By Caitlin M. Kenney and Jacqueline Feldscher Defense One

President orders 3,000 more US troops to Poland; American citizens told to flee “immediate” threat in Ukraine.

Three thousand more American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Poland to reassure allies on NATO’s eastern flank as the White House warned Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen “at any time.”

They will join the 1,700 troops and key “enablers” already ordered to the country by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb. 2, a senior defense official said in a statement Friday. The official said almost two-thirds of that first group have already arrived, and are under the command of Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who leads the 82nd Airborne Division.

The new group includes members of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and other units of the 82nd, including headquarters elements, said Lt. Col. Brett Lea, a spokesman for the Division. They are expected to be in Poland by early next week.

The Feb. 2 order also sent 300 soldiers from the XVIII Airborne Corps to Germany; they have arrived in-country, the statement said. They are led by Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla, the XVIII commander who was just on Capitol Hill for his nomination hearing to lead U.S. Central Command.

“All told, these 5,000 additional personnel comprise a highly mobile and flexible force, capable of multiple missions,” the statement said. “They are being deployed to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO’s eastern flank, train with host-nation forces, and contribute to a wide range of contingencies. They will report to Gen. Tod Wolters, Commander, U.S. European Command.”

The new deployments are temporary, the statement said, to supplement more than 80,000 U.S. troops in Europe who are there either permanently or on a rotational basis.

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