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U.S. Extends Troop Deployment in Romania, at Ukraine War’s Doorstep


The Pentagon will keep several thousand American troops in southeastern Romania for at least another nine months, closer to fighting in neighboring Ukraine than any other unit of the US Army, officials said Saturday.

Over the last year, the vast Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, just seven minutes from where Russian forces are stationed in Crimea, across the Black Sea, has become a training center for NATO forces in the southeast. Europe. These forces would be the first line of defense should Russia invade further west.

About 4,000 US troops from the 101st Airborne Division have been stationed at the airbase since last summer, including small groups of soldiers who regularly train right on Romania’s border with Ukraine. Prior to that, a smaller team from the 82nd Airborne Division was sent as part of a rapid response force following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

Troops from the 101st Airborne Division will be leaving in the next two months, and officials say they will be replaced by another brigade from the 101st Division, based in Fort Campbell, Ky.

Additionally, officials said, the mission will be led by senior staff, including two-star generals and top planners, from the 10th Mountain Division, based in Ft. Drum, NY, for a planned 9-month rollout.

Before Saturday, it was not clear whether the Pentagon would keep the senior unit at an airbase in Romania or move its forces elsewhere.

Sending a two-star general close to the war zone will allow quick decisions on where to place troops and weapons if Russia pushes the war into NATO territory, military analysts say.

The military said in a statement Saturday that the move “will ensure the United States continues to be in a good position to provide a strong defensive and deterrent posture alongside our allies around the world.” continental Europe”. “The United States will continue to adjust its attitude as necessary to respond to the dynamic security environment.”

The reinforcements are part of President Biden’s pledge in June to bolster American forces in Europe in response to the Russian invasion. That also includes about 12,000 US troops, currently stationed in western Poland, to coordinate with NATO forces in Poland and the Baltics.

Advocates of maintaining a strong presence in Eastern Europe have pointed to the Russian attack as proof that the United States and its NATO allies did not do enough to contain Moscow last winter.

American forces in Romania are training troops from NATO allies in Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. Although they are one of the closest units to the battle, they do not train Ukrainian forces on the advanced weapons systems being shipped to Ukraine.

Romanian military officials have hailed the US military as a force large enough to ensure what Lieutenant General Iulian Berdila, the country’s ground force commander, described last month as “deterrence and deterrence.” predictable defense together.”

Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, near the Romanian coastal city of Constanta, formerly served as a dull outpost for training NATO troops, including several hundred American troops, and is more widely known in the military. The team served as a stopover with a small dining room for the US military. forces to and from Afghanistan.

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