In addition, about 300 men from 18th Airborne Corps Headquarters, also from Fort Bragg, arrived in Germany to oversee the transfer of reinforcements to Eastern Europe. The 18th Airborne Corps and this headquarters unit is led by Lieutenant General Michael E. Kurilla, who President Biden appointed in April to the post of Central Command of the armed forces. And last Thursday, Mr. Austin said that 125 German army soldiers would go to Bulgaria for training.
In recent days, the Pentagon has also sent air reinforcements to Britain, Germany and Eastern Europe. The Air Force said F-35 fighter jets from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, were deployed to Germany days after B-52 bombers from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, were sent to the UK on a previously scheduled mission.
Eight F-15s from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, flew to Lusk Air Force Base in Poland to supplement the eight US F-15s normally deployed in the UK.
“The deployment of US F-15s in Poland enhances the collective defense capability on NATO’s eastern flank and expands the air patrol mission,” said Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa. said in a statement.
Eight F-16s, normally based in Spangdahlem, Germany, were also deployed to the Fetesti Air Base in Romania.
The build-up of air forces in Eastern Europe is fraught with risk. American and Russian warplanes operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea flew dangerously close to each other. three separate incidents earlier this monthincluding one when the planes were about five feet apart, Pentagon officials said.
In addition to deployments to Poland and Romania, the Pentagon has placed 8,500 other troops in the United States on “high alert” for possible deployment to Eastern Europe. According to the military, these troops will take part in the NATO response force, which may soon be activated.
The bulk of the troops put on high alert are active ground forces, including combat brigades, as well as medical, aviation, transport, reconnaissance and reconnaissance forces.