8500 US Troops Prep For Possible Deployment in case of Russian Deployment of Ukraine

8500 US Troops Prep For Possible Deployment in case of Russian Deployment of Ukraine

In response to a possible Russian incursion into Ukraine, the Pentagon notified many U.S.-based units to prepare themselves for possible deployment.

According to spokesman John Kirby, the units, which are not named, have not been given orders to deploy but have been told to shorten their recall timelines if NATO activates its response force.

According to Kirby, there is no mission per se, this is about getting ahead of a possible activation and making sure these units have time to prepare.

For instance, some units that were already on a 10-day timeline would prepare themselves to be ready in five days. There are no units on heightened alert in Europe, Kirby said.

Pentagon will receive more information after the units are notified, he said. U.S. forces maintain an Immediate Response Force, consisting of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team and supporting Air Force assets, designed for quick deployment.

Kirby described the troops as “brigade combat teams, logistics personnel, medical support, aviation support, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and maybe even a few other capabilities.”

A U.S. embassy attack in early 2020 led the IRF to its first deployment to the Middle East. A subsequent deployment to Afghanistan in August 2021, as the United States completed a chaotic withdrawal from the nation, led it to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport.
In support of the NATO Response Force, a multinational contingent of 40,000 soldiers tasked with responding to aggressions against NATO countries, approximately 8,500 troops would be deployed.

Kirby said U.S. forces would not deploy unless the NRF was activated.
In his words, "This is about raising the alert level for units, and it does not mean they're going to jump on gray tails tomorrow," he said.

In addition to beefing up the readiness of troops in the United States, the Marine Corps recently sent a team of eight Marines with the Marine Security Augmentation Unit to Kyiv to boost security at the embassy, a senior Marine Corps official told reporters.

Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., was initially created after the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, as a fast response force to provide immediate embassy security.

The 8,500 troops on heightened readiness do not include nearly 5,000 Marines en route to Norway as part of a regular rotation in the area.

As part of Cold Response, the East Coast II Marine Expeditionary Force is scheduled to participate alongside Norwegian forces and serve as part of a NATO response to Russian aggression.

The Marines haven't used it yet, an official said.

Earlier, a senior administration official announced that President Joe Biden was consulting with allies about possible deployments "to strengthen our NATO eastern flank allies."

However, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stressed that no final decisions have yet been made on how to respond to Russian aggression.
White House officials are in constant contact with congressional leaders about developments in Ukraine and possible military responses or sanctions.
As fears of a Russian invasion grew, State Department officials ordered family members of U.S. embassy staff in Kyiv to leave.

Biden had to have a video call with European leaders later about the Ukraine issue.

Among the guests were French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Poland's Andrzej Duda, and United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson.