Lawmakers press Army to consider permanently deploying weapons in Europe

The lawmaker who heads the military’s quality of life committee wants the Army to “seriously consider” keeping an armored brigade in Europe following an Army Times investigation into tank unit suicides.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) said in a statement that the Army Times investigation is “very disturbing, especially that it could be so widespread in a single community.” I’m very concerned.” The congressman, a retired Air Force brigadier general and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Quality of Life Committee, added that he had no prior knowledge of these issues.

Armored brigade members were more than twice as likely to commit suicide than other active-duty soldiers from 2019 to 2021, according to an Army Times data analysis. During the same period, noncommissioned tankers committed suicide at more than three times the rate of other soldiers. . Experts said the tank brigade’s busy training and non-combat deployments are increasing systemic suicide risk in the community and making soldiers more vulnerable to major life stressors.

The Army currently has two active duty tank brigades in Europe. Despite efforts around the world to reduce demand, tank forces are still struggling to meet demand. The 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team will begin its deployment to Europe this month, about 16 months after returning from its last rotation in Poland in December 2022.

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“The time has come for the Army to reevaluate its global armor posture and seriously consider permanently fielding additional equipment.” [brigade combat team] In Europe,” he said. Bacon pointed to the Air Force’s struggles to maintain no-fly zones around the world in the 1990s as an example of “how the hard work of endless station rotations can really wear down a force.”

Mr Bacon described the deaths as a “red flag”, adding: “We must remember that we are talking about people, not appliances.”

In response to earlier questions from Army Times, military spokesman Col. Roger Caviness II said being stationed overseas is “not an easy job.” Such a move would require action from Congress, the Defense Department, and foreign and domestic diplomats.

Mr. Bacon’s call also came on the heels of a report Monday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that recommended the Army end its deployment of rotating armor to Europe, favoring a permanent brigade in Poland.

The report’s authors recommended that the Army abandon the rotating armored brigade deployment model because it “eats into the Army’s force structure and long-term readiness.”