JBLM troops have been put on increased readiness status over Russia-Ukraine crisis
.JPG "The first C-17 lands on the newly resurfaced runway at McChord Field on Monday.")
Troops at Joint Base Lewis-McChord were placed on a heightened deployment status Friday by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should Russia invade Ukraine.
“This action is a heightened readiness status prescribing the numbers of days a unit has to be ready to deploy if ordered to do so,” said JBLM public information officer Bud McKay on Saturday. “It is not a deployment order.”
JBLM is one of several military installations with an increased readiness posture. Others include Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Robins Air Force Base, Georgia; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and others, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.
Austin placed several units on a higher and more imminent readiness level. Those in the “Prepare to Deploy” group include elements of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 18th Airborne Corps, both based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“Additionally, from Fort Campbell, elements of the 101st Airborne Division; and from Fort Carson, Colorado, elements of the Fourth Infantry Division have also been placed on increased readiness,” Kirby said.
In total, Austin placed 8,500 U.S. military troops from bases across the nation on a heightened level of preparedness to deploy. They include medical, aviation and logistics support and combat formations.
Kirby also said the Defense Department has paused processing civilian vaccination exemption requests and disciplinary actions for failure to become vaccinated for federal civilian workers.
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 12:56 PM.
