The United States will contribute special operations forces and high-end military equipment and weapons to the new NATO rapid-reaction force being assembled to protect Eastern European allies from Russian threats and the entire continent from Middle East terrorism, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced Monday.
At the start of his weeklong trip through member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Carter said that U.S. commitment to the stepped-up collective defense efforts reflects a new NATO strategy for dealing with a security environment that has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War.
The U.S. contribution to the new force, currently based in Germany but poised to arrive at any flashpoint within 72 hours, will include intelligence and surveillance capabilities, logistics, air transport, fighter aircraft, ship-based missiles and pre-positioned heavy equipment, Carter said.