Trump’s Europe troop decisions cost millions and risk hurting morale - AP
Withdrawing troops from Germany could cost billions of dollars (Photo: Getty Images)
The US Army is awaiting clarification from the Pentagon following contradictory statements by President Donald Trump regarding the number of troops in Europe. This situation could disrupt the lives of service members and cost millions of dollars, reports the Associated Press.
According to a source, the sudden changes are forcing the military to retroactively adjust policy in line with the latest statement by the US president.
Moreover, the uncertainty not only worries European allies, who are concerned about what signal is being sent to Russia, but also risks undermining the morale of American troops. For some of them, rotations were canceled shortly before departure, adding strain to an already tight army budget.
In particular, at the beginning of May, a service memo informed troops that the rotational deployment of 4,000 soldiers from the 2nd Armored Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, based in Texas, to Poland had been canceled. European allies only found out about this in the middle of the month.
But there is also a nuance with the troops themselves. Some of them were told shortly before their departure not to board the flight to Poland, while those sent ahead – about 1,000 soldiers – are still waiting for confirmation on being sent back.
The military is also still awaiting details from the Pentagon on how to execute Trump's order to deploy 5,000 troops to Poland. It is assumed they will come from units already in Europe, rather than as an additional deployment of troops from the US.
The AP notes that the US Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command chartered a vessel to carry equipment from Texas to Poland and to bring back equipment from the unit leaving. The costs for the incoming group have already reached $32 million, including the ship charter, loading, and unloading of equipment.
According to a military official, the unplanned redeployment of personnel and equipment back from Europe will most likely not be within the Pentagon's budget and will be an additional expense.
Withdrawing troops from Germany will be even more expensive
A Defense Department representative said that when Trump first threatened to withdraw 5,000 troops from Europe, Pentagon officials initially proposed recalling the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which is permanently stationed in Germany.
But instead, officials decided to cancel the rotation of another unit to Poland. Then Trump added confusion to that plan as well.
A senior Pentagon official, J. Costa, noted that withdrawing troops stationed in Germany could cost several billion dollars. The reason is that the US lacks designated locations and infrastructure to accommodate troops and their families.
What else is known
At the end of May, the media reported that the US was going to reduce its military presence in Europe faster than NATO had assumed, and that allies were not being given a transition period.
The US has begun withdrawing more than 1,000 of its troops from Lithuania. However, when and in what numbers they will be replaced is still unknown.
