Blood And Treasure?

Deployment of the 82nd Airborne Division from Ft. Bragg, as well as other units with the U.S. Army, appear to now be underway from bases within the Continental United States towards the Middle East, as staging continues for potential ground operations in Iran. https://t.co/E3QzoDvbKG

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 23, 2026

According to officials, a written order to deploy a Brigade Combat Team, roughly 3,000 Paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, most assigned to the Immediate Response Force (IRF), is expected to be issued in the coming hours by the Pentagon. A decision to… pic.twitter.com/M1DNL3fjOZ

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 24, 2026

According to officials, a written order to deploy a Brigade Combat Team, roughly 3,000 Paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, most assigned to the Immediate Response Force (IRF), is expected to be issued in the coming hours by the Pentagon. A decision to conduct ground operations in Iran hasn’t been made, officials cautioned to the Wall Street Journal. However, the movement of the 82nd as well as the arrival soon of roughly 5,000 Marines, opens the door for President Trump to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force, seize Iran’s strategic islands or coastline or launch a mission to capture the regime’s highly enriched uranium stored in several buried sites throughout Iran.

Ship traffic stopped in the Strait not because Iran mined it, or sat on the shore shooting RPG’s at tankers, but because insurance companies decided the risk was too great. Specifically, Lloyd’s of London stopped underwriting the policies.

People who know have said Iran could attack ships from 100 miles away, with drones. So the U.S. can take Kharg Island and invade the shore (all 167 km?), and how will that reassure Lloyds? Because that’s the real issue.

This is why Europe won’t send naval support until hostilities end. They know it’s pointless to put their navies in harm’s way.