US troops to fly to Europe this week

At a Warsaw summit in July, NATO states decided to deploy four rotating multinational battalions of about 1,000 soldiers each to the military alliance’s eastern borders.

In addition, the United States announced that an armoured brigade, currently stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado, would be deployed.

Around 4,400 American soldiers from the 3rd armoured brigade will be stationed in Central and Eastern Europe on a rotating basis as part of operation Atlantic Resolve, according to Poland’s IAR news agency.

The agency added that equipment belonging to the brigade, including Abrams tanks and Bradley armoured vehicles, would reach the German port of Bremerhaven on Friday.

IAR cited Fort Carson spokeswoman Dani Johnson as saying that troops would start flying out to Europe this week in an operation lasting about two weeks.

The US soldiers will conduct exercises in various locations in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland, where their headquarters will be based, Johnson was quoted as saying.

IAR added that the US troops will be deployed in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary as well as Poland.

Originally, the American troops were set to arrive in Central and Eastern Europe at the end of January and the start of February, according to IAR.

It added that outgoing US President Barack Obama had speeded up the operation so that President elect Donald Trump, who has announced he favours closer ties with Russia, could not stop moves to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.

(pk)

Source: IAR