OSTERHOLZ-SCHARMBECK , Germany, Dec. 14 (UPI) — The U.S. Army plans to deploy about 4,000 troops to Poland in early 2017 in a demonstration of strength aimed at Russia, a senior U.S. military official said.
Lt. Gen. Frederick Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, said Tuesday the personnel would arrive in Germany and then be transferred to Poland. He made his remarks Tuesday at an army logistics school in Osterholz-Scharmbeck in northern Germany. He said northern Germany would be a logistics hub for U.S. troops deploying to Central and Eastern European countries.
The placement of troops in Poland, part of NATO’s Atlantic Resolve operation, is meant to secure peace in Europe and offer a show of strength to Russia, Hodges added. An armored brigade of the U.S. military, currently in Colorado, will also be sent to Poland.
NATO, at a July summit meeting in Warsaw, agreed to deploy four rotating multinational battalions, each with about 1,000 troops, to Eastern European countries to counter anxiety about possible Russian aggression.
