Tuesday, March 10, 2015

173rd Airborne Brigade & Heavy Armor headed to Estonia for drills.


via Sputnik News.
US Abrams tanks with personnel, as well as two groups of US paratroopers will arrive in the Estonian town of Tapa at the end of this week to participate in the Siil 2015 (the Hedgehog 2015) international military exercises, the General Staff of the country's Defense Forces said Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Siil 2015 military training will be held in Estonia from May 4 — 15. A total of 13,000 US and Estonian soldiers will take part in the drills.
"In addition to Abrams tanks, support equipment and other auto vehicles, as well as two groups of US paratroopers will arrive in Tapa," Estonia's General Staff said in a statement.
Vehicles and equipment will arrive in Tapa by rail.
The presence of US soldiers in Tapa is part of operation Atlantic Resolve, which demonstrates US efforts in support of its NATO allies and partners in Europe.
Read it all here.

I've always been curious about stationing an Airborne Brigade in Europe.  It seems like a weird place to put a unit that specializes in out of area operations....especially while Stryker Brigades are sitting in Kansas and Colorado begging for missions.

Having said all that is anyone in the Pentagon taking a look at the taskings lately?

I might be seeing things incorrectly but it really seems like op-tempo is starting to rival what we saw at the height of the War on Terror.  Of course these aren't combat missions but the active force is doing more and more it seems.

If this is the new normal then our military...especially our ground combat forces..are waaaaaay too small.