ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army has begun moving the first of about 20,000 pieces of equipment bound for Europe as part of the largest overseas exercise in more than two decades.

On Jan. 23, vehicles, heavy equipment and materiel were loaded for rail transport and onward shipping from Fort Hood and Fort Bliss in Texas and Fort Stewart, Georgia. The equipment is bound for ports in Europe as part of Defender-Europe 20, the Army announced in a news release. The shipping will continue through late February.

There won’t be “anything easy” about deploying 20,000 U.S.-based soldiers to Europe for an exercise this spring, but planning and carrying it out will reinforce training and readiness and demonstrate the military’s ability to rapidly project forces anywhere in the world, senior leaders said.

Planning for the U.S. Army Europe-led Defender-Europe 2020 began more than a year ago, and it is set to launch in February with the deployment of more than 20,000 pieces of equipment from five U.S. seaports and 20,000 soldiers from units across the country.

A multinational exercise in Europe set to be the Army’s largest deployment of U.S.-based troops in 25 years will begin in February in the first of a series of such exercises planned to demonstrate the Army’s ability to deploy and project power globally.

Defender-Europe 2020 will include the participation of some 37,000 U.S., partner and allied troops, including 9,000 Europe-based U.S. troops. The bulk of the activities will take place across 10 countries in April and May, linking five named exercises. The exercise is set to conclude in August.

The absence of a fiscal year 2020 defense budget threatens about 100 Army modernization initiatives and could delay or cancel Defender-Europe, the biggest peacetime deployment of soldiers in 25 years, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy warned.

Speaking Oct. 25 in Arlington, Virginia, before a Military Reporters and Editors conference, McCarthy said a political impasse preventing passage of defense policy and funding bills presents a threat to Army efforts to increase strategic readiness and improve combat capabilities to face future threats.

The United States and its allies and partners must solve the problem of how to face adversaries in so-called "left of conflict" competition, a panel of experts said Oct. 15 during a forum at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.

The term describes the concept of engaging without combat. Russia, a potential near-peer adversary, is highly skilled at "left of conflict" operations, the panelists said. 

A new joint publication lays out a strategy for the U.S. and its European allies in multidomain operations that would require standardizing language usage and overcoming policy gaps.

A recent RAND Corp. report focused on responding to the threat of Russian aggression warns that big steps like increasing U.S. land forces in Europe or increasing the size and frequency of exercises could increase the risk of conflict.

Beginning June 14, soldiers without dependents being assigned to Europe and Japan will have three-year rather than two-year tours as part of an effort to reduce transportation costs and improve readiness.

The change in Army Regulation 614-30 applies only to soldiers who are single with no dependents. It does not affect the 24-month unaccompanied or 36-month accompanied tour lengths for soldiers who have dependents.