The US military’s increased focus on Europe is moving away from simply reassuring allies to an effective deterrence against Russia. The Fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act approved earlier this month quadrupled funding for what was originally called the European Reassurance Initiative. The $3.4 billion effort has been renamed the “European Deterrence Initiative,” James said. This money includes more Baltic air policing missions, along with a permanent NATO deployed ground presence in Poland. The USAF funding also covers more infrastructure spending to build up air strips and the availability of fuel and ammunition that could be needed in a contingency, James said Monday during an Atlantic Council event in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…