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Just one day after the historic two-day NATO summit in Madrid, the alliance has vowed to be the new Supreme Allied Commander and the head of the United States European Command (EUCOM).
At the command change ceremony in Stuttgart, Germany, General Christopher Cavoli, a four-star American general who has led the US military in Europe, raised his right hand and commanded the expanding NATO. An army under his watch.
Also, if all 30 NATO member countries vote to include them, there will be two new member countries, Finland and Sweden.
General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accompanied Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, “Chris knows Europe better than any living officer in today’s uniform. Chris literally EUCOM. It is built for the purpose of leading. ”
Austin thanked General Todd Walters, a retired commander who oversaw NATO’s transformation for several months after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Turkey opposes Finland, Sweden joins NATO
“We believe that future generations will look back on how we all serve the cause of freedom at this crucial moment,” Austin said at the ceremony. “They are all inspired by the resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people. They will be fascinated by the way well-meaning nations have gathered against Putin’s invasion.”
General Cavoli’s father served in the Army for 32 years and retired as a colonel. Christopher was born at a US military base in Italy when his father was serving. He attended Princeton University and joined the Army as an infantryman of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Northern Italy.
“He grew up in Europe, lives all over the continent and is fluent in French, Russian and Italian. He reads Spanish and Portuguese. He can understand and understand Polish and Ukrainian. With this, he is about half the population of Europe. “
General Cavoli served in Bosnia and fought with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. He commanded the 1st Armored Division’s Brigade Combat Team. He commanded the 7th Army Training Group in Europe and was the Deputy Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and later the 25th Infantry Division.
In addition to earning a master’s degree from Yale University in Russian studies, he was the director of the Russian desk, a co-staff of the Department of Defense.
“He’s tough. He’s good at fighting. He’s smart and has a deep understanding of Europe and Russia,” Millie said. “Chris Cavoli is the right officer to do the right job at the right time …. We are in that crucial moment of a transitional period of history, and EUCOM attaches great importance to it. You support a rule-based international order … you are protecting America’s important interests. And, importantly, you are preventing the Great Power War. “
General Cavoli oversees some of Europe’s greatest changes in military stance since World War II. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the Pentagon has deployed or expanded its deployment to more than 20,000 US troops in Europe.
Currently, the United States has more than 100,000 troops based in Europe. And soon, 40,000 NATO reserves will be increased to 300,000 NATO troops.
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“Dwight Eisenhower said he and the leaders of the alliance shared” the same passionate hope of serving free humanity and making it safe. ” We still share that hope. We are still burning the flame, “Austin said.
At the NATO summit in Madrid, President Biden announced that the United States would establish an Army Council in Poland and take turns to protect the eastern side of NATO. The Rotating Combat Brigade will be sent to Romania, the two F-35 squadrons to the United Kingdom, the two Navy destroyers to Spain, and the short range air defense to Italy.
An additional 625 military personnel will head to Germany to operate the air defense missile system.
“Putin is exploring the Finnishization of Europe,” Biden said at the NATO summit. “He intends to get NATO in Europe, which is exactly what he does not want, but that is exactly what needs to be done to ensure the security of Europe.
President Biden announced on Friday an additional $ 820 million in security assistance for additional weapons for Ukraine, including air defense weapons requested by the Ukrainian government.
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This is the 14th drawdown package announced since August 2021 and includes ammunition for HIMARS, two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), 155mm ammunition, and four counter-battery radars. ..
Ukraine has four HIMARS, the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. These are lightweight multiple rocket launchers developed for the US Army in the late 1990s. These are currently in use and will be used in four more by the end of July, according to senior defense officials.