US to Send Additional Troops, Tankers to Europe

The United States ordered the deployment of 500 additional troops to Europe to augment the forces already there, a U.S. defense official said on March 7. “These additional personnel are being positioned to respond, obviously, to the current security environment caused by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and certainly to help reinforce and bolster deterrence and defense capabilities of the NATO alliance,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment after speaking with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and U.S. European Command head Gen. Tod Wolters, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on a call on condition of anonymity. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The 500 troops, which are primarily “small units” and “enablers,” will come from the 10,000 to 12,000 troops that were put on heightened alert to potentially be deployed to Europe in February, around the time …