Previously, US President Joe Biden said that he was preparing to send 8,500 troops to Eastern Europe, apparently in response to the 2021-2022 Russia-Ukraine standoff. Of course, you can also think of this as an effort to stop the war.
However, from the 1999 air raids on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the 2003 Iraq War, the influx of refugees in the Middle East since 2010, etc., the turmoil in Europe is also one of the means to attract the return of the US dollar, anyway, Ukraine and the United States are separated by Western Europe and the Ocean, what about long-term instability?
It is not surprising that the current increase in U.S. and NATO troops is mainly going to Poland and the baltic countries. Since the outbreak of the Ukrainian Civil War in 2014, western armies have openly operated in Ukraine, mainly 100-200 US troops and a small number of other NATO troops.
Of course, the number of secretly operating special forces and mercenaries is unknown.
The movement of U.S. troops
Judging from the information released by the US military, in fact, there is already a heavy army deployed in Poland, if in the rotation order, it should be the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade of the US 1st Infantry Division.
However, judging from the photos and videos released by the US military, the 1st Armored Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, which is supposed to be withdrawn at the end of December 2021, is probably still in Poland, and training information on the maintenance of tanks and armored vehicles has also been announced.
U.S. tank units
That is to say, it is possible that the U.S. military has an armored brigade-level combat team in addition to the aforementioned increase of 8500 troops, according to the establishment of about 4400 people in Poland.
In addition, on February 4, the United States released the news that 2,000 people of the 82nd Airborne Division, the famous "All-American Division" of the US Military, flew to Germany.
Aircraft transport
Note that the U.S. soldiers in the photo are not wearing the "National Division" badge, but the insignia of the U.S. 18th Airborne Army, which is a dragon, a dragon in the West.
By February 6, Poland had announced that 1,700 men of the 82nd Airborne Division had arrived at the Polish airport of Rzeszów. Major General Christopher Donashew, commander of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, was greeted by Vojcech Marsywice, Chief of Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Operations Command.
The American troops on the left and the Polish troops on the right
The airborne troops themselves have a high degree of combat readiness, and the equipment is basically light equipment suitable for airlift, and the deployment speed is relatively fast. So will there be more heavily armed troops going to Eastern Europe later?
In addition, Poland also announced the deployment of F-15 fighters by US fighters.
On February 10, a U.S. F-15 fighter plane was deployed to fly to Vasco Air Base in Poland, and Polish Defense Minister Błaszczak made it clear that the F-15s were meant to strengthen NATO's eastern airspace.
F-15
From photos sent from Poland, the tail fins of these F-15s bear the giant skull lightning insignia, which is the insignia of the 493rd Fighter Squadron of the 48th Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force.
According to the rotation data of the US fighter unit, the current duty should be the 180th and 301st fighter wings.
So are these F-15s additional U.S. Air Force units? Further confirmation by the U.S. military may be needed.
United Kingdom and Germany
Germany has said it will send an additional 350 troops to Lithuania, so that the German garrison in the small Baltic state will reach 620 people and the total NATO garrison will reach 850 people.
The British also sent additional troops, and on February 10, 350 people flew to warsaw, the polish capital, and according to the information just released by the British, these British troops belonged to the 45th Commando Of the British Royal Marine Corps.
The British arrived
Note that the aircraft in the picture above has the words Royal Air Force written on it.
Poland and Ukraine
In fact, the Polish army is not idle, on the one hand, it is exercising in Germany, and on the other hand, it is pulling Ukrainian troops to conduct exercises.
Many people may not know that as early as 2015, Poland pulled Lithuania and Ukraine to form a joint force, called the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade, which was formed in January 2016 with a total of 4,500 people.
The title of this Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade was "Grand Getman Constanti Ostrogsky", and if you look at the life of this man, you will find that the direction is obvious - anti-Russian.
Constanti Ostrogsky, born around 1460 and died in 1530, spent his life fighting the Tatars and the Muscovite Principality (the predecessor of Russia).
This person was given the post of Grand Gertmann in the battle against the Tatars, which was a senior military commander of the Polish-Lithuanian United Kingdom, roughly understood as a grand general/grand marshal, second only to the monarch, for life.
But it is not known why these Eastern European countries chose this historical figure as the title of troop, and although Konstanti Ostrogsky fought with Russia many times, he lost many battles, and in the Battle of Vedrosha in 1500, he was directly captured by the Principality of Moscow and imprisoned for three years.
So, what the hell are they thinking?
Joint exercises
From the image above, it is clear that it is the Ukrainian soldier who wears the blue and yellow flag armband, while the Polish soldier who wears the white and red flag armband is the Polish soldier. The soldiers in the back who wore black masks wore camouflage uniforms that differed from theirs, for the Lithuanian army.
In addition, U.S. military advisers also participated in the exercise.
Another exercise was the "Joint Spirit '22", which was attended by 5,200 people from 15 NATO countries. Poland claimed to have conducted coordinated exercises mainly with the Germans.
Poland flew the German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade.
German tanks in Poland
The Germans were mechanized infantry of the 41st Panzergrenadier Brigade.
German infantry
The U.S. Military Training Command 7 in Germany hosted the exercise.
The scale of the exercise has increased compared with previous years, I wonder if it is related to the recent situation?
In this way, the US military has deployed 2,000 people, and if it does deploy 8,500 people, it will have to deploy about 1.5 brigade-level combat teams.
Of course, if you want to transfer the armored brigade-level combat team, I am afraid that all the heavy equipment will not be transported by transport aircraft, that is, it will take a while, and I do not know what news will be released for analysis in the future.
In addition, the Ukrainian side is also a master of performance art, and the following is the recruit training in Kiev on February 5, counting how many types of assault rifles there are.
Recruit training
What are the left guys holding? "Stealth Rifle"?
Is this a way to ask for military assistance?
In any case, even if the tension has been maintained, at least the United States is not a loss.
Pay attention to the Guards Infantry Division, pay attention to the military