Fort Bragg officials confirm soldiers with 18th Airborne Corps deployed to U.S.-Mexico border

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Two aviation units from the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg and several military police companies from Fort Bliss will deploy to the southern border, according to Fort Bragg officials.

The two 82nd Airborne units, which could be used to transport Customs and Border Patrol agents to more remote areas along the border, will head to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and Davis-Montham Air Force Base in Arizona, while the military police companies will head to Lackland and Camp Pendleton in California.

More than 5,000 troops sent to the border are scheduled to be there by the end of the week. Deployments began Monday.

The units are among ten listed which show hundreds of active duty forces moving to bases in California, Arizona, and Texas by the end of the week.

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The 18th Airborne Corps, which has soldiers based in Fort Bragg and Fort Stewart, confirmed their soldiers and equipment were part of the deployment.

The troops are supposed to back up Border Patrol, not engage with asylum-seekers, as a caravan of migrants--still about 1,000 miles away--makes its way through Mexico.

Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, told a Washington news conference that 800 soldiers from Fort Campbell and Fort Knox in Kentucky were already en route to Texas as the first wave of Operation Faithful Patriot.

According to ABC News, the operation is expected to last 45 days.