Note: The morning we spoke with Major General Gronski, full details of a U.S. military plane crash in Mississippi the night before had not yet been released. Fifteen Marines and a Navy Corpsman died in that crash.
Almost 300,000 U.S. soldiers were stationed in Europe during the cold war to deter our adversaries, reassure our allies and protect U.S. interests in Europe. Today there are about 30,000 soldiers in Europe carrying out the same mission. To better accomplish that mission the Army has National Guard and Army Reserve units train in Europe.
The 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team based out of Columbus recently served in the Multinational Battle Group-East, a U.S.-led organization in Kosovo. The unit rotated home this month.
We recently spoke with U.S. Army Europe Deputy Commanding General for Army National Guard, Major General John Gronski, about the Army's mission and the soldiers who serve in Europe.