1st Infantry Division soldiers deploy to Lithuania in ongoing effort to deter Russia

Soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, will deploy to Lithuania as the U.S. continues its military presence on NATO’s eastern flank, Maj. Montrell Russell, an Army spokesman, told Task & Purpose.

They will be replacing the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, according to an August news release that previously announced the routine deployment.

The deployment is part of Operation Atlantic Resolve and continues a U.S. presence that has regularly sent battalion-sized Army units to Lithuania since 2019. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the U.S. shifted to continuous rotational deployments in the country.

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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced Tuesday that the next U.S. rotation was already on its way. His office said the incoming force would be no smaller than the previous rotation, which included more than 1,000 troops, although Lithuania had not yet received an exact number from Washington.

A U.S. European Command (EUCOM) official confirmed to Task & Purpose that Army units were continuing “routine deployments to Lithuania” under Operation Atlantic Resolve but did not confirm the number of troops deploying to the region cited by Lithuania’s president, citing operational security.

“Routine rotations demonstrate commitment to NATO, ensuring Allied forces are optimally positioned to deter aggression,” the official said.

The combatant command said the size and makeup of each rotation can change based on training needs, new equipment being fielded by allies, and where U.S. forces are needed in Europe. The command said those changes do not reduce the overall U.S. military capability assigned to Europe.

The scheduled deployment comes amid heightened concern in Lithuania and other NATO countries over Russian military and hybrid activity. Lithuania has updated civilian evacuation plans, while Belarusian forces have conducted military exercises near the Lithuanian border and NATO has responded to a series of Russian drone and airspace incidents across the region.

Lithuania borders both Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad territory, with the entire country less than 150 miles from Russia.

The rotation comes as the U.S. reduces its overall troop presence in Europe. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, head of U.S. European Command and NATO’s top military commander, said in May that 5,000 U.S. troops would leave Europe, including an armored brigade that will not be replaced.

Grynkewich said growing military capabilities among NATO allies, including a German brigade in Lithuania, allowed the U.S. to shift forces to other priorities.

NATO officials have said the alliance does not see an imminent threat of attack. But NATO’s military leadership said last week that Russian airspace violations, drone incidents and other hybrid activity have increased in recent weeks and months.

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