US declares permanent military base in Poland amid plans to bolster its troops in Europe

The United States will establish a permanent military base in Poland, announced US President Joe Biden on Wednesday. In a first, the US has done so on NATO’s eastern flank, which up to now has only had a rotating troop presence. “In a moment when Putin has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very tenets of rule-based order, the United States and our allies are stepping up,” said Biden after arriving in Madrid for a NATO summit.

The latest measures announced by Biden, include the establishment of a permanent headquarters in Poland for the US Army’s V Corps. This “will improve US-NATO interoperability across the eastern flank”, said the White House.

Biden further said he will increase from four to six the number of US destroyers based at Rota Naval Base, Spain.
Explaining Biden's game plan in Poland, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III, who was also attending the NATO Summit in Madrid, said the Army's V Corps headquarters will be a forward command post, an Army garrison headquarters, and a field support battalion. According to Austin, the forces will improve command and control capabilities, interoperability with NATO, and management of prepositioned equipment. "The United States will also maintain the substantial rotational force presence in Poland, including an armoured brigade combat team, a combat aviation brigade element, and a division headquarters element," said Austin. "This enables US Department of Defence to deploy combat forces up and down the eastern flank," he added. 

US to boost troop level in Europe 

In a major boost to the security of Europe and Baltic nations, US President Joe Biden has announced to increase its military presence across Europe in order to strengthen the NATO alliance. The latest announcement from Biden came during the NATO Summit on Wednesday. The President's announcement comes on the heels of a surge of 20,000 US service members to Europe to defend alliance countries in the face of Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine. With this, Biden said, Europe will be guarded by more than 1,00,000 US troops. "I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe to respond to the change [in the] security environment, as well as strengthening our collective security," said POTUS Biden, while sharing the stage with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. 

He said the changes that he announced have been made in close consultation with allies and stressed it will be adjusted further as per the security concerns. Further, fulfilling the long-demand of Ukraine's immediate neighbour, Poland, Biden announced the establishment of a permanent headquarters of the US 5th Army Corps in Warsaw. The move was immediately welcomed by Polish President Andrzej Duda. "In Poland, we're going to establish a permanent headquarters of the U.S. 5th Army Corps and strengthen NATO interoperability across the entire eastern flank," he said. 

Putin has challenged the rules-based infrastructure, says Biden

Further, he maintained that the US will position a rotational brigade combat team in Romania. He affirmed that the additional brigade will maintain the ability to deploy subordinate elements. Besides, the United States will also enhance its rotational deployments in the Baltic republics. "These include armoured, aviation, air defence and special operations forces," he said.
Meanwhile, during the summit, US President also announced the deployment of two additional F-35 squadrons to RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom. As per Biden, the fifth-generation fighters will add to the air support for NATO forces throughout Europe. Also, he pledged to deploy additional air defence, logistics and engineer assets in Germany and add air defence capabilities to forces in Italy.  It is worth mentioning the latest NATO expansion came as Biden said, Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the rules-based infrastructure that has served the world since World War II. 

Image: DOD/AP