US troops land in Berlin ahead of Polish military drills

(21 Mar 2019) More than 300 US soldiers arrived on Thursday in Germany from their base in Texas in the first test of a new American strategy to rapidly deploy U.S.-based troops to Europe to bolster the NATO deterrent against possible Russian aggression. Following the Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the US has again been increasing military activity in Europe concert with NATO allies. In addition, as part of a U.S. proposed "readiness initiative," the alliance is working on plans to be able to deploy 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 battleships within 30 days as reinforcements in case of conflict. NATO has also announced it is setting up two new military commands - one in Norfolk, Virginia, the other in Ulm, Germany - to better move troops and equipment across the Atlantic and around Europe in times of crisis. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/102011028589719587178/+APArchive​ Tumblr: https://aparchives.tumblr.com/​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/717004743a6b55162b89a85b880d75db