With the post-Cold War era over, Europe is hot again.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has increased the demand for U.S. aircraft and airmen to rotate through Europe, said Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
To help reassure NATO allies in Eastern Europe, the Air Force deployed 12 A-10s in February as part of service's first theater security package to Europe. TSPs are generally six-month rotations that provide U.S. European Command and regional commanders with air capabilities necessary to support regional security, according to USAFE.
Gorenc expects more such deployments for the foreseeable future. Twelve A-10s from the 23rd Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, are expected to arrive in Europe this fall, he said.
"I'm really excited about it because based on what we were able to do with the A-10s last round, they accomplished a lot and they were very well-received and we were able to do lots of training in many different countries," he said in an Aug. 21 interview.
Four F-22s arrived in Germany on Aug. 31, marking the Raptor's first deployment to Europe. Two of the F-22s and a KC-135 Stratotanker landed at Ämari Air Base, Estonia, on Sept. 5.
Under a 1997 agreement with Russia, NATO vowed not to establish permanent military bases in Eastern Europe. That means U.S. deployments to countries that had been behind the Iron Curtain are temporary, Gorenc explained.
"Clearly, many of them want permanent presence, but for the time being, they appreciate the rotational effort and they squeeze everything possible out of our presence both to increase their capability, but certainly that effort shows the solidarity inside the alliance," he said.
Since 2014, Russia has waged a hybrid war in Ukraine, first annexing the Crimea region and sending Russian troops to Eastern Ukraine and supporting separatists there.
"I'm concerned about the Russians, for sure," Gorenc said. "We have a condition where one country has breached another country's borders by force. That hasn't happened in a long time and the fact that it has re-emerged as a tactic by one country to intimidate another country is cause for alarm."
Russian military aircraft have also violated International Civil Aviation Organization standards by turning their transponders off in international airspace, he said. U.S. and NATO aircraft intercept the Russians to make sure they do not pose a threat to commercial aircraft.
"My assessment is up to this point — except in a couple of cases — all of the intercepts and all of the reactions to those intercepts have been done professionally," Gorenc said. "I don't know exactly what's happening in the Pacific. But where I am, and for the majority of the activity that we do, I have not been alarmed at the professionalism of their aviators."
The number of Russian flights that require intercepts has dropped to what is considered a normal level, but the pace could pick up just as quickly as it tapered off, he said.
"For us, it doesn't matter," Gorenc said. "We maintain full readiness to respond to increased activity or decreased activity."
Eastern European members of NATO have increasingly turned to USAFE for help upgrading their airplanes, weaponry and airfields, Gorenc said.
"USAFE has been very active across the entire spectrum of air capability from the actual aircraft, logistics, medical — all of these skill sets that we have become very, very good at are in demand and we're out and about helping our allies develop capabilities in those areas," he said. "We're helping them develop capabilities in mobility. We're helping them develop capabilities for sustainment of their airfields."
Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, requested that its air force train with USAFE before Russia annexed Crimea, Gorenc said.
"No decision has been made," Gorenc said. "The bottom line is: Just like every other partner and every other ally … all of these air forces want to and have an expressed a desire to train and to work interoperability issues with United States."
