President Joe Biden authorized the Pentagon to order up to 3,000 reserve troops to be ready to deploy to Europe.
Mr. Biden said in his order on Thursday that he determined “it is necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility.”
It’s not immediately clear whether the Pentagon plans to actually deploy the reservists any time soon.
Operation Atlantic Resolve has provided deployments of combat-credible forces to Europe since 2014. The effort was launched in response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Continued rotational deployments of troops to Europe seek to build military readiness.
Mr. Biden’s order designates Operation Atlantic Resolve as a contingency operation for the first time.
Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday that the new designation “benefits troops and families with increases in authorities, entitlements and access to the reserve component forces and personnel.”
Mr. Biden’s executive order “reaffirms the unwavering support and commitment to the defense of [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)’s] eastern flank in the wake of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war on Ukraine,” he said.
Force Posture Levels in Europe Remain the Same
The lieutenant general noted that the reservists who may be ordered to active duty “are not additional forces; these are forces that will augment what we already have there.”
As an example, he said the U.S. European Command might decide over time that someone from a reserve component unit may be able to take over tasks currently being done by active-duty troops. “In terms of where forces will go, it’s really up to the U.S. European Command commander’s decision.”
U.S. European Command is preparing to use the new authority to continue the United States’ commitment to NATO’s collective security, spokesman Navy Capt. Bill Speaks said in a news release on Thursday.
