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Massive Army exercise in Europe is curtailed amid coronavirus angst
[Stars and Stripes] STUTTGART, Germany ‐ The largest U.S. military exercise in Europe in a generation will be scaled back because of concerns about the coronavirus, marking a possible setback for the Army after the service spent years building up for the drill known as Defender-Europe 20.U.S. European Command said Wednesday that the training, which initially called for sending 20,000 U.S.-based soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean, would be downsized. "After careful review of the ongoing Defender-Europe 20 exercise activities and in light of the current coronavirus outbreak, we will modify the exercise by reducing the number of U.S. participants," EUCOM said in a statement The training will be adjusted, but the military will still work with allies to meet "our highest priority training objectives," EUCOM said. In all, more than 35,000 troops were originally slated to take part in Defender Europe, which is already underway and is slated to run until the end of June. Most of the major exercises, including paratroopers dropping into the Republic of Georgia and ground forces rehearsing the defense of territory in the vicinity of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, were to take place in April and May. It was unclear Wednesday whether such large scale drills were still to take place or were among the activities curtailed. U.S. Army Europe said it is still working through the details of the adjustments. "The decision to make the change is the right thing to do in light of the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus. The health protection of our force, and that of our allies and partners, is a top priority," USAREUR said. Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-12 |
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