The changes were previewed to alliance members last month by a senior Pentagon official. They appear to include reductions in the number of combat aircraft, air-to-air refueling planes and Navy vessels that would be sent to defend the alliance during a crisis or conflict under the NATO Force Model.
“There has been an unhealthy co-dependence in the NATO Force Model on U.S. forces,” EUCOM commander Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich said in a statement. “President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and others have been clear that this needs to change, and it will change,” Grynkewich added. “The potential reality of simultaneous conflict in multiple theaters demands it.”
The announcement follows a Pentagon decision last month to cancel the deployment of an Army armored combat brigade to Poland. It also follows a decision last year to remove a brigade from Romania.
Together, the steps have caused unease among U.S. lawmakers and European nations that are trying to fill the gap. Grynkewich also serves as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, giving him a central role in shaping alliance plans as U.S. force commitments in Europe are reduced.
EUCOM said the changes to the U.S. force model will make NATO’s plans more realistic. The command said the adjustments are intended to prevent NATO from “over-relying” on U.S. forces, which the Defense Department says are needed to “sustain deterrence in other regions and respond in the event of other global contingencies.”
The reductions come as Russia has increased missile and drone attacks on Ukraine and raised threats against NATO states. The article also noted that arms control is in abeyance.
After the U.S. announced a brigade cut last month, the Republican heads of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees expressed concern about the effect on U.S. force posture in Europe. “Prematurely reducing America’s forward presence in Europe before those capabilities are fully realized risks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin,” Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Mike Rogers said in a May 2 statement.
A provision in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act states that the Pentagon may not reduce its posture in Europe below 76,000 troops. The U.S. is not expected to fall below that level this year, although American officials have indicated that further cuts should be expected.
The draft House version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act also includes a provision requiring a report from the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The report would provide the analytical basis for force posture changes directed in Europe.
The Force Model reductions announced by EUCOM and the earlier brigade cuts are part of a broader Pentagon shift. The article said the Pentagon is reallocating more resources to the Pacific to deter China and to the Western Hemisphere.
The adjustments have been promoted by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby as part of the Trump administration’s vision for “NATO 3.0.” Neither the Pentagon nor EUCOM has detailed which U.S. cuts are being made or how quickly European nations can fill the gap as they increase defense budgets.
“Two areas where Canada and European Allies can step up now and in the near term—as the United States reduces forces sourced to the NATO Force Model in Europe and refocuses them elsewhere—are with manned and unmanned aircraft, and with naval vessels,” Grynkewich said.
Allies were informed of the Force Model changes in late May at NATO headquarters in Brussels by Alexander Velez-Green, a senior Pentagon policy official. Allied officials also discussed the matter during a June 2-3 meeting at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, chaired by Grynkewich’s NATO deputy, RAF Air Chief Marshal Johnny Stringer.
NATO defense ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels later this month. The meeting will come before the alliance’s annual summit of political leaders in Ankara in July, which President Donald Trump plans to attend.
“SHAPE continues to work with allies to offset the reduced American capabilities,” Grynkewich said.
Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine.
