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Sure smells like war - US sends another 500 troops to Europe
[The Hill] Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over the weekend ordered more U.S. troops and military equipment sent to Europe as Russia presses its attack on Ukraine, a senior defense official said Monday. Austin ordered roughly 500 additional troops to Poland, Romania and Germany "to respond to the current security environment in light of Russia's renewed aggression against Ukraine" and to bolster NATO’s eastern flank, the official told reporters. They stressed President Biden's assertion that no American troops will be sent to Ukraine and that the additional forces are "enablers" going to NATO allies "to shore up capabilities that are already there." As part of the new deployment, KC-135 refueling aircraft will be sent to Greece, though it was unclear how many aircraft would be sent or where they would come from. Additionally, an air support operation center will be deployed to Poland and Romania, and an ordinance company and a maintenance company will be sent to Germany for "additional logistic support to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division" already deployed there, the official said. They could not provide a breakdown of how many troops will go where and would not rule out more forces being sent later. The U.S. military now has about 100,000 personnel stationed in Europe on either a rotational or a permanent basis as Russia’s violent incursion into Ukraine comes up on its two-week mark. Posted by: Besoeker 2022-03-08 |
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