They had barely a week to prepare — getting medical screenings, making sure bills would be paid, arranging for relatives to care for children and pets — before marching with rucksacks and rifles onto a plane bound for Germany.
“It’s been very hectic and stressful, but overall it’s worked out,” Army Staff Sgt. Ricora Jackson said Wednesday as she waited with dozens of fellow soldiers to board a chartered flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah.
They’re among 3,800 troops from the 1st Armored Brigade of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, based at nearby Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, ordered to deploy quickly and bolster U.S. forces in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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