Marine deployment raises recent U.S. Eastern European buildup to 12,000 troops

Air Force Times
March 29, 2022

400 Marines deploy in Eastern Europe as part of US response to Ukraine war

Three Marine Corps aviation units have joined more than 10,000 U.S. troops mobilized to Eastern Europe and Germany in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

The Marines already had been on the continent as part of NATO’s Cold Response exercise in Norway, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Military Times. Now, 200 members of Marine Air Control Unit 28, based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, are in Lithuania.

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That brings the number of U.S. troops deployed in response to the war in Ukraine to more than 12,000. To date, the vast majority of troops have been Army and Air Force personnel, though the Navy threw its hat in the ring by sending six EA-18G Growlers to Germany, Kirby announced Monday.