfield last week, waiting to take several hundred soldiers overseas. While the paratroopers were waiting at Green Ramp, the final springboard for deploying soldiers, pizza, fried chicken and all types of food were being given out. The Religious Support Office had religious texts and books ready to go if anyone wanted, and there was a long line for stations set up to handle last-minute paperwork.
Many of the waiting paratroopers were socializing, rechecking their gear or catching a few moments of sleep.
Specialist Bryan Flores was laughing with the men next to him. He has been in the Army for almost four years and moved to Fort Bragg three months ago from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
Flores said this will be his first deployment and going out and serving on a mission is exciting.
"From the human's perspective, I'm really nervous. But as a soldier, I'm prepared, and because I know what to do, I know my job."
Flores is stationed at Fort Bragg with his wife, Marta, and her two children - ages 10 and 7 years old. He said he didn't want to tell the two kids he was leaving.
"I didn't want to tell them to their faces that I'm leaving because, of course, they would be very upset and really scared," Flores said. "It's hard to tell kids goodbye; I'm leaving somewhere, especially if it's in regard to conflict."
He says it's especially hard to leave his family as they just moved to Fort Bragg and were still getting adjusted to the base.
"I certainly didn't expect it to happen; it was more of a last-minute thing. But of course, that's what we're here to do," Flores said. "When we are ready to go, we're supposed to go and confront the enemy and protect the citizens of the world because that's what the United States is about; we protect."
Flores said that if he could bring something home from his deployment, he would try and find a figurine of a historical monument or something that represents liberation from World War II.
On the other hand, 27-year-old 1st Lt. Alex Blankenship said he would want to bring home a magnet for his unadorned fridge doors. Blakenship, who's been serving in the Army for almost three years, says he was able to see his family a week before his deployment orders came in. They took his cat and wished him a happy birthday before he left. For his family, deployments are just part of the military lifestyle.
"My parents went through this stuff with my dad being in the Navy," Blankenship said. "So, it's not anything new."
According to White House officials, these soldiers are not being sent to fight in Ukraine officially; they will support the allies of the United States. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the 82nd Airborne Division was chosen because they were already on heightened alert and multi-mission capable.
"I think their versatility, their ability to move quickly and to conduct a range of missions across a range of contingencies which is well-proven, that is why the Secretary has ordered them to go," Kirby said.
One of those missions might be to help support American evacuees fleeing Ukraine into Poland.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to deploy to the two separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine.
More troops could be mobilized to Europe as the Russia-Ukraine crisis continues. The Pentagon put 8,500 troops on "high alert" in January for possible deployment if NATO's response forces are activated.