The U.S. is expected to deploy 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.

Commander Brandon Tegtmeier said he and his “command element” were ordered to head to the Middle East as the war with Iran intensifies. It was previously reported that the Pentagon was considering a boots-on-the-ground operation in Kharg Island.

The Fort Bragg-based brigade can be deployed anywhere in the world within 24 hours and serves as the Army’s emergency response force. A possible ground operation in Kharg Island, a small five-mile landmass that handles 90% of Iran’s oil exports could result from the deployment.

The island has already been hit with heavy fire from U.S. forces since the war began in late February. It is packed with oil infrastructure and a civilian population of industry workers and an unknown number of military personnel.

President Donald Trump, who ordered a large bombing on the island earlier this month, has called the island Iran’s “crown jewel.”

However, he hasn’t hinted if using ground forces to seize the territory is in the works. However, the potential for an assault on the island is being hashed out among political and defense circles.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham made headlines over the weekend when he compared a possible Marine invasion of Kharg to the Corps’ famous attack on Iwo Jima during World War II, which killed thousands of troops.

“We got two Marine expeditionary units sailing to this island. We did Iwo Jima. We can do this. My money is always on the Marines,” said Graham on Fox News. “I don’t know if you take the island or you blockade the island. But I know this: the day we control that island, this regime, this terrorist regime, has been weakened. It will die on a vine.”

However, critics have said that such an operation would put Marines and other forces into the line of fire from missiles and drones, potentially significant casualties.

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Okinawa, Japan, is expected to arrive by the end of the week in the Central Command area, while a second Marine force from San Diego could arrive within a few weeks. Retired Adm. James Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, said if their goal is to control Kharg, the first challenge for the Marines is to get the MEU’s ships through the Strait of Hormuz.