Destinations are Poland, Germany, and Romania.
President Biden has directed the Pentagon to deploy more than 3,000 American troops to bolster the defense of European allies in the first major movement of U.S. forces in Russia’s military standoff with Ukraine, as a signal of U.S. readiness to defend NATO allies. The president is sending roughly 2,000 soldiers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland and Germany this week and positioning about 1,000 troops that are part of a Germany-based infantry Stryker squadron to Romania.
The deployments are above and beyond the 8,500 troops the Pentagon put on alert last month to be ready to deploy to Europe if needed. Together, the moves aim to reassure jittery NATO allies in the face of the Russian military buildup while avoiding new deployments to Ukraine itself, which is not part of NATO. The Pentagon is not ruling out additional deployments beyond those announced Wednesday.
“It’s important that we send a strong signal to Mr. Putin and, frankly, to the world that NATO matters to the United States and it matters to our allies,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the president to seek God’s wisdom as he directs the U.S. military as commander in chief.
- For the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other military leaders in the Pentagon as they deploy U.S. troops to Europe.
- For the service men and women who are deploying and for their families.
- For U.S. officials who continue to seek a peaceful solution to the tensions raised by Russia toward Ukraine.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, Reuters
