The U.S. Army is planning to deploy about 4,000 troops to Poland in early 2017. The troop increases are intended to be a demonstration of strength aimed at Russia. Lt. Gen. Frederick Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, said Tuesday the personnel would arrive in Germany and then be transferred to Poland. Germany would be the logistics hub for the U.S. troops. The U.S. will also send an armored brigade to Poland.
NATO has agreed to deploy four rotating multinational battalions, each with about 1,000 troops, to Eastern European countries to counter anxiety about possible Russian aggression.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has started moving tanks to a storage facility in the Netherlands in a bid to “deter” Russia, amid the biggest NATO buildup in Europe since the Cold War. A total of 1,600 vehicles are due to be stored at a six-warehouse complex in the southeastern village of Eygelshoven, near the Belgian and German borders.
Abrams Tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Paladin artillery have already started arriving in what is part of a $3.4 billion Congress-approved scheme to increase NATO military capability in Europe. Storage sites are also planned to be reopened in Poland, Belgium and Germany.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017, which was approved by Congress on December 8, approved a $3.4 billion spending plan to boost European defenses. The Baltic States, as well as Poland, have said they have been greatly alarmed by the crisis in Ukraine and fear “Russian aggression” on their territories.
“When visiting the Baltic States, I experienced this for myself. Standing there, near the Russian border, you could feel the tense atmosphere,” said General Tom Middendorp, the Dutch chief of defense. “But the Russian military activities are not just a concern for our eastern allies. They are a concern for all of us.”
“We are taking proportionate and measured steps to defend our alliance. We want to make sure we are sending a clear signal to Russia that we will not accept any violation of NATO’s territorial integrity.”
In November, the U.S. military send over 600 containers of ammunition to Germany, the largest single shipment in more than 20 years. NATO military exercises in Poland have also greatly increased in personnel. Normally, 2000-4000 troops engage in military exercises in Eastern Europe. But in 2016, the Anaconda war games involved 31,000 personnel from 24 NATO countries.
Meanwhile, the Russians have their own war games in Belarus with state of the art weaponry and armaments.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6.
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