U.S. to Permanently Store 87 symbolic Main Battle Tanks in Europe

[Reality Check]

http://www.stripes.com/news/troops-and- ... e-1.333467

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015 ... urope.html

Begining in April 2015 and ending in June 2015 a U.S. Armored Brigade and all it's equipment will arrive in Europe for training and exercises.

The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division will be bringing with them an entire Brigade's worth of Main BattleTanks and other equipment.

An Armored Brigade includes 72 M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks assigned to 18 tank troops, and an additional 15 Tanks used by company and batalion commanders and sub-commanders. 87 Main Battle tanks in total.

The ( 3,000 some brigade support and combat ) troops will fly back to the United States in June 2015 after two (2) or three (3) months of training and exercises, but ....

The 87 tanks and all the other equipment used by one (1) U.S. Armored Brigade ( some 3,000 support and combat troops ) is expected to be placed in storage Europe. Initially in a former U.S. Base in Germany, but eventually some, or all of the equipment may be stored in one, or more Eastern European Nato country.

Most obserers view the storage of 87 U.S. tanks in Europe a symbolic gesture given the many thousands of Russian third generation Main Battle Tanks on active duty, and in storage, in western Russia and southern Russia.

However, given the number of U.S. tanks in Europe had been reduced to zero in 2013 ( from a peak of 6,000 U.S. tanks during the cold war), some tanks are better than none, symbolically.

The best view, from a support of NATO standpoint, is that if U.S. troops could be flown in to man the 87 tanks in the Baltics before they were overrun by Russian forces, then the death ( and/or wounding and/or capture ) of the those 3,000 U.S. troops would require the U.S. to continue fighting the war and the U.S. would bring thousands more tanks to Europe after the Russians attacked.

At least the U.S. hopes the fear of an all out conventional war with the U.S. would deter the Russians from attacking the NATO countries in Eastern Europe to begin with, and the presense of 87 U.S. Tanks in Europe will make that threat more credible than zero.

http://www.stripes.com/news/troops-and- ... e-1.333467

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015 ... urope.html