History is largely determined by geography, and Poland's history is one of being trapped between great powers specifically between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during the last century. After fighting hard for their independence, the Polish have allied themselves with NATO as a bulwark against future Russian aggression. This week, Poland took another huge step in planning for future strategic contingencies, namely preparing for invasion.
At the conclusion of the Cold War, the United States as well as many NATO allied militaries began to decrease defense spending and withdraw forward-deployed soldiers in Europe. As a stopgap, the withdrawing soldiers left war material at pre-positioned supply depots around the continent called Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS). The idea is that soldiers can be rapidly deployed during a time of emergency, and their equipment will already be in Europe waiting for them.
This week the Polish minister of defense and the American ambassador to Poland participated in the opening ceremony for the Long-Term Equipment Storage and Maintenance Complex in Polwidz, Poland. The complex will be able to house enough war material to equip an entire U.S. armored brigade.
"There will be seven gigantic warehouses stationed here on Polish soil full of heavy equipment; over 2,700 pieces, from tanks to Bradley [Fighting] Vehicles. All of it belongs to the U.S. armored brigade combat team," U.S. ambassador Mark Brzezinski said in a press release. “This facility will ensure we can continue to be fast. It will allow us to deploy an entire armored brigade combat team in an expeditious manner, and it will significantly cut down on deployment timelines.”
The NATO pre-positioned stocks were a long-time desire of the Polish government, seeking to further integrate itself into the NATO alliance and strengthen its security position in the event of Russian aggression. The supply complex will drastically reduce the amount of time it takes for the American military to respond to any such contingencies.
"The strategic partnership with the United States and Poland’s active membership in the North Atlantic Alliance are the pillars of our homeland’s security," said the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak in a press release. “This base is important because thanks to this, we increase our deterrence capabilities, and we also show solidarity within NATO.”
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Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
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