US military vows more complex training in Europe to deter Russia

US military vows more complex training in Europe to deter Russia
The US military on Sunday (January 8) vowed to increase the scope and complexity of its European training exercises to deter Russian aggression, as more US tanks, trucks and other equipment arrived in Germany for a big buildup on NATO’s eastern flank.

"These forces here were a direct response to the destabilizing efforts of the Russian government in the Ukraine," US Air Force Lieutenant General Tim Ray, deputy commander of US European Command, told Reuters.

Ray underscored the United States’ "rock-solid commitment to Europe" in the northern German port of Bremerhaven, where he marked the arrival in recent days of some 2,800 pieces of military equipment that will be used by nearly 4,000 US troops in exercises in NATO states near Russia.

The US and NATO buildup in eastern Europe comes days after US intelligence agencies accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering an effort to help Republican Donald Trump’s electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Ray said the US military’s nearly 70,000 service members in Europe were adapting to rapidly changing strategic challenges such as Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, migrant flows from Syria, and "Islamist" radicalism, as evidenced by a truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people in December.

The US military and NATO are seeking to boost their ability to quickly respond to emerging threats by pre-positioning supplies and equipment across Europe, while upgrading airfields, ranges and other infrastructure after years of neglect.

"Investment this year will exceed three billion (USD). It’s going to include more naval, air, ground and special operations, rotational forces. It’s going to improve our exercises with different partner countries throughout the year. It’s going to help improve the infrastructure and to spend those dollars on training and integration with our partners," Ray said.

The newly-arrived tanks and trucks were just one part of a larger force that included equipment in "space, cyberspace, the air and sea," he said.

The US and Polish military are gearing up for a large "massing" exercise at the end of January.

US officials say this year’s military exercises will focus on better integrating disparate military components and domains, instead of focusing on single areas of concern, such as air superiority, as they were in the past.

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