Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Shaiko of the 2nd Infantry Division greets Command Sgt. Maj. Ryan Boyd of 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Jan 27, 2026. (Tyler Wassmer/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A Stryker brigade from Washington state has begun arriving in South Korea to assume the U.S. Army’s latest rotational mission on the peninsula, reinforcing U.S.-South Korea defenses amid ongoing regional tensions.
The 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division — known as the Lancer Brigade — will serve about eight months on the peninsula, according to a Friday email from 2nd ID spokesman Maj. Steven Modugno.
Some of the Lancer troops arrived Tuesday at Osan Air Base, 35 miles south of Seoul, according to information posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System. The brigade is permanently stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., according to the Army.
Modugno would not disclose exactly how many troops are coming to South Korea but said a Stryker combat team typically consists of more than 3,000 soldiers.
The team will replace the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division — known as the Raider Brigade — from Fort Carson, Colo., which has served in South Korea since June.
The transition is a “routine event and part of the U.S. Army’s continued commitment to provide heel-to-toe rotational support to the robust combined defense poster protecting [South Korea],” Modugno said.
About 1,500 U.S. military vehicles, including Strykers, are prepositioned in South Korea for use by rotational units.
The armored, eight-wheeled vehicles can carry up to 11 troops and their equipment. Rotational brigades in South Korea previously consisted of armored units equipped with tanks.
The Army in 2021 replaced tank units with Stryker brigades, citing the platform’s greater mobility in the peninsula’s mountainous terrain.
The 2nd Stryker Brigade will officially take over sometime in February, Modugno said.
U.S. Army rotational units “provide a capable, trained, and combat-ready force that will sustain the defense of the Korean Peninsula,” he wrote, adding that the brigades train and build relationships with their South Korean counterparts.
The rotational deployment “supports an enduring presence in [South Korea] and reinforces readiness across the Indo-Pacific region,” according to a Friday post on USFK’s Facebook page.
