Washington (USA), 6 March. (LaPresse) – In recent days, the US Army suddenly cancelled an important training exercise for an elite paratrooper unit, fuelling speculation within the Pentagon about a possible deployment of the unit to the Middle East. This was reported by the Washington Post, citing defence sources. The unit is part of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which includes a combat brigade of approximately 4,000-5,000 soldiers, ready to deploy at 18 hours' notice for missions ranging from capturing airports and other critical infrastructure to reinforcing US embassies and emergency evacuations. At present, writes the Post, no deployment order has been issued. In addition, the newspaper's sources reported that the Army is expected to announce shortly a previously planned deployment to the Middle East of a helicopter unit from the 82nd, but this will not happen before late spring.