Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander, participates in a meeting with military leaders from other member countries at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on May 19, 2026. (NATO)
STUTTGART, Germany — The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday there are no immediate plans to cut troop levels in Europe beyond the 5,000 being pulled from Germany and Poland, but more reductions could be made down the road as allies bolster their own capabilities.
Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, who heads U.S. European Command and serves as NATO’s supreme allied commander, said during a news conference in Brussels that the current plan to reduce U.S. forces won’t have an adverse effect on the alliance’s ability to defend territory along the eastern flank. One reason for that, he said, is Poland and the Baltic states have increased their own fighting capabilities over the past 4½ years.
“It’s all that I’m expecting in the near term,” he said of the 5,000-troop drawdown. “But you know, over the longer term, we absolutely should expect additional (redeployments) as Europe continues to build capability and capacity and step up to provide more of the conventional defense of Europe.”
Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced that it will pull 5,000 troops from Germany. However, Grynkewich confirmed Tuesday that the bulk of those numbers are being drawn from an Army armored brigade that was in the process of deploying to Poland.
Roughly 4,000 soldiers from the Fort Hood, Texas, brigade had begun deploying to Europe when their nine-month mission was abruptly canceled last week. Grynkewich also confirmed that the other unit affected was a long-range fires battalion that was slated to deploy to Germany later this year. Military officials are still working out the details on the remaining reductions, which would involve several hundred troops, he said.
“There are some other additional minor elements that will be shifting as well,” he said following a Tuesday meeting of NATO defense chiefs.
Grynkewich said the reductions do not represent a major change to the overall U.S. force posture in Europe, where about 80,000 troops are stationed across numerous countries. While one rotational brigade is being withdrawn from Poland, another similar unit continues to operate there.
A second brigade was added after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as part of a broader effort to bolster defenses. Since then, “a lot has happened in the alliance,” Grynkewich said.
For instance, Baltic allies and Poland have built up their ground combat power, adding “substantially more capability in the ground domain than there was previously,” Grynkewich said.
There also are multinational brigades in the Baltics, and the German army is in the process of establishing a permanent brigade presence in Lithuania, he pointed out.
“As allies build up their capability, the United States is able to pull capability back and use it for other global priorities,” he said. “So, I’m very comfortable with where we are.”
Still, the abrupt decision to cancel the U.S. armored brigade’s nine-month deployment to Poland has prompted bipartisan pushback in Washington.
Army leaders have faced questions on Capitol Hill about the troop reduction plan in Europe.
Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the acting Army chief of staff, said Friday that his department had only learned within the past two weeks that the Poland deployment would be curtailed. He said the decision came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office directed Grynkewich to reduce troop levels in Europe.
LaNeve’s statements, made during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, appeared to contradict an earlier Pentagon statement that canceling the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, was not an “unexpected, last-minute decision.”
Polish officials have since said they are seeking more information from Washington about the reduction plan, which was originally framed as only impacting Germany.
That raised questions about whether the Vilseck, Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment was among the units affected, given that it is the only brigade-sized force in Germany. While Grynkewich didn’t mention the unit in his comments Tuesday, his characterization of the cuts suggests the regiment is likely unaffected.
The announcement came after President Donald Trump criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his comments on the U.S. handling of the Iran conflict. Poland, which Pentagon officials have described as a “model ally,” had not been mentioned in the original troop reduction plans.
Grynkewich, however, insisted that among NATO’s defense chiefs there was a general expectation that such cuts were coming.
“The exact timing was unknown, but when it did happen, and when it was ordered, we were quickly able to talk to our allies and let them know what was going on and why it was happening,” he said.
