ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Predicting that before long, the U.S. will be in an all-out, kinetic conflict in the Indo-Pacific, retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said it’s critical that Europe strengthen its deterrence posture now against threats from Russia.

The prediction, Hodges said, is not based on secret intelligence but on what he has gathered from watching and listening and “how the Chinese have observed our lack of resolve in so many ways ever since Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 … and we didn’t do anything.”

Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army Europe, will discuss his new book, Future War and the Defence of Europe, during an upcoming webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Hodges, who led Army Europe from 2014 through 2017 and is now the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis, will speak at 2 p.m. Eastern on June 9 as part of AUSA’s Thought Leaders series.

A new Landpower Essay published by the Association of the U.S. Army looks at the changing landscape of future warfare. 

Maj. Amos Fox, an armor officer who frequently writes for AUSA, uses the siege of a 16,000-population Ukrainian town to show how proxy wars and manufactured insurgencies have changed modern warfare. The 2014 battle pitted Ukrainian military and paramilitary forces against pro-Russian insurgents, leading to the Ukrainian forces being encircled by the insurgents for several days and facing heavy casualties from artillery barrages. 

Defender-Europe 2021, the large-scale Army-led exercise involving 30,000 U.S. troops and NATO forces from 26 nations, kicked off May 4 and will continue through June with several linked exercises across the continent.

The Army began deploying soldiers and equipment from U.S. ports and installations in mid-March to participate in Defender-Europe, which will feature nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in more than 10 countries.

The future of the British army and its modernization efforts will be the focus of an upcoming virtual event hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Tickell, deputy chief of the British Army General Staff, will speak May 6 during AUSA’s Thought Leaders webinar series. The event begins at 11 a.m. Eastern. It is free, but registration is required here.

A new unclassified global threat assessment from the U.S. intelligence community has the same old rivals: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. 

Some 500 soldiers are headed to Germany as the Army stands up two new units that are slated to become operational later this year to boost several combat capabilities in the region. 

As part of the plan, announced April 13 by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, three sites that had been scheduled to be returned to the German government under a previous effort to reduce U.S. military presence in Europe will now be retained.

Combining two key Army commands serves as a “win” for the U.S. and its allies ahead of a major multinational exercise in Africa later this year, a senior Army leader said. 

“We’re very excited about the merger,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said Feb. 23 during a press call. 

He added that “the consolidation of our two commands is a win for Africa and a win for 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.”

Consolidating Army operations in Europe and Africa under one command is better preparing the U.S. to face near-peer competitors, says Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.