Members of Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment gather for a photo on a Patriot missile launcher in southeastern Poland on March 7, 2023. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
SOUTHEAST POLAND — The soldiers of Delta Battery are hypervigilant for a potential attack that could plunge 30 nations into conflict with Russia, and they’ve been that way ever since arriving last year with their Patriot missiles at little more than a muddy field.
Hypervigilance means no alcohol, ever. Passes to leave the small outpost of dirt-filled Hesco walls topped with razor wire come rarely, and no one goes far in case of an emergency.
Delta Battery’s task is to make sure that if the Russians ever fire at the billions of dollars’ worth of aid making its way from NATO territory to Ukraine, their Patriot missiles will keep the cargo moving and the people nearby it safe.
Stars and Stripes has agreed to withhold the exact location of the battery for security reasons.
A Patriot missile launcher used by Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is positioned for firing if needed at an austere base in southeast Poland, March 6, 2023. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Early on, Moscow warned that it considered weapons shipments to Ukraine legitimate military targets. Most analysts agree that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to launch an attack on a NATO member because it would invoke the alliance’s Article 5, which calls for all members to defend each other.
But Putin’s reluctance can’t be counted upon to continue. And so, the soldiers continue to be ready.
“The threat level has been pretty steady throughout this deployment,” said Sgt. Chase Hanel, who oversees a group of soldiers tasked with preparing the Patriot launchers when they need to be fired.
Delta was one of three batteries from 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, part of 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Germany, that deployed to NATO’s eastern flank just days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
All three specialize in the Patriot long-range surface-to-air missile defense system. Bravo Battery was sent to Slovakia and Charlie Battery set up near Delta, a few dozen miles from the Ukrainian border.
The entrance to Delta Battery’s Patriot missile site in southeastern Poland, March 7, 2023, was built after soldiers arrived at little more than a muddy field last year. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Patriot missile launchers tower above the muddy landscape at Delta Battery’s location in southeastern Poland on March 6, 2023. The unit has been operating in the austere environment for over a year. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and)
The other units have already been replaced, as were many of the thousands of NATO troops initially sent east in response to the war.
But the 60-some Delta soldiers, most of whom have been here since the beginning, remain. Their departure is thought to be imminent, but they still don’t know exactly when it will be.
Part of the reason is that NATO leaders say Patriot protection in the area is crucial, and they don’t want any gaps in coverage.
The speed that went into Delta’s deployment meant there was no initial blueprint for handing over the reins to another unit, said Capt. Nathan Lebaron, the battery’s commander.
“This is the first time we have been deployed to Europe to do anything like this,” said Lebaron, who has completed multiple air defense deployments in the Middle East. “It’s very unique and it’s a big deal.”
Delta Battery commander Capt. Nathan Lebaron said March 7, 2023, that the year his soldiers have spent in a desolate patch of southeastern Poland has taken a toll, but that they’ll execute their mission for as long as necessary. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Lebaron’s soldiers were given less than a week to relocate from Germany to Poland and start operations. They described arriving at an open field, living in Humvees with small heaters and using pizza boxes as makeshift tables.
“It was a bit overwhelming to have to set up a site and be like, ‘OK, we need to start operations and we’re defending one of the most important locations in Europe,” said Staff Sgt. Rosa Weaver, who maintains the system’s equipment.
The Patriot system debuted in combat during the 1991 Gulf War. It includes radar with a range of over 90 miles, a control station, a power generator, launch stations and other support vehicles.
It’s usually used to shoot down incoming cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and advanced aircraft.
Given the absence of Russian attacks on NATO territory over the past year, the alliance’s air defenders have spent much of their time waiting.
Pfc. Robert Smith of Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment checks a Patriot missile launching station in southeastern Poland on March 7, 2023. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Members of Delta Battery, who usually work 12-hour shifts inside tents or vehicles packed with equipment and are often exposed to the elements, acknowledge that the work can get tedious.
Some spend the day dealing with incoming information, while others wait for orders to prepare the missiles for firing. Such orders are periodically handed down to keep them on their toes. Only later do the troops discover it’s just a drill.
While they’re technically not on a combat deployment, the soldiers say it feels very much like one.
The rigors and austere nature of the deployment are taking a mental toll, some said.
“Deployments usually last a maximum nine months, but this one’s going past 365 days, so it’s definitely becoming an issue,” Hanel said. “My soldiers are burned out, they’re exhausted. It’s hard to get the rest you need and get back to work like the soldiers we need to be.”
Members of Delta Battery’s hot crew, responsible for heating up Patriot missiles prior to launch, hang out in a tent, March 7, 2023. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Some soldiers at times have questioned the need for the mission, Cpl. Reagen Eargood said. But that sentiment is often short-lived, she added, particularly when troops receive reminders of the bigger picture.
“I had a little girl about 5 years old come up to me and say, ‘thank you’ and shake my hand,” Eargood said, recounting a visit to a nearby town. “She heard us speaking English, and her mom asked if we were American.
“It’s moments like those that make you realize we’re making a difference, not only to the Polish people but to the Ukrainians and to our family back home.”
Most of the troops said they follow closely the developments in Ukraine and the U.S. response to the war. Some said they were concerned by the growing number of Americans opposed to sending weaponry to Kyiv.
A poll last month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed nearly 30% of Americans oppose providing such aid, up from 19% in May.
Pfc. Jacob Root inspects a Patriot missile launching station in southeast Poland at the beginning of his shift March 7, 2023. Delta Battery soldiers usually work 12-hour shifts and rarely leave their job site. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and)
The latest U.S. aid package to Ukraine, announced earlier this month, is worth up to $400 million and includes armored vehicle-launched bridges and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
It brings to roughly $30 billion the amount spent by the U.S. on security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion last year.
“I take great pride in the fact that we are enabling the defense of Ukraine, that we are enabling the United States and its NATO allies to shore up the alliance and shore up Western values by providing these kinds of weapons and this protection,” said 1st Lt. Daniel Olsen, Delta Battery’s executive officer.
Outside the razor wire-topped walls of Delta Battery’s operations center, a backhoe digs in the mud. The site slowly has been getting more permanent structures like bathrooms. Someday soon, the site’s modest appearance might be a thing of the past.
“We’re preparing for the long haul,” Lebaron said. “We can be here as long as America needs Patriot to be here.”
Soldiers go about their duties March 7, 2023, at Delta Battery’s tactical site in southeast Poland, where air defenders have been working for a year to ensure that Western military aid reaches Ukraine. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Members of Delta Battery walk on March 7, 2023, in southeast Poland, with a streamer they were awarded in February for being the best Patriot crew of the Army’s 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
