FORT HOOD, Texas — The 1st Cavalry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion will load their vehicles onto rail cars Thursday at the Fort Hood Rail Operations Center as they prepare to deploy in support of DEFENDER 20, a U.S. Army Europe-led joint, multinational training exercise series scheduled for April-May in central Europe.

The battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. Tasha Lowery, will be available for interview during the effort, which will be part of the largest deployment of U.S.-based Army forces to Europe for an exercise in the last 25 years.

The First Team will participate in 3 sequential exercises during their deployment to Europe.

The first is the Warfighter Exercise, a culminating training event that validates the division’s war-fighting capabilities in a simulated, large-scale combat operations scenario.

Second is the Joint Warfighting Assessment, which is the Army Chief of Staff’s capstone event that provides the Army a venue to achieve training readiness, future force development, and interoperability with multinational partners.

The First Team will also participate in Allied Spirit XI, an event that will see the 1st Cav leading a multinational division element while conducting a live river crossing.

Media interested in attending the event should RSVP to Sgt. 1st Class Michael Garrett at michael.b.garrett16.mil@mail.mil by 5 p.m. January 29. Attending media should meet at the media parking area at the Fort Hood Welcome Center on T.J. Mills Blvd. no later than 8:00 a.m. January 30.