U.S. Deploys Small Force To Romania

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Big things have little beginnings.

romania-insider.com/the-u-s-brings-250-soldiers-in-romanian-base-as-russia-warns-it-might-neutralise-the-countys-military-targets/141871/

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis informed the Senate that he approved the temporary deployment of up to 250 American soldiers in the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base in Eastern Romania, according to Mediafax.

The U.S. has been using the military base, which is close to the Black Sea Port of Constanta, and the Mihail Kogalniceanu International Airport to transport troops and equipment to and from its military operation in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The President also approved the a request from the U.S. to use the Henri Coanda International Airport in Otopeni, Romania’s largest airport, as an alternative for its multimodal transport operations, in 2015, in case weather conditions make it impossible to use the Kogalniceanu airport.

The American military presence in Romania has become more visible in recent years. The most important U.S. project in Romania is the missile defense base in Deveselu, which should become operational this year.

NATO also announced it will open two command and control centers in Romania, which will contribute to strengthening the Alliance’s Eastern flank.

All these operations have determined adverse reactions from Russia, which sees the U.S. and NATO bases in Romania as threats. A Russian military expert recently said that military objectives in Romania might become targets for Russia, in case the situation in Ukraine degenerates into a military conflict between NATO and Russia.

“If Romania will let itself drawn into such a confrontation, then it’s likely that a series of military objectives in Romania will become targets that will be neutralised with differenttypes of weapons (by Russia – e.n.),” said Vladimir Evseev, director of the Center for Public Policy and Military Research in Moscow, in an interview for the Romanian national television.

He said that Russia is training troops in Crimea capable of neutralising all possible threats. Russia thinks that the military bases that will be set up in Romania won’t be able to launch just anti-ballistic rockets, but also cruise missiles.

“Russia will be forced to react not only to these command centers, but also to arsenals and any other military infrastructure. We know that Romania can also have an offensive potential, this is why we will seek ways to annihilate the Romanian military fleet,” he explained.
 
And directly related to the above story:

dvidshub.net/news/154460/us-marines-continue-operations-with-black-sea-rotational-force-romania#.VOUj-kvIoy5

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania – The final wave of U.S. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment arrived on deck to join the rest of the approximate 500 troops comprising Black Sea Rotational Force 15 who assumed authority from BSRF 14, at Mihail Kogalniceanu, Feb. 9.

The Marine rotational force will continue providing theater security cooperation with NATO allies and partners in Eastern Europe, an enduring mission for the Marine Corps since 2010.

“We appreciate the professionalism and devotion of all who participated,” said Romanian Brig. Gen. Dorin Ionita, Chief of Training and Doctrine of the Romanian Land Forces. “This type of
exercise represents the interoperability of the Romanian Land Forces. Thank you to BSRF 14 and good luck to BSRF 15.”

With the uncasing of the colors, 2nd Bn., 8th Marines assumed authority from the Marines of 2nd Bn., 2nd Marines, signifying the turnover of a new rotation of BSRF.

“I am looking forward to working with the Romanian military and improving our relationships,” said Cpl. Evan Sargent, an infantry rifleman with BSRF 15. “We are pretty excited about the six months coming up and all the training opportunities we are going to be able to have.”

Black Sea Rotational Force 15 is able to respond to a broad range of military operations in the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe area of responsibility, including crisis and contingency response, U.S. Embassy reinforcement, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, along with building allied and partner military capacity.

“I think one of the greatest things we will learn is the sharing of cultures and ideas,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Stevenson, the oncoming commanding officer of BSRF. “We have spentthe last decade or so in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that has improved cultural awareness for those countries, but Marines generally do not deploy to Eastern Europe. A lot of what happens out here and the different cultures that exist here are unknown to many of my Marines. I hope they come back with a better appreciation for the cultures that exist.”

During the six-month deployment, the Marines and sailors with BSRF 15 are scheduled to conduct more than 50 military-to-military engagements and the multilateral and “Platinum” series exercises.

“I hope that we are taught as much as we teach,” said Stevenson. “We constantly revise the business and the way we conduct ourselves. By learning from others we are able to incorporate what is best from what they do into the best things that we do and make us a stronger force in total.”

The outgoing rotation of Black Sea Rotational Force committed to Operation Atlantic Resolve and conducted eight multilateral exercises, six being the Platinum Series, in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia that demonstrated NATO allied and partner-nation commitment to collective security. In total, BSRF 14 conducted 32 military-to-military engagements, training with U.S. Embassies in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Bucharest, Romania, and more than 35 community relations engagements.

“The number one thing I would say is the proficiency of the Romanian military forces is impressive,” said Lt. Col. Joel Schmidt, outgoing commanding officer of BSRF and the commanding officer of 2nd Bn., 2nd Marines. “We were able to do the exact same training we do at home and it was a learning experience for us learning from them and them learning from us. It’s a unique time in history and we can no longer do everything singularly, so our partnership signifies to everybody how we gain strength through that.”
 
I guess I missed this in the news. Thanks for the information.

Always good to know where deployments are going.
 
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