100,000 U.S. Troops Are Now Stationed In Europe

Axios: Where 100,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe 

President Biden will meet Friday with U.S. troops stationed in Poland, a key NATO ally currently housing 10,500 of the 100,000 American service members now deployed across Europe.  

Why it matters: Russia invaded Ukraine with a force estimated at 190,000. The last time the U.S. had 100,000 troops deployed in Europe was 2005, during the early years of the Global War on Terror, according to a history of U.S. force posture provided by U.S. European Command. 

* NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week the alliance must "reset" as a result of the "new security reality" created by Russia's invasion and its military integration with Belarus. 

 * What that reset looks like will be a top priority when Biden attends an emergency NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday.  

By the numbers: After an initial post-World War II demobilization, the number of U.S. troops in Europe surged from 97,000 in 1950 to over 450,000 in 1957. 

* That was the first of two major Cold War buildups, with the second peaking at about 340,000 troops in 1987. 

* In 2018, the number of U.S. troops in Europe bottomed out at around 65,000, the posture history shows.  

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WNU Editor: This 100,000 total does not include the presence of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Mediterranean and other naval groups.