Tarquinius
Disregard my larping efforts. I can't change it.
★★★★
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2022
- Posts
- 3,333
Apparently our recruitment numbers are so low that they need to call up reservists now just to rotate troops in Europe
President Biden on Thursday authorized the Pentagon to mobilize up to 3,000 military reservists for duty in Europe, signaling the toll that ongoing efforts to deter Russia and reassure NATO allies is taking on a force deployed across the continent since war erupted in Ukraine early last year.
It was not immediately clear when the Defense Department will send additional reservists to Europe under the new authority, which Biden announced Thursday in a statement.
The move comes as the United States expands its security aid to Ukraine, which has totaled more than $41 billion with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, to include cluster munitions and other weaponry. Despite the massive support already provided to Ukraine, the Biden administration is facing pressure to send additional equipment including fighter jets and longer-range missiles to help Ukrainian forces claw back territory in an ongoing counteroffensive.
The administration is also designating Atlantic Resolve, an operation that has enhanced the U.S. troop posture in Europe in response to the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014, as a contingency operation. Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said that move would give activated reservists the same benefits as active-duty troops and accelerate contracting.
