Quill Lawrence

Two to three thousand troops from the 82nd Airborne, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, have received written orders to deploy to the Middle East, according to a U.S.

government official who is not authorized to speak publicly.

The soldiers will come from the division's immediate response force, which is able to mobilize worldwide within 18 hours to do a variety of missions.

Along with two marine expeditionary units already sailing toward the Persian Gulf, this could bring about 6,000 to 8,000 American ground troops in close proximity to Iran.

President Trump has alternately said he would not put boots on the ground and that he won't rule it out.

Quill Lawrence, NPR News.

The network that's been built up, without funding, all of that would fall apart.

Well, this week, NPR and other outlets had reported that the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and members of his headquarters staff were heading to the Middle East.

And that suggested what NPR has now confirmed.

A U.S.

official who was not authorized to speak publicly told our colleague Tom Bowman that 2,000 to 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, have been notified that they're heading to the region.

Yeah, I mean, airborne paratroopers, I guess you might easily imagine them parachuting in to take an airstrip, but they have many other

These soldiers come from the division's immediate response force, which is able to mobilize within 18 hours to go anywhere worldwide to do a variety of different missions.

Along with the two Marine Expeditionary Units that are already sailing toward the Persian Gulf, this could bring about 6,000 to 8,000 American ground troops and their supporting troops in close proximity to Iran.

Okay, and so what will they do when they get there?

What's their mission?

This is all speculation.

We don't know exactly.

For decades, there have been U.S.

military plans sitting on the shelf to take Karga Island, which is Iran's exporting hub at the top of the Persian Gulf.