The Pentagon has canceled plans to temporarily deploy over 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland.
According to Army Times, an Army official confirmed the decision on Wednesday but did not provide details.
The decision follows the Pentagon announcing it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany.
During a congressional hearing Tuesday on the Army’s budget posture, neither Army Secretary Dan Driscoll nor Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army vice chief of staff, mentioned the deployment cancellation.
But word already had started spreading early Tuesday morning among those affected, with soldiers texting friends and loved ones about the change.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during his opening statement in the hearing that the Army faces a budget shortfall of at least $2 billion as a result of extended operations that include deployments of the Army National Guard to Washington, D.C., and units to participate in U.S. border control.
Reed wondered what the impact was on training and operations but the topic was not addressed.
The Army budget shortfall is significantly larger than Reed’s estimate. Army officials have stated it amounts to between $4 billion and $6 billion.
It is unclear why Secretary of War Pete Hegseth canceled the deployment to Poland.
Poland was reportedly an option for some of the troops leaving Germany.
There are currently about 7,400 U.S. troops in Poland, and the Army’s V Corps has its forward headquarters in Poznan, Poland.
One U.S. official reportedly said “we had no idea this was coming.”
It was also not immediately clear whether the 4,000 troops assigned to the canceled mission in Poland would count against the drawdown in Germany or be in addition to that. A Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that current planning assumes a net reduction of 5,000 troops between Poland, Germany and possibly other European countries but noted that internal planning is in flux.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Hegseth’s decision.
Mr. Trump has told reporters that troop cuts in Europe would go even deeper. He has insisted that “we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000” service members from Germany and threatened to also pull troops out of Italy and Spain, countries that the president says have not supported the administration’s goals in the U.S. war against Iran.
Pentagon officials have said that the administration’s long-term aim is for European allies to shoulder more of the responsibility for defending the continent and lessen the U.S. military role there.
The Pentagon’s pullbacks from Germany were sharply criticized by Democrats as well as some senior Republicans in Congress, who cited the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The cancellation of the deployment of the Second Armored Brigade Combat Team of the First Cavalry Division is probably part of a broader realignment of U.S. forces in Europe, according to U.S. military officials speaking on condition of anonymity.