President Joe Biden has authorized the deployment of up to 3,000 U.S. military reservists to Europe as part of a long-term operation in response to Russian actions in Ukraine.
Biden issued an executive order on Thursday authorizing military leaders, including the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, to mobilize "select reserve forces" in an effort to augment Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in 2014.
The move comes shortly after Biden attended a two-day NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week where the president recommitted to the alliance, and amid Ukraine's continued push to join NATO.
U.S. troops will not be deployed to Ukraine—the country is not a NATO member and U.S. troops are not on the ground there.
Biden's executive order means up to 3,000 extra personnel may be deployed "augmenting the armed forces in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve," according to a press release from the Department of Defense (DOD).
The DOD said that executive orders means Operation Atlantic Resolve will now be designated as a "contingency operation."
"This new designation benefits troops and families with increases in authorities, entitlements and access to the reserve component forces and personnel," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II, Joint Staff director of operations, said during a press briefing on Thursday.
The "contingency operation" designation allows Biden to mobilize reservists and means those reservists will receive the pay and support of active duty troops.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
"This reaffirms the unwavering support and commitment to defend NATO's eastern flank in the wake of Russia's illegal and unprovoked war on Ukraine," Sims said.
Operation Atlantic Resolve is an initiative launched in 2014 under then President Barack Obama in response to Russian military actions in Ukraine. It was designed to bolster NATO countries' defenses.
Russia invaded and then annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014—a move that has never been recognized by the U.S., Ukraine or U.S. allies. The annexation took place in March.
In April of that year, U.S. Army and Air Force personnel were deployed to Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to conduct unscheduled military exercises. Long-term U.S. operations in Europe have also been enhanced.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, in what Russian President Vladimir Putin then called a "special military operation," the number of U.S. personnel in Europe has increased significantly.
"Since February 2022, DOD deployed or extended over 20,000 additional forces to Europe in response to the Ukraine crisis, adding additional air, land, maritime, cyber, and space capabilities, bringing our current total to more than 100,000 service members across Europe," the Pentagon reported in June 2022.
This included "extending a Carrier Strike Group, deploying additional fighter squadrons and lift/tanker aircraft, and deploying an Amphibious Readiness Group and Marine Expeditionary Force."
On June 29, 2022, Biden announced a series of new commitments to U.S. military operations in Europe during a summit in Madrid. Those commitments affected U.S. operations in Poland, Romania, the Baltic countries, Spain, the U.K., Germany and Italy.
The president has now authorized the deployment of more U.S. personnel but it is not yet clear if Secretary Austin intends to deploy them or in what numbers he might choose to do so.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
