Gen. Tod Wolters, the head of U.S. European Command, believes the United States will likely need to deploy additional troops to Europe in the future in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Wolters, who testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee along with Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, the commander of U.S. Transportation Command, provided committee members with an updated overview of the situation in Ukraine and its overarching effect on Europe and NATO itself.
He noted that the U.S. has already increased its presence in the continent to more than 100,000, but he warned that that might not be enough.
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“I think what we need to do from a U.S. force perspective is look at what takes place in Europe following the completion of Ukraine-Russia scenario and examine the European contributions and, based off the breadth and depth of the European contributions, be prepared to adjust the U.S. contributions,” Wolters said. “And my suspicion is we’re going to still need more.”
The U.S. has already deployed thousands of troops to European countries, many of which are along NATO’s eastern flank, though the Biden administration has repeatedly said they will not be involved in combat in Ukraine.
“Obviously, there’s always a mix between the requirement of permanent versus rotational, and there are pluses and minuses of each one,” Wolters said. “We’ll have to continue to examine the European contributions to make a smart decision about where to go in the future.”
There is a possibility that the U.S. could increase its troop presence in the coming weeks “based off conditions” in the area, he added.
“We take a conditions-based approach, and we look at the issues second-by-second, minute-by-minute,” Wolters said. “I would just tell you that based off the dynamic environment that exists today, that number could change. I suspect that it probably will — and in which direction will be determined based off conditions.”
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The Pentagon announced Monday that it would be deploying six naval aircraft and 240 personnel to Germany.
At another point in the hearing, Wolters acknowledged that “there could be” an intelligence gap that allowed the U.S. to overestimate Russia’s strength and underestimate the Ukrainian defenses.
“As we’ve always done in the past, when this crisis is over with, we will accomplish a comprehensive after-action review in all domains and in all departments and find out where our weak areas were and make sure we can find ways to improve, and this could be one of those areas,” the general said.
