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FORT BRAGG (AP) - When Col. Paul Bricker heard about a troop increase in Afghanistan next year, he knew that it would mean more helicopters.

"When it comes to moving around the battlefield in Afghanistan, rotary wing provides that capability," said Bricker, the commander of the Army's 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade.

The Defense Department said Monday his unit of roughly 2,800 soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan in the spring.

"We've been tracking the possibility of this happening for a few weeks," Bricker said in a phone interview from Fort Bragg.

The unit alerted soldiers and their families over the weekend. Bricker said the brigade planned to deploy to Afghanistan in the fall and will continue to train for the deployment.

It is unclear where the unit will be based, but Bricker said his unit will support NATO's International Security Assistance Force, which has most of its units based in southern and western Afghanistan.

On Saturday, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. could double its troops in Afghanistan by next summer to 60,000. Officials say there will likely be one more Army brigade and one Marine regimental combat team ordered to Afghanistan by the summer and at least one of those will be announced shortly after the first of the year.

Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces, has asked for four combat brigades and thousands of support troops which could total between 25,000-30,000 troops in addition to the roughly 32,000 there now.

Ramping up the U.S. contingent in Afghanistan will likely take much of next year, as combat brigades and support units gradually move in. The first unit to go will be the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, which will deploy to Afghanistan in the coming weeks.

The 82nd's aviation brigade flies several different helicopters to support ground combat troops, including the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The unit will perform attack, medical evacuation and air assault missions, Bricker said.

Elements of the unit served in Afghanistan in 2007, and the unit has deployed to Iraq several times since the war there began. Bricker said the brigade retained many of the pilots who flew more than 80,000 flight hours transporting more than 50,000 passengers around Afghanistan in 2007. The unit's experience will overcome the shorter training time.

"We have a lot of experience in Afghanistan because we've been able to retain key leaders," Bricker said.