The Pentagon flagged Thursday it is in for the long haul delivering military assistance to Ukraine, announcing enhanced U.S. combat training for Kyiv’s forces via larger units delivering more complex battle skills.
The Defense Department and U.S. officials said the 7th Army Training Command headquartered in Grafenwoehr, Germany will carry out the initiative at U.S. ranges in that country.
The U.S. has already trained about 3,100 Ukrainian troops on how to use and maintain certain weapons and other equipment, including howitzers, armored vehicles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS.
As Breitbart News reported, that training goes back as far as May when the Biden administration entered an agreement with Germany to begin training programs for Ukrainian soldiers.
The UK also began a similar training operation the month before.
AP reports senior military leaders for months have discussed expanding that training, stressing the need to improve the ability of Ukraine’s company- and battalion-sized units to move and coordinate attacks across the battlefield.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told Pentagon reporters Thursday the U.S. expects to train about 500 Ukrainian troops each month and will begin “in the January timeframe.”
Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, added it is not likely to require additional U.S. forces to conduct the training, AP sets out.
Until now, the U.S. focus has been on providing Ukrainian forces with “immediate battlefield needs” as they defend their country against Russia’s invasion, including specialized equipment training, he said.
“Now as we continue to see Ukraine make progress in terms of pushing Russia back,” said Ryder, “the idea here is to be able to give them this advanced level of collective training that enables them to conduct effective combined arms operations and maneuver on the battlefield.”
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