U.S.-based armored brigade combat teams with the military’s most modern equipment will begin continuous rotations to Europe in February, bringing the U.S. military presence on the continent to three manned and equipped brigades.
The armored brigade combat teams will deploy on nine-month rotations from the United States and will bring their own modern equipment to conduct exercises across Atlantic Resolve countries, according to officials with U.S. European Command (EUCOM), based in Stuttgart, Germany.
The plan is part of the Defense Department’s European Reassurance Initiative, aimed at shoring up NATO allies against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. ERI activities are funded at $509 million in the current fiscal year. That amount was multiplied by five to $2.8 billion in the Defense Department’s fiscal 2017 budget request. Increased troop presence accounts for $727 million of that total for fiscal 2017.
“The rotations will demonstrate the ability to rapidly deploy equipment and forces to Europe by sending U.S.-based rotational forces with their currently assigned equipment,” the statement said. “This equipment will be the most modern the Army has to offer, officials noted, and over the next year will replace the current training equipment in Europe.”
By the end of 2017, there will be a continuous presence of three fully equipped BCTs – one armored, one airborne one Stryker brigade – and one pre-positioned set of combat-ready equipment sufficient to support another armored brigade combat team and division-level enablers in Europe, according to a EUCOM statement.
The Army has decided to begin storing static equipment, known as pre-positioned stocks, throughout Europe for contingency operations. When the first rotational armored brigade combat team arrives early next year, the equipment currently used by rotational forces, known as the European activity sets, will remain in Europe.
That gear will be repaired, upgraded, and converted into the core of the Army pre-positioned stocks. The pre-positioned equipment will be stored in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The equipment will enable rapid deployment of ground forces and additional combat power in response to contingencies throughout the region, according to EUCOM.
“This is a big step in enhancing the Army’s rotational presence and increasing their combat equipment in Europe,” EUCOM commander Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove said in a statement. “This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. This means our allies and partners will see more capability — they will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries.”