The 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade of the 3st Infantry Division is the fifth division deployment in Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Operation Atlantic Resolve is a military deployment in Europe. While it is not a "real" military operation, it is an operation in which many American units are stationed in Europe. Operation Atlantic Resolve is an ongoing effort in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine. This mainly concerns the war in Donbass in eastern Ukraine around Donetsk. Operation Atlantic Resolve is funded by the European Deterrence Initiative. In the aftermath of Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine, the United States took several immediate steps to improve deterrence along NATO's eastern flank borders. This includes increasing the presence of air, ground and sea forces in the region and improving previously planned international exercises with European partners. The United States is taking steps to improve NATO's military plans and defense capabilities. The country is and remains committed to maintaining a permanent presence in Central and Eastern Europe. The Atlantic Resolve rotations are controlled by a regionally aligned headquarters in Europe. In March 2015, a US Army spokesman in Wiesbaden announced that a convoy of armored fighting vehicles (including Strykers) would return by road to their garrison in Vilseck after maneuvers in Poland, Estonia and Lithuania. The air activities are mostly deployed at Ämari Air Base (Estonia), Graf Ignatievo Air Base (Bulgaria), Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport (Romania) and Papa Air Base (Hungary). These airfields house both units of the United States Air Force and the Army.
The 3rd Infantry Division deployment is already the fifth Division deployment of the United States Army since the beginning of Operation Atlantic Resolve in February 2017. As of January 2017, there were over 3,500 troops of the 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). Infantry Division active in Europe. At that time 87 tanks and 144 Bradley fighting vehicles were available to carry out the tasks. The units first gathered in Poland before the units spread across a total of seven countries ranging from Estonia to Bulgaria. The ABCT operating on behalf of Operation Atlantic Resolve is headquartered in Germany at the United States Army Europe. The ABCT rotates the deployment of different divisions every nine months. The equipment of this unit was permanently located in Żagań in western Poland together with a Polish armored division. Since then, the units have been relieved by new divisions sent to Europe from the United States. In total, four Combat Aviation Regiments of the US Army have already flown through Germany and eastern Europe. The first unit was the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, which served between February 2017 and November 2017. This unit was relieved by the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division between November 2017 and April 2018. Then the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry took over Division took over between April 2018 and February 2019. The next deployment was the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division from February 2019 to October 2019. From October 2019, the 3rd Infantry Division took over in Europe and is now moving nine months later to the United States again. The tasks of the 3CAB are taken over by the 101CAB who simultaneously enter Europe via a different route.
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