In the last weeks of March, a new US army garrison was established in Poland. It is the first time in decades that a new permanent US post is set up on the European continent.
President Joe Biden announced in the summer of last year that the United States would set up a permanent military base in Poland. The announcement came as a reaction to the war in Ukraine and the obvious aim of both the North Atlantic Alliance and the US is to strengthen the eastern flank of NATO.
Until now, the United States had only a rotating troops presence in the region. With the new garrison, the US Army’s V Corps is also getting permanent headquarters in Poland. During the Cold War era, V Corps was stationed in West Germany. Now it has a Polish headquarters located in Poznań at Camp Kościuszko, named after the Polish hero who fought for American and Polish independence in the 18th century. Else then at the headquarters in Poznań, American troops are deployed in 11 locations across Poland.
Warsaw eagerly supported the USG commitment to increase American military presence in the region right from the start, as the country has been pushing for a stronger stance on Russia for years. With the additional 1,700 US troops that Poland welcomed this year, now there are 10, 000 American soldiers stationed in the country. The equipment of these forces include two Patriot missiles and a number of F-16 fighter jets. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak welcomed the establishment of the garrison as a sign of unity in the face of Russian aggression. The garrison is the eighth in Europe in addition to one in Belgium, one in Italy and five in Germany.
In parallel with hosting American troops, Poland is also strengthening its own military. Warsaw allocated signed a 1.4 billion dollar deal in January this year to buy 116 Abrams tanks from the US.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, many other countries in the region have also received US military support. There is now a US rotating troops presence in Romania, while American presence has been enhanced in the Baltic countries, too. The increased presence of US forces in Romania was extended in January this year for an additional nine months. In total there are around 4,000 US soldiers deployed in Romania now, engaged in training NATO soldiers from the region, including from Hungary.
