A U.S. Army Patriot launcher vehicle with its missiles removed drives to a loading area near Rzeszow–Jasionka Airport in Poland on Feb. 2, 2025. The U.S. Army announced April 7, 2025, that it is pulling forces out of Jasionka, a city near Poland’s border with Ukraine that has been instrumental in getting Western arms into the war-torn country. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
The U.S. Army is pulling forces out of a site near Poland’s border with Ukraine that has been instrumental in getting Western arms into the war-torn country, military officials said this week.
U.S. equipment and personnel will be repositioned from the city of Jasionka to other parts of Poland, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement Monday.
“The important work of facilitating military aid to Ukraine via Jasionka will continue under Polish and NATO leadership, supported by a streamlined U.S. military footprint,” USAREUR-AF said. “Poland and its allies will maintain the robust protective infrastructure around this critical site.”
The Army said it remains committed to its presence in Poland, where it has a permanent garrison in Poznan. Poland has committed billions of dollars to improve various locations for U.S. personnel.
Pfc. Norman Romero, left, and Spc. Ezequiel Martinez prepare Patriot missiles to be shipped near Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport on Feb. 2, 2025. The U.S. Army announced April 7, 2025, that it is pulling forces out of Jasionka, which has been instrumental in getting Western arms into Ukraine. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
“In the past few years we have moved to more permanent facilities in the country,” Gen. Christopher Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, said in the statement. “After three years at Jasionka this is an opportunity to right-size our footprint and save American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year.”
In 2022, U.S. forces established a temporary presence in Jasionka, on the outskirts of Rzeszow, soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. The location has been used by U.S., NATO ally and partner forces for three years.
The decision to reposition troops and equipment was the result of months of planning and was coordinated with Poland and NATO allies, the Army said.
The U.S. has been at the center of efforts to support Ukraine militarily, but in recent months those responsibilities have shifted to allies in line with the priorities of President Donald Trump.
For example, the U.S. no longer leads the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, commonly called the Ramstein Group, which was organized by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to marshal support for Ukraine. That effort is now being led by the British.
In January, the U.S. also ceded leadership to NATO of an air defense mission in Poland that was launched soon after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Overall, American force levels in Europe have come down from a peak of just over 100,000 a couple of years ago to roughly 80,000 today.
