How long will it take for the U.S. Army's V Corps to deploy a brigade to Eastern Europe and begin conducting operations alongside NATO allies? Less than a week.
That's what was demonstrated by Operation Griffin Shock, a new exercise that took place in Poland over two and a half weeks in May. The U.S. ally played host to a scenario in which a battalion was rapidly expanded by allied units to a brigade.
Involving more than 3,000 soldiers from eight U.S. units and their enablers, and four other NATO countries — Poland, Romania, Croatia and the U.K., the exercise gave soldiers and officers at all levels experience building up forces swiftly and transitioning to combat.
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The ability to generate timely power at scale in Europe is crucial to NATO's defense of member states as concern over Russian aggression grows on the continent, especially in the east. The exercise showcases NATO capabilities amid Russia's two recent invasions of Ukraine and its increasing commitment of troops in Belarus, which have put neighboring countries on high alert.
“There's always been talk of NATO being able to field a nimble response force in order to marshal up its capacity to deter,” said Vladislav Davidzon, a nonresident fellow with The Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. “For many years, NATO was a paper tiger. Now, it is necessary for NATO to reinforce its troops in…
