Photo By Sgt. Sarah Kirby | U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, visits Soldiers assigned to Battle Group...... read more read more
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BEMOWO PISKIE, Poland — U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, visits Soldiers assigned to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP), Battle Group Poland (BGPol), at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, Feb. 13.
BGPol is a unique multinational coalition of U.S., U.K., Croatian and Romanian Soldiers who serve with the Polish 15th Mechanized Brigade as a NATO deterrence force.
During Pompeo’s visit he viewed a weaponry live-fire display, showcasing Battle Group Poland’s deterrence and lethality.
“It is truly an honor to be here,” said Pompeo to the Soldiers of BGPol. “It fills me with great pride to see American, British, Croatian, Polish and Romanian troops serving alongside one another.”
Among the distinguished guests accompanying Pompeo was U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Ricky Waddell, the Assistant to the Chairmen of the Joint Chief of Staff, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jacek Czaputowicz, and Poland’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Marek Lapinski.
“I travel the world to work on tough problems to do everything I can in keeping American people safe, and to create peace and stability,” said Pompeo.
The Secretary of State is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, as the President's chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President's foreign policies through the State Department, which include the Foreign Service, Civil Service, and U.S. Agency for International Development.
“I can’t do any of that without our adversaries knowing that there are forces out here prepared to do what they need to do to keep Europe and America safe, and that is you,” said Pompeo. “You are the people on the front lines fighting, doing that every day, and it is hard work. I know how much you and your families have sacrificed.”
Among the Soldiers who greeted Pompeo was U.S. Army Sgt. Kristopher Gore, an infantryman with the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, now assigned to BGPol’s Task Force Raider.
“It was a great experience,” said Gore. “I have known about him for years. He was a classmate at West Point with one of Tennessee's Congressmen, Mark Green. So they have a great relationship and Congressman Green speaks highly of him.”
With great pride and admiration for the secretary of state, Gore presented Pompeo with a Tennessee State flag signed by the Soldiers of Task Force Raider’s Avenger Troop, 3rd Platoon.
“He has done so much for our Country,” continued Gore. “Take for instance the fact that he played a pivotal role in bringing Kim Jong Un to the table to meet with the President. So he helped accomplish something that his predecessors were never able to do. He’s a great role model.”
Mr. Pompeo graduated first in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986 and served as a cavalry officer patrolling the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
“Back then my Generals were worried about a Soviet offensive through the Fulda Gap,” said Pompeo. “Today the Suwalki Gap holds the same priority for our NATO commanders, once again because of Russian aggression. As we enter the fifth year of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, a war he launched on European soil, we take very seriously those concerns that Russia might try to open up a front right here. In light of this threat, the NATO alliance remains indispensable to the protection of the free peoples of Europe. Many of them, like our Croatian, Romanian and Polish friends, have a special appreciation for freedom that is, by the world’s standards, still very young.”
During his visit to Europe, Pompeo visited the Gate of Freedom Memorial in Bratislava, Slovakia.
“I was proud to honor Eastern European’s struggle for liberty at the Gate of Freedom,” said Pompeo. “Now, it is every ally’s responsibility to keep Europe free. Russia has grand designs of dominating Europe and reinserting its influence on the world’s stage. Putin seeks to splinter the NATO alliance, weaken the United States and disrupt Western Democracies. Russia’s invasion of Georgia and Ukraine and unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea this past November, and its ongoing hybrid warfare against us and our allies are a direct challenge to our security and to our way of life. But NATO’s commitment to counter Russian lawlessness and destabilizing activity is growing. One thing we have done is launch the enhanced forward presence, here on Europe’s Eastern flank. This EFP embodies NATO’s foundational principles, that an attack on one country is an attack on all.”
The U.S. contribution to EFP is a part of the overall deterrence and defense posture designed to demonstrate that even a limited attack on, or incursion into, NATO allies’ sovereign territory will be met by allied military force. The ability to rapidly surge combat-ready forces into and across the theater is critical in projecting forces at a moment’s notice to support the alliance, according to a NATO’s eFP command statement.
“Poland’s own history reminds us that strong deterrence measures should be on the forefront of our strategic thinking,” continued Pompeo. “This is all the more true in our era of great power and competition. Poland’s robust defense spending, now on track to pass 2.5% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is a clear response to the threats that we face; those threats must be met with similarly strong commitments from each and every NATO ally.”
Poland is also a NATO leader for defense modernization, meeting the alliance 20% of defense spending target and investing in key capabilities like long-range fires and integrated air and missile defense, according to an U.S. European Command briefing statement.
“It’s time for all NATO allies to follow Poland’s lead and reinvigorate the alliance and the interest of lasting peace,” concluded Pompeo. “May we all remain committed to NATO’s founding ideals for the sake of our nations, our people, and those serving in uniform to protect us.”
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2019 15:04 |
| Story ID: | 310767 |
| Location: | BEMOWO PISKIE , PL |
| Hometown: | KNOXVILLE, TN, US |
| Hometown: | NASHVILLE, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 223 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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