It is a transition, i hope that includes serious war fighting capabilities. Just putting garrisons of troops sitting in the countries ... will not deter.

Ben Hodges

Categorized in : World

So it’s another way that Germany contributed to deterrence… by enabling the movement of ammunition and equipment inside Germany for the United States Army.

There will be American equipment and people ineach ofthese countries, we willhave the flexibilityto converge the entire brigade for exercise and that is an important part of the deterrence, to show a war-fightingcapability.

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There is concern amongst several East European allies and Ukraine that this will allow Russia to sort of come out of its isolation.

It's not like all or nothing. by Ben Hodges

It's not like all or nothing.

If they’re siding with Assad, it’s not so that they can kill IS, it’s so they can fight against the anti-regime forces.

I think those are probably two completely different (things), the training we're doing right now is with them using their own equipment.

I don't think we realized you could do. by Ben Hodges

I don't think we realized you could do.

One of the interesting things he talked about was the modifications they had made to the BTR, they were not prepared for the casualties that they were receiving. They’ve had hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers die of wounds.

Right now, without mobilising, I don't think they have the capacity to do three major things at one time. They can do one thing, I think, in a big way without mobilising. But in four to five years, I think that will change, certainly within the next four to five years they will have the ability to conduct operations in eastern Ukraine and pressure the Baltics and pressure Georgia and do other things, without having to do a full mobilisation.

Right now, without mobilizing, I don't think they have the capacity to do three major things at one time. They can do one thing, I think, in a big way without mobilizing. But in four to five years, I think that will change, certainly within the next four to five years they will have the ability to conduct operations in eastern Ukraine and pressure the Baltics and pressure Georgia and do other things, without having to do a full mobilization.

We can carry out the tasks that we have now, that are assigned now, with the currently assigned forces and infrastructure and with the rotational forces that the Army has committed to provide, it would certainly be a challenge if they got any less.

By the end of ... 2015, we will have gotten all the equipment for a heavy brigade, that means three battalions plus a reconnaissance squadron, the artillery headquarters, engineers, and it will stay in Europe, you are talking about 150-ish, maybe 160 M1 tanks, M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, 24 self-propelled howitzers.