As COVID-19 rages across Europe, the commander of U.S. European Command Gen. Tod Wolters told media that 2,600 U.S. troops were “of concern” and that he had canceled readiness exercises and is regularly speaking to all NATO partners.
“We’re preparing for worst-case scenarios with respect to the potential spread,” he said on a press call Friday from EUCOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. “For months, we have embraced precautionary measures.”
The United States maintains a deterrence force of some 72,000 troops on the European continent.
“This is serious, serious business,” he said, underscoring the severity of the command’s approach to protecting personnel and the mission. “U.S. European Command, together with all our NATO allies and partners, is combating the coronavirus with extreme intensity.”
The commander said a hypothetical worst-case scenario would mean his forces requires outside support from the Department of Defense, but he said that at this time, his deterrence capabilities in the European theater remain unaffected.
“In Europe, we’ve been embracing this virus from a length and severity standpoint probably to a greater degree than what is occurring in the United States,” he said. “Despite the outbreak, we remain ready.”
Wolters said 2,600 personnel were “of concern” for possible exposure and that he had spoken to about a dozen by phone and video teleconference.
“Those who have tested positive and those who are in quarantine are in good shape,” he said. Wolters said his biggest challenge has been underscoring to those who are in 14-day quarantine that they will adhere to tactics, techniques, and procedures.
DoD later clarified that the noted troops were in self-isolation due to travel or other reasons but “are not necessarily sick.”
Shift changes and social distancing have been the most effective strategies for containing the virus, he said, but he is watching and adopting European best practices as well. EUCOM’s storehousing of supplies has been so robust, he said, that he transferred 500,000 testing swabs to the U.S. for domestic use.
America’s largest multinational exercise, Defender-Europe 20, which had projected to unite some 17,000 American soldiers across numerous European nations for joint exercises over several months, has been scaled back to about 40% due to coronavirus-related cancellations. Recent multinational exercises in Poland and Germany have been altered to remain within national borders, Wolters said.
“We’ll wind up with a 40%-45% readiness gain as a result of what we are able to do,” the general said for exercises that had been planned between February and April. Further adjustments are being made for exercises scheduled in the summer and fall.
Wolters said he is speaking to each of his NATO component commanders “at least once every 48 hours,” and diplomatic and military cooperation is such that there is no need for declaring NATO Article 4 for military consultation or Article 5, which considers armed attack.
“I don’t think Declaring Article 4 or 5 would add much to the equation,” he said. “From a communications standpoint, to be able to execute effective command and control and feedback with all the forces, we’re in very, very good shape.”
The EUCOM commander said he was watching adversaries such as Russia closely, and to this point had seen no use of malign influence through misinformation to take advantage of the situation in Europe or gain ground in the conflict with Ukraine.
