(COLORADO) — The U.S. Department of Defense held a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 17 and one of the items discussed was the recent decision by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to put U.S. troops on standby with ‘prepare to deploy’ orders in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday, Oct. 16, Secretary Austin issued the ‘be prepared to deploy’ orders to 2,000 Department of Defense personnel from a range of units.

“This order only puts these forces — these units on higher alert. The Secretary will continue to assess our force posture and remain in close contact with allies and partners,” explained Singh, who said should the President decide to, the U.S. would be in a position to rapidly deploy them.

“It is up to the commanders to start sourcing those units, to figure out who would best meet the requirements that is needed. But those units have not been identified yet.”  

FOX21 News reached out to Fort Carson and Peterson Space Force Base for comment on the recent order by Secretary Austin.

“At this time we are not disclosing any specific units on Prepare To Deploy Orders due to operations security considerations,” wrote the U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Public Affairs.

A U.S. Space Force spokesperson also responded to FOX21’s request and said the following:

“Prepare-to-Deploy Orders, sometimes referred to as PTDO status, places certain military units on a heightened alert for potential deployment. Due to operational security considerations, the Department of Defense will not disclose which units on which bases have been placed in PTDO status at this time.”

For more information about the orders and for Tuesday’s full press briefing, click on the link above.