Posted on 11/28/2014 7:38:57 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Fort Carson's 4th Infantry Division will lead an American effort to bolster European allies and deter Russian aggression, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
The post just got a team of soldiers back from Germany where they led a NATO exercise, but the new mission is wider and will last longer.
"This is not going to be a three-week or a month deployment," said a source at the post familiar with the new mission.
The Army hasn't said how long the division troops will be overseas, leaving the deployment indefinite.
U.S. European Command said that a 100-soldier team from the 16,000-soldier division will head to Europe in early 2015 to lead ground forces in "Operation Atlantic Resolve."
"Operation Atlantic Resolve is a continued demonstration of the United States' commitment to the collective security of our NATO allies and support for our partners in Europe, in light of the ongoing Russian intervention in Ukraine," European Command said in a news release. "The operation will remain in place as long as required to reassure our allies."
Russia's eight-month intervention in Eastern Ukraine has heated up this month with reports of increased Russian military activity including more heavy tanks.
European Command boss Gen. Phil Breedlove has been traveling the region in recent days, including a trip to show support for Ukraine.
"The U.S. is committed to supporting Ukraine through this difficult challenge," Breedlove wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. "The international community is imposing ever-tightening economic sanctions on Russia in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and their destructive military actions and support to forces in Eastern Ukraine."
The Fort Carson soldiers will play a role in deterring Russia by building U.S. ties to allies in the region including former Soviet republics in the Baltic.
Leaders from the division will run a series of training exercises to ensure American forces are ready to fight alongside partners.
Leaders at the post are still developing plans for how they will support the open-ended troop commitment in Europe. Exact dates of when soldiers will leave haven't been announced.
Fort Carson got the call as part of the Army's new "regionally-aligned forces" plan. That concept assigns U.S.-based units to overseas areas of responsibility. In the division's case, troops in Colorado Springs will get specialized training in European languages and culture.
The Army hasn't had a division headquarters stationed in Europe since the 1st Armored Division finished its move from Germany to Texas in 2011.
Pulling the 4th Infantry Division to rotate into Europe has long precedent. The division spent much of the Cold War training to deploy to Europe for battle. Starting in 1977, the division was periodically flown to Europe so its soldiers could train to fight with prepositioned gear they retrieved from storage depots.
The division has been redesigned in recent years and has fewer heavy tanks and artillery pieces.
The changes, though, left the division well-suited to European war, with infantry troops to tackle tough terrain, tanks to fight on open plains and eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles for urban battles.
Doesn't mean your judgment is that great. I still remember you brow beating people to vote for Mittens. So if Mittens runs again and wins the nomination, you still going to vote for him no matter what? And did you think Mittens was going to beat Obama the last time?
As for the NWO stuff. You should be more concerned about Moscow and the Communist agents in the West than about some fictional Illuminati elite that secretly wants to topple the "conservative" government of Communists, thieves and rapists in Russia.
Your "born-on date" is February 25, 2013, the election was held on November 6, 2012. So how do you "remember" me "browbeating" people to vote for Romney (which I never did, by-the way) if you weren't here? Or are you admitting that you're a retread? I already got rid of one of those today, you want to be my second?
The most damaging factor in the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was the ever increasing centralization in the ownership and control of the economy and its assets in the hands of the Emperor and Emperor’s henchmen. Like all totalitarian forms of government, they proved to be incapable of running the economy in a competent fashion. When catastrophes struck, the badly damaged economy lacked the resilience to adapt to the resulting disasters, which in turn led to an economic and competent capability to deploy and command effective armed force.
Did one of those a long time ago. Got my Reforger rebounder certificate and a little frostbite from “romping” around Grafenwoehr in the winter. Cold as Syracuse, NY in the winter.
I have to wonder with this “Commander in Chief”. Didn’t we have some people killed in Libya without a response?
This is good news.
Maybe he’s really a 90 year old tailgunner ;-)
There was another article about some tanks being sent over. My thinking is send the HQ and then one of the BCT shortly there after. Got a pretty good idea of which BCT would be going but not going to mention it publicly till announced.
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/26498/2/
USA To Deploy 150 Tanks near Russian Border
Probably to Poland or Germany, but not to the Ukraine.
Right the tanks aren’t for Ukraine, but we did just have a military exercise inside of Ukraine in the last couple of months or so.
more than a symbolic presence. but not enough to deter Putin. we would need to demonstrate that we will take on
his forces in combat in order for Put to be deterred and so far we do not seem to be in that position. no more kasernes full of 3AD/1AD/8ID soldiers in the Rhine Valley as we had during the cold war. exactly what is expected of the crews of these tanks? a death ride? its a major step for us to be in Russia’s face like this, and I don’t see how we back this play, should it not necessarily work out to our advantage.
That's the most pathetic statement I've ever read about a morally decrepit, criminally-led, bankrupt and leaderless country lighting a match in a powderkeg that's none of its business. My boy went to fight 'the good war', saw all his buddies killed by ROE, got spit on when he came back and metaphorically sodomized by the very organization that's supposed to support him and returning veterans.
There is absolutely no justification for supporting the militaristic saber-rattling of a discredited leadership & party with 2 more years of this crap to go. I swear sometimes it reads like a Bama-cheerleader chorus line around here every time they hit the war-gong. EVERYTHING this administration does is with an agenda and designed to manipulate. It is absolutely reckless to suggest 'crafting a war' makes it worth fighting & dying for. There is no Casus belli here. All a new war or terrorist attack will do is further erode the Constitution and my rights. I resent that notion. Particularly when it's invented. It's only made worse by justifying the spilling of US blood for this 'crusade'.
If there will be blood, it will be on the hands of those that support the machinations of this pathetic administration.
Nice try. Good luck convincing anyone with a brain that Barack Hussein Obama is actually running this nation and making military decisions. Soon Obama will be a bad memory thanks to the Founders and the Constitution. How will you try to convince Americans to support our enemies against our own nation then?
Neither country would have the cash to do that.
It would break our backs financially.
Military "transformation" and all that.
With what? The U.S. military is broken almost beyond repair, and can barely fight in Iraq and Afghanistan anymore, much less in Eastern Europe against the Russians.
These chestbeaters who still live in 1986 are pathetic.
Excellent point. Many of those pushing these conspiracy theories turn a blind eye to the corruption in Russia, right now, or it is Russia Today, which is sourced in Russia anyways. Sorry if I misread. There’s just numerous parallels between the decay of America and the decay of Rome that are happening right now. I realize even more that Obama’s weak response of barking at Russia is making us appear even more absurd.
Not to mention, the drones are only really meant for hitting people with no Air Force and no air defenses.
Sorry to hear about your son, regardless of which conflict he returned to. Veterans deserve respect and deserve recognition for who they are: Richard, Jake, Jane, Tom, etc.
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