This will be the biggest deployment of U.S. troops in the past 20 years and will cost some USD 3.4 billion. The move is part of the commitment U.S. made to its allies in Eastern Europe to increase security in the region after Russia’s occupation of Crimea, in 2014, according to Digi 24 news station. This will also be a test on how fast the U.S. can deploy troops in the region.
The American soldiers that will be sent to Eastern Europe are part of elite units that also fought in the war in Iraq. A U.S. armoured battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Jason Sabat will be stationed at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base in Eastern Romania. The troops will be rotated every nine months, says TransylvaniaToday.ro.
Elements of a U.S. aviation brigade that will be deployed in Germany will also be sent to Romania for exercises in the Black Sea region.
Romania will also host troops from other NATO member states in the following years. A multinational NATO brigade will be stationed at Craiova, in Southern Romania. Several NATO states, including the U.S., Germany, Bulgaria, Poland have already announced they would contribute to this brigade. Meanwhile, Romania will send some of its troops to Poland.
Romania also hosts two NATO command and control centres that are supposed to coordinate the Alliance’s operations in the region. Similar centres are located in Poland and other Easter European states.
The U.S. and NATO presence in Romania also include the anti-ballistic missile shield at Deveselu, in Southern Romania, which became operational in the first half of this year. U.S. and NATO troops have increased their participation in military drills in Romania and NATO ships have been rotating in the Black Sea, since Russia took over Crimea.
