ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

A plan to move almost 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany, including the Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment, is on hold, President Joe Biden announced Feb. 4.

In a speech at the State Department, Biden said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be “leading a global posture review of our forces so that our military footprint is appropriately aligned with our foreign policy and national security priorities.”

He added, “While this review is taking place, we’ll be stopping any planned troop withdrawals from Germany.”

The Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment is expected to continue playing a key role in Europe even as the Pentagon carries out a plan to bring the Stryker unit home to the U.S. 

Speaking Oct. 20 at the Atlantic Council, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that after talks with his counterparts in Romania and Bulgaria as well as the Baltic States, “there is now the real opportunity of keeping the 2nd Cavalry Regiment forward in some of these countries on an enduring basis.”

The Army’s 3rd Cavalry Regiment—a Stryker brigade combat team from Fort Hood, Texas—encountered a much more experienced, “battled-hardened” Iraqi military during its recent nine-month advise-and-assist mission in Iraq, Syria and Kuwait.

“They are happy to be in the lead,” said Regiment Command Sgt. Maj. Adam Nash. “From a military mindset, … [conducting] your own maneuvers within direct fires, that’s a huge leap. And to see them do that in combat without our advisement, without our prompting, that was a huge leap.”