Ukraine’s Activity Drive Gator Senior Enlisted Chief, Command Sgt. Maj. Jasen Pask, watches as a primary 12 months NCO Academy cadet participates in rifle coaching on the Worldwide Peacekeeping and Safety Middle, in Yavoriv, Ukraine, on Dec. 15, 2021. The Pentagon introduced on Saturday, Feb. 11, that Nationwide Guard troops on a coaching mission in Ukraine have been pulled overseas. (Spencer Rhodes/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. Army Nationwide Guard troops on a coaching mission in Ukraine have been pulled overseas amid rising considerations a few doable Russian invasion, the Pentagon stated Saturday.
About 160 members of the Florida Nationwide Guard, who’ve been in Ukraine since November, have been repositioned elsewhere in Europe, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated in a press release.
Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin “made this resolution out of an abundance of warning — with the protection and safety of our personnel foremost in thoughts,” Kirby stated.
The Pentagon didn’t say whether or not U.S. particular operations troops even have been withdrawn from Ukraine. U.S. Particular Operations Command Europe has a small coaching mission within the neighborhood of Kyiv. As of Friday, these troops have been nonetheless finishing up their mission, U.S. European Command stated on the time.
The repositioning of Guard troops comes because the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine on Saturday started evacuating its personnel overseas.
Florida Nationwide Guardsman Col. Blake Glass, commander of Activity Drive Gator’s 53rd Infantry Brigade, thanks the area people for welcoming them and permitting them to take part in an area spiritual custom in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Jan. 9, 2022. The Pentagon introduced on Saturday, Feb. 11, that Nationwide Guard troops on a coaching mission in Ukraine have been pulled overseas. (Spencer Rhodes/U.S. Army)
On Friday, The Pentagon ordered an extra 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. to Poland, the place they may arrive as early as subsequent week. That comes on prime of the 1,700 troopers from the 82nd which have already be dispatched to the southeastern a part of Poland, not removed from that nation’s border with Ukraine.
The Pentagon additionally has despatched 1,000 Germany-based troopers to Romania to strengthen defenses there. The strikes are aimed toward reassuring allies frightened about Russian aggression within the area. U.S. President Joe Biden has stated there will probably be no position for U.S. troops inside Ukraine ought to Russia invade.
However the U.S. troopers in Poland could possibly be tasked with serving to to handle the circulation Individuals fleeing Ukraine within the days forward.
On Friday, Nationwide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan stated Individuals ought to go away Ukraine inside 48 hours given heightened considerations over the likelihood for a Russian invasion. No U.S. forces will probably be despatched into Ukraine to rescue Individuals who’ve chosen to remain behind, Sullivan stated.
Biden “is not going to be placing the lives of our women and men in uniform in danger by sending them right into a struggle zone to rescue individuals who might have left now however selected to not,” he stated
Kirby stated that the transferring U.S. forces out of Ukraine, the place common rotations of troopers have been finishing up a coaching mission since shortly after Russia’s preliminary navy intervention in 2014, doesn’t imply an finish to assist for Ukrainian forces.
“This repositioning doesn’t signify a change in our dedication to assist Ukraine’s Armed Forces, however will present flexibility in assuring allies and deterring aggression,” Kirby stated.
Twitter: @john_vandiver
John Vandiver
John covers U.S. navy actions throughout Europe and Africa. Based mostly in Stuttgart, Germany, he beforehand labored for newspapers in New Jersey, North Carolina and Maryland. He’s a graduate of the College of Delaware.
