Photo By Sgt. William Smith | Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, left, commanding general, U.S. Army Europe, and Maj. Gen. Ryan F....... read more read more
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FORT CARSON, Colo. - Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commanding general, United States Army Europe visited the 4th Infantry Division to discuss Strong Europe and receive an update on division operations Sept. 14.
The Strong Europe concept aims to create beneficial opportunities, improve interoperability and capacity in partners and allies.
Strong Europe is Army Europe's main contribution to NATO, its allies and partners. It acts as the main U.S. enabler to NATO land forces on behalf of U.S. European Command.
Challenges.
"The security environment in Europe has changed tremendously in the last year and a half with Russia's invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea and (its) support of separatists in eastern Ukraine," said Hodges. "The 28 nations of NATO and the nations of the (European Union) agreed that Russia's use of force to change recognized borders of a sovereign country is unacceptable."
The response that came out of the NATO Wales Summit 2014 identified a need to assure allies of their collective commitment to each other, a need to adjust the procedures and ability to respond fast to give political leaders options; that it was necessary to maintain pressure on Russia through sanctions and a demonstrated deterrent capability, so Russia would not use force to change borders in Europe, Hodges explained.
Hodges explained there are five pillars that are vital for the Army to sustain for mission success in Europe
"The first is putting more on our junior leaders," said Hodges. "Right now a captain - company or troop commander - is probably the senior U.S. commander in almost any of the Atlantic Resolve countries. On a day-to-day basis that is what we are talking about. We have NCOs doing things in countries that in the past a major used to do."
The second pillar is access to the National Guard and Army Reserve.
"The Guard has so much capability but it is not free; so getting funding for them to come over is a challenge," he said.
The third pillar is acquiring more support from allies.
"U.S. Army Europe doesn't have a bridge that can carry and sustain an Abrams tank," said Hodges. "We have discovered that the Germans and (British) do have it, so we are doing joint exercises with them to practice river crossings. These are things we are healing ourselves, by going out and finding ally capabilities to fill gaps that we have."
Hodges said the fourth pillar is reliance on the Regionally Aligned Force, the 4th Infantry Division Mission Command Element, and rotational forces, and he hopes to add special operations to the mix.
"Another pillar is regional allocated forces - the 4th Infantry Division," he said. "Without them, I would not have adequate command capability to run all of these exercises and more important to be able to conduct operations if we had to inside of Europe."
The fifth pillar is active engagement.
"These 51 exercises we are participating in this year - at least battalion size or larger - I don't know if I have ever done 50 exercises in my Army life," said Hodges. "It is this kind of activity - using rotational forces, allies, bringing people over from the States, the operational tempo is higher than it would be if they were deployed to Afghanistan."
Hodges said he is very concerned about the amount of Soldiers available for the threats he faces in Europe.
"When you look at the 4th Infantry Division and all that they have going on, it is eye watering - there just aren't enough people to do all of the Army's missions," he said. "We don't have the same capabilities that we used to have. We have 30,000 Soldiers forward stationed in Europe; we used to have 300,000. When we had 300,000 our mission was to assure our allies and deter the Soviet Union. With 30,000 the mission is still to assure our allies and deter the Russians. We have got to make that 30,000 look and feel like 300,000."
Hodges said the Army may not be big enough to do all that it is required, but as long as Congress continues to provide the European Reassurance Initiative money - or contingency funding - he is confident rotational forces will be able to continue to come over, allowing for USAREUR to be successful. It will enable access to the National Guard and Army Reserve supplementing the capabilities that he doesn't have.
"If there is no more ERI or it becomes reduced, then we will absolutely be at significant risk," he advised. "We won't be able to conduct these exercises. We won't be able to maintain the heavy equipment that has been brought back, and we won't be able to assure our allies."
Hodges explained that the investment of troops and equipment the Russians have made in Kaliningrad and Crimea for access and area denial makes it very challenging should U.S. and NATO forces need to respond to future aggression in the Baltic and Black Seas because of the Air Defense capability, the electronic warfare capability and the anti-ship missile capability.
"Their ability to amass a large number of troops when they do these snap exercises without warning and without notification is a worry to us," Hodges said. "We are working as hard as we can to be able to assemble quickly so that we can deter instead of react to a situation."
Ways to overcome the challenges being faced.
The 4th Infantry Division has been the Mission Command Element in Europe for the past nine months.
"This mission has been a learning experience for us and we are getting better every day," said Maj. Gen. Ryan F. Gonsalves, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson. "We are building relationships not only with our military partners but also our country teams and ambassadors every day."
The MCE is comprised of approximately 90 Soldiers and is responsible for all of the ground activity happening in Europe.
"We are doing 51 exercises this year in which American Soldiers are involved - all multinational exercises," Hodges explained. "The 4th Infantry Division is providing the MCE for those. This is a capability that I didn't have a year ago because we have gotten so small in Europe."
The Army is bringing tanks back to Europe, he added.
"We have a heavy brigade (of equipment) that is on the ground now and it is going to stay in Europe," he said. "The brigade will be part of something we call European Activity Sets that will be company to battalion size, 20 to 50 armored vehicles, in each of the Atlantic Resolve countries - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, as well as in Germany - so that rotational heavy units can come over and use that equipment to train for three to six months.
"This provides assurance to the allies that a U.S. Army tank is being kept in a maintenance facility in their country waiting for a unit to come over," explained Hodges. "It is part of what we are doing that will enable us to move a lot more quickly versus having to bring tanks from the U.S."
Gonsalves said his perspective as a division commander is to provide the forces necessary to support Lt. Gen. Hodges when he deems it necessary that they be brought forward.
"Readiness is my number one priority," Gonsalves said. "Our 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team is in the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, preparing for decisive action operations. We are really looking at combined arms maneuver as well as wide area security."
Gonsalves plans to ensure a high state of readiness is maintained.
"We will do that by conducting supplemental exercises, sustainment gunneries, maintaining our equipment at a very high standard," he said. "We are doing everything from a division perspective at a tactical level to provide those forces necessary to answer Lt. Gen. Hodges' call."
Gonsalves said he has requested to be fully aligned with the USAREUR mission, not only as the MCE but to provide operational units as well.
"What we are going to see is our rotational forces - hopefully in the near future - from this division going forward and continuing to build on those relationships," Gonsalves explained.
Hodges said he wants to see Russia become a part of the international community again.
"Russia has actually been a pretty good partner for the last 20-something years," Hodges said. "We had Russian soldiers with us in Bosnia. The Russian view that they are entitled to buffer states and a 'back yard,' that they can change borders is unacceptable in the 21st century."
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2015 15:58 |
| Story ID: | 176248 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 405 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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