Poland welcomes U.S. ‘Iron Soldiers’

The U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team was greeted in Poland at a welcoming celebration at Gen. Stanislaw Macek Park.

The celebration last month was intended to show Poland’s ongoing support of the U.S.efforts and dedication, a Defense Department release said. The 3,500 soldiers of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team will be in Poland before being deployed to other areas.

“These ‘Iron Soldiers’ … send a clear signal of our commitment as they round out our joint team’s capability in a very significant way,” Air Force Lt. Gen Timothy Ray, U.S. European Command’s deputy commander, said  at welcoming, according to the release.

Ray said that prior events in 2014 and past declarations have created a unity and bond between the two countries, the release said. “These events forged a commitment, and a plan, to build our defense and deterrence posture in Europe. Know that our commitment to defense is rock-solid. We must maintain the territorial integrity of our alliance and maintain a Europe that is whole, free, prosperous and at peace.”

During the Armored Brigade's time in Poland, they will be shifting around in seven different locations, the release said. This exercise was put in place to “increase the scope and complexity of many exercises in our portfolio focusing on joint interoperability, missile defense and crisis-response operations,” Ray said in the release.