Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division arrive at Osan Air Base, South Korea, on May 30, 2025. (Oniel McDonald/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A Stryker brigade from Colorado arrived in South Korea late last month as the Army’s latest rotational unit tasked with deterring regional threats for the next nine months.
Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson flew into Osan Air Base on May 30 to replace troops from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, according to an Eighth Army news release Wednesday.
The outgoing Stryker team, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., has served in South Korea since October. It will officially transfer authority to the incoming team in a ceremony Wednesday at Camp Casey, about 15 miles from the border with North Korea.
“Our presence in Korea is a clear demonstration of U.S. resolve, and the Raider Brigade is honored to enhance our long-standing alliance,” Col. Clint Tisserand of 4th ID said in the release. “This deployment is more than a rotation; it’s a chance to sharpen our edge and uphold the commitment we share with [South Korea].”
During its rotation, the 7th ID soldiers took part in numerous joint drills with South Korean troops, including the 10-day Freedom Shield exercise on air, land, sea and cyberspace.
Roughly 3,500 soldiers and 1,500 prepositioned vehicles comprise the rotational force, which supports the 2nd Infantry Division headquartered at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military installation overseas.
The Army began rotating units into South Korea in 2013 to bolster the country’s defenses against the North, while also offering U.S.-based soldiers the opportunity to train in unfamiliar terrain. The rotations are also viewed as a deterrent to China’s growing military influence in the region.
Initially composed of armored brigade combat teams with heavy equipment like M1A2 Abrams tanks, the rotational force shifted in 2022 to lighter, more mobile Stryker brigades equipped with eight-wheeled combat vehicles.
