Thursday, October 6, 2016

Army Assures European Allies With Tanks, Bradleys and Relationships

Army Assures European Allies With Tanks, Bradleys and Relationships: From massing an entire armored brigade combat team in Poland to a lone major serving in Greece, the U.S. Army is continuing its push to build partnerships across Europe.

“Why would we go alone with anything? It’s important that we are strong members of the [NATO] alliance,” said Col. Jason Riley, commander of the U.S. Army NATO Brigade.

Col. Phil Brooks, commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, which just completed a year as the regionally-allocated force to Europe, agreed.

“As the regionally-allocated force, we had the opportunity to train daily with multiple countries from the Baltics to the Black Sea, and that’s important because that’s the way ahead,” he said. “This is the strongest alliance, and we have to be able to fight together every day.”

The work Riley, Brooks and their soldiers have been doing across the European continent is part of U.S. Army Europe’s effort to reassure America’s allies in the face of Russian aggression. This push includes Operation Atlantic Resolve, which deploys American soldiers to train with their NATO partners, and the addition of an armored brigade combat team rotation into Europe beginning next year.