The US Army’s 101st Airborne is practicing for war with Russia just miles from Ukraine’s border

The U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division has been deployed to Europe for the first time in almost 80 years amid soaring tensions between Russia and the American-led NATO military alliance. The light infantry unit, nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles,” is trained to deploy on any battlefield in the world within hours, ready to fight.

“We’re ready to defend every inch of NATO soil,” Lubas told CBS News. “We bring a unique capability, from our air assault capability… We’re a light infantry force, but again, we bring that mobility with us, for our aircraft and air assaults.”   

America is inching it’s way to another war and this time it could escalate to a full blown nuclear conflict.

The 101st Airborne Division is training on the very edge of NATO territory — only around three miles from Romania’s border with Ukraine.

“The real meaning for me, to have the American troops here, is like if you were to have allies in Normandy before any enemy was there,” Romanian Major General Lulian Berdila told CBS News, referring to the landmark World War II battle on France’s north coast. The American forces have been establishing a garrison at the Romanian military’s air base.

Approximately 4,700 soldiers from the 101st Airborne’s home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, have been deployed to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank.

Colonel Edwin Matthaidess, Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team told CBS News they’ve been “closely watching” the Russian forces, “building objectives to practice against” and conducting drills that “replicate exactly what’s going on” in the war.

“It keeps us on our toes,” he said.

The “Screaming Eagles” commanders told CBS News repeatedly that they are always “ready to fight tonight,” and while they’re there to defend NATO territory, if the fighting escalates or there’s any attack on NATO, they’re fully prepared to cross the border into Ukraine.