More Ft. Bragg troops deploy amid Ukraine tension

(15 Feb 2022) Fort Bragg paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division spent Valentine’s Day curled up on the hard floor or on wooden benches awaiting deployment to Europe.   The paratroopers are among nearly 5,000 infantry brigade soldiers who the Department of Defense is sending to Poland amid a growing Russian presence near the Ukraine border. Moscow, which has more than 100,000 troops deployed near Ukraine, insists it has no plans to attack and on Monday said it was prepared to continue talks about its security grievances. But the U.S. and other Western nations have repeatedly sounded alarms about the danger, with the Biden administration saying recently that an invasion could happen at any moment. Sergeant Khristie Flake of Houston says the Fort Bragg troops are ready, saying “We train every day and we’re prepared to take on any challenge as the 82nd Airborne.“ Flake’s goal? “I’m hoping to achieve peace. At the end of the day, that’s what we want, p