Paratroopers assigned to the Army's 82nd Airborne Division make a jump in North Carolina in 2024. About 600 soldiers from the division’s 3rd Brigade will parachute into Norway next week as part of the Swift Response exercise, service officials said. (Vincent Levelev/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — Paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division are headed to Europe, where large combat drills stretching from Nordic lands to NATO’s eastern flank are getting underway.
About 600 soldiers from the division’s 3rd Brigade will parachute into Norway next week in a “forcible entry” operation aimed at testing the unit’s ability to fight through resistance, the Army said.
The Swift Response exercise will showcase the 82nd’s ability to respond to “any mission, anywhere, and anytime,” Maj. Gen. Pat Work, division commander, said in a statement ahead of the training, which kicks off Tuesday.
Army paratroopers representing various brigades in the 82nd Airborne Division Best Squad Competition fire M240 machine guns at Fort Bragg, N.C., Feb. 21, 2025. About 600 soldiers from the 82nd’s 3rd Brigade will parachute into Norway next week as part of the Swift Response exercise, the Army said. ( Matthew Keegan/U.S. Army)
The Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne, a part of the military’s global response force, has factored into Army efforts to quickly mobilize troops into Europe. The division was key in Pentagon efforts to reinforce NATO around the time of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
While Swift Response will involve some 4,100 U.S. troops and 1,900 multinational forces carrying out simultaneous airborne assault operations in the High North and across the Baltics, other drills are unfolding elsewhere in Europe.
On Sunday, more than 300 U.S. and allied service members are participating in exercise Arcane Thunder, which involves integration of land, sea, air, cyber and space capabilities, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement.
The drills in Germany, the U.S. and Poland, featuring the Wiesbaden-based 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force, incorporate emerging technology capabilities, which are becoming central to how the Army fights, the statement said.
Meanwhile, NATO’s largest multinational live-fire air and missile defense exercise, known as Formidable Shield 25, started May 1.
Taking place in Norway and the United Kingdom, the drills involve nine allies and will run throughout May, the alliance said Wednesday.
