US European Command is undergoing a huge change. (Read our article from 2003 for background.) Large American bases reminiscent of the Cold War are being replaced with smaller regional training centers, such as ones that are being established in Romania and Bulgaria, where combat brigades will rotate on training and security cooperation missions. To help with this transformation, said EUCOM’s new deputy commander, Army Gen. William Ward, the command has created an Eastern European Task Force. The EETF comprises a small permanent staff whose function is to aid those US forces rotating through Romania and Bulgaria.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.