During an official ceremony to mark the event in the western village of Powidz, Gen. John ‘Brad’ Johnson, the head of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, said the base was a sign of America’s commitment to standing alongside Poland in the defense of liberty.
He said: “This location, Powidz, was strategically selected to be able to respond quickly and decisively to any crisis that we may have in this region.
“Bringing this battalion here to this location says that America stands beside Poland, stands beside Europe, to defend freedom, to defend liberty, to defend lives, wherever we see we’re going to be needed.”
Present at the ceremony was also the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, who said the base is the biggest nato investment in more than 30 years. He also added that thanks to bases such as the one in Powidz, the time it takes for U.S. Army units to reach readiness is shortened from two months to just one week.
The Powidz base is one of six of its kind in Europe that are under the 405th Brigade’s command, headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The 405th provides sustainment to U.S. forces operating in Europe and Africa.
The first U.S. equipment arrived in the Powidz base during summer and when fully stocked, it will house 5,000 pieces of equipment, including M1A2 main battle tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, as well as ammunition stocks.
The investment is part of a 2020 Polish-U.S. defense cooperation agreement. As part of the agreement, the headquarters of the European headquarters of the U.S. Army’s V Corps was moved from Germany to Camp Kościuszko in Poznań, westernPoland.
