About 130 U.S. soldiers are returning to their bases after being deployed last week to a remote Alaska island with mobile rocket launchers amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.S., a military official said Thursday.
The deployment to Shemya Island involved soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii with the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Sword, a spokesperson for the 11th Airborne, said in an email to The Associated Press.
The deployment coincided with eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, traveling close to Alaska as Russia and China conducted joint military drills . None of the planes breached U.S. airspace.
A Pentagon spokesperson said earlier this week that there was no cause for alarm.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, has told media the deployment to the island 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage was done at the right time.
