Fort Carson soldiers are likely to head back to Europe in the not-too-distant future, as Congress wrangles over funding to support wars in Ukraine and Israel and to sustain troops in Europe.

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson recently split up funding for Israel and Ukraine, with the House approving aid for Israel on Thursday, despite bipartisan support for both.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee on the details of the aid packages and progress in both wars. Blinken noted strong progress in Ukraine and the ripple effect it’s had strengthening NATO relationships, an area where Fort Carson soldiers have provided direct support.

The proposed $44.4 billion to support Ukraine features $5 billion to sustain forces in Europe that were surged into the area in the wake of the Ukraine war and $18 billion to purchase weapons and munitions from American companies to resupply stocks, Austin said. Without American support for Ukraine, “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful,” he told the committee. This week, Ukraine saw the most intense shelling of the year, with 118 settlements hit across 10 regions in 24 hours, The Guardian reported.

“If Putin is successful, he will not stop at Ukraine, and if you are a Baltic state you are thinking ‘I’m next,'” Austin said. “And there is no question in my mind that sooner or later, he will challenge NATO and we will find ourselves in a shooting match.”

If U.S. support for Ukraine waivers, support from other countries could diminish, as well, Blinken said.

In terms of total aid to Ukraine, allies and partners have given $90 billion in the war, and the U.S. has given $75 billion, he said.

“What we have seen is a remarkable coming together of our NATO alliance, an alliance that has grown stronger and larger as a result of Putin’s aggression,” Blinken said.

Fort Carson soldiers worked directly with NATO troops earlier this year in an effort to deter Russian aggression. The largest exercise Fort Carson soldiers worked on was called Griffin Shock in May, and it brought together Polish F-16s, American Apache attack helicopters, and numerous ground forces with tanks, Strykers, Bradleys and other heavy artillery. During the exercise, troops from Croatia, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States trained together. Carson soldiers helped plan and oversee the exercise, but NATO officers were in command.

Maj. Gen. David Doyle said after Griffin Shock, Fort Carson command staff worked with troops in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which have only enjoyed independence from Russia since the 1990s. NATO has four permanent battle groups in the Baltic states.

In each country, Fort Carson soldiers helped with exercises to ensure that helicopters, planes and jets could work in tandem with ground forces firing artillery, rockets and missiles, Doyle said. He noted that the training was mutually beneficial.

“We learned an awful lot by being there. Certainly, we helped the security situation. We made our NATO partners more capable,” he said. “But we walked away from that whole experience with a better understanding of what we have to do to be successful.”

Integrating the communications between countries took work in every case, but it improved each time, he said.

The vast majority of troops with Fort Carson returned by September, but some have remained including 4th Security Forces Assistance Brigade, which has an enduring presence.

Soon, a brigade may return to Europe, he said.

“It’s entirely likely we’ll push another formation back to Europe, back to Poland,” Doyle said.

At the same time, Fort Carson has soldiers deployed across the world with soldiers in the Middle East and Asia. The 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team is on a nine-month deployment to South Korea, where they are providing security and training.

Last week, Fort Carson welcomed back soldiers with the 4th Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment who flew missions in Iraq, Syria and Kuwait to help ground forces in a mission focused on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq, commonly known as ISIS, he said. They also worked in logistics moving around people and equipment. U.S. forces have seen a recent uptick of attacks in the Middle East since Hamas’ attack in Israel.

Doyle described their work as a heavy lift as things have become more violent.

“As things became more animated in the Middle East, there became a bigger premium to make sure everything was in the right place. And so they did more and more of that work towards the end of their time,” he said.

Additional members of the same unit, also known the 4-4 Assault Helicopter Battalion, will be coming home soon. But some military police and engineers will be staying in the region.

Doyle does not expect Fort Carson troops to be deployed to assist in the war against Hamas in Israel, but that could change, and the base is ready for that possibility.

“We’re going to continue to train for the most difficult thing, which is the large-scale combat operations, and then be ready to adjust and be ready to adapt,” he said.