U.S. and Romania begin 3-month joint training exercise

iht.com ^ | August 27, 2007 | Matthew Brunwasser

[Tailgunner Joe]

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania: A significant step toward the first long-term U.S. military presence on territory of the former Communist bloc was taken as American and Romanian forces began three months of joint training exercises.

American and Romanian forces began three months of joint training exercises Monday at this Black Sea air base, a significant step toward the first long-term U.S. military presence on territory of the former Communist bloc.

The exercises involve 700 American and Romanian military personnel and several hundred support staff members, focusing on light infantry training.

The main purpose of the operation is to test joint command and operations capacities of a new task force.

"It's a whole new philosophy in the way we train expeditionary army units with our coalition allies," said Colonel Lew Boone, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Command in Europe.

While American military planners see the moves as the first step in a global shift of U.S. military might away from enormous Cold War-era bases toward smaller, more mobile and multinational facilities farther to the east, President Vladimir Putin of Russia has assailed the Romania base as a global threat that could increase tensions in the region.

Putin cited the new facility as part of Russia's decision last month to suspend membership in one of the most important defense agreements in Europe, the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. Other factors included a similar facility in Bulgaria, where training exercises are scheduled to start in September, and the planned U.S. missile defense system to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Romanian-U.S. relationship was formalized in a 10-year agreement signed by the United States and Romania in December 2005. The agreement allows the Americans to use the air base, a training area and other training ranges and firing areas.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Putin must hate seeing news like this. Romania has always been within what the Soviet Union thought to be its sphere of influence. Now Russia is trying to keep countries like Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, etc. within that sphere. It appears that the central Asian countries are now within that sphere, and possibly Armenia and Azerbaijan. Belarus perhaps, but Ukraine is up for grabs. That is what all this military bluster is about under Putin—trying to regain the lost dominance.

[MadJack]

Talk about a double-take. I’d have sworn the title said “US and Romulans.”

[Grzegorz 246]

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[DesScorp]

If you really want to get Putin’s panties in a bunch, run exercises with Ukraine.

[ken21]

bet this warms up vladimir.