Shortly after the Army abruptly scrapped the planned deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, to Poland, the Pentagon announced in May it was deploying 5,000 troops to the country.
Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell called the surge a “temporary delay” of the Trump administration’s plan to reduce the number of Brigade Combat Teams assigned to Europe from four to three. [...] This summer, the Pentagon launched a broad review of U.S. troops, bases and force posture across Europe. The review, which is expected to take up to six months, comes after the Trump administration’s calls for European countries to take on heftier NATO defense responsibilities.
Still, the Army continues to participate in multinational training exercises in Europe, like Dynamic Front 2026 and Exercise Saber Junction. [...] In a sweeping force restructure, the Army stood up a new Western Hemisphere Command in late 2025, consolidating three major commands under a single headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The move aligns with the 2026 National Defense Strategy, which prioritized defending the “U.S. Homeland” and the Western Hemisphere over the U.S.’s persistent goal of opposing China.