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Editor's note: This story was updated Friday to include comments from U.S. military officials in Baghdad and the head of U.S. Central Command. It was first published Thursday, March 9, at 7:16 p.m., EST.

WASHINGTON The U.S. military is sending an additional 2,500 ground combat troops to a staging base in Kuwait from which they could be called upon to back up coalition forces battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The deployment will include elements of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. About 1,700 soldiers from the same unit are overseas now, spread between Iraq and Kuwait. They're focused on the U.S.-led effort to train and assist the Iraqi troops doing much of the fighting against ISIS there.

"So the whole brigade will now be forward," Anderson said.

"There are a number of options under consideration as the coalition looks for ways to accelerate the defeat of ISIS," it says. "We continue to believe that the most effective way to achieve a lasting victory is to do it by, with and through our partner forces who have the greatest stake in the outcome. For operational security reasons, we will not discuss future deployments or contingency operational planning."

All told, the 82nd Airborne's 2nd Brigade Combat Team includes about 4,400 soldiers who compose infantry, artillery and cavalry units, plus their supply pipeline.

Asked on Thursday whether the soldiers soon bound for Kuwait have prepared to operate in such a challenging environment, a military official said they are trained to address "any contingency" in either theater.

The Pentagon earlier this month submitted plans to the White House for speeding efforts to defeat ISIS, one of President Trump's first orders upon assuming office. Those plans are said to include operations in a number of countries, not only Iraq and Syria.

Charlsy Panzino is a staff writer for Army Times. On Twitter: @charlsypanzino. Andrew deGrandpre is Military Times' senior editor and Pentagon bureau chief. On Twitter: @adegrandpre.

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The US is sending 2500 troops to Kuwait, ready to step up the fight in Syria and Iraq - ArmyTimes.com