More soldiers stationed at Georgia’s Fort Stewart are headed to Europe as the war between Russia and Ukraine escalates.
Five hundred more soldiers – on top of 3,800 soldiers deployed already from Fort Stewart – will be sent to Germany in support of infantrymen who have already been deployed.
“About 300 personnel will comprise a modular ammunition ordnance company out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and a support maintenance company out of Fort Stewart, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said during a press conference earlier this week.”They’ll go to Germany to provide additional logistic support to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team 3rd Infantry Division already deployed there.”
The first 3,800 soldiers deployed from Fort Stewart are members of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team.
“The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Ga., along with enabling units, has deployed to Grafenwoehr, Germany,” Army Lt. Col. and Pentagon spokesman Terence M. Kelley told The Georgia Star News.
“This move is temporary in nature, and they join the more than 80,000 U.S. troops already in Europe on rotational and permanent orders,” he said. “These are moves designed to respond to the current security environment and reinforce the deterrent and defensive posture on NATO’s eastern flank.”
Last month, National Guardsmen from the 165th Airlift Wing were reportedly deployed to Europe to provide “logistical support and military aid” during the conflict. The number of Guardsmen deployed is unknown.
President Joe Biden has said that he will not deploy troops to Ukraine to fight the Russians.
“While I will not send American servicemen to fight Russia in Ukraine, we have supplied the Ukrainian military with equipment to help them defend themselves,” he said on February 15. “We have provided training and advice and intelligence for the same purpose.”
Instead, he has stressed a diplomatic approach to handling the situation, which has not deterred Russia from its aggression.
Wednesday, Russian forces reportedly violated another ceasefire agreement that was supposed to allow Ukrainian civilians to flee the country.
The Pentagon has echoed Biden’s sentiment.
“[We’re] going to continue to look for ways to bolster NATO, to look for innovative ways, creative ways to make sure that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] understands how seriously we take [NATO] Article V and how seriously we take our collective security requirements inside that alliance, how seriously we consider the importance of alliances and partnerships,” Kirby said. “We’ve invested a lot of time in the last year in revitalizing alliances and partnerships in Europe and around the world.”
_ _ _
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
