{"id":32089,"date":"2019-10-07T13:22:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T13:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/07\/reforger-redux-defender-2020-exercise-to-be-3rd-largest-exercise-in-europe-since-cold-war\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:35:50","slug":"reforger-redux-defender-2020-exercise-to-be-3rd-largest-exercise-in-europe-since-cold-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2019\/10\/07\/reforger-redux-defender-2020-exercise-to-be-3rd-largest-exercise-in-europe-since-cold-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Reforger redux? Defender 2020 to be 3rd largest exercise in Europe since Cold War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Defender 2020<\/a> in Europe is set to be the third-largest military exercise<\/a> on the continent since the Cold War, according to Lt. Gen. Chris Cavoli, the U.S. Army Europe commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The division-scaled exercise will test the Army\u2019s ability to deliver a force from \u201cfort in the United States to port in the United States,\u201d and then to ports in Europe, and from there to operational areas throughout Europe from Germany to Poland to the Baltic states<\/a> and other Eastern European nations, Nordic countries and even Georgia, Cavoli told Defense News in an exclusive interview focused on the big event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Army has gone into some detail about Defender 2020 in the Pacific<\/a>, U.S. Army Europe has been tight-lipped during the coordination of its version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the drill has been compared to the Reforger exercises that happened during the Cold War, that is \u201cnot a completely apt comparison\u201d because Reforger exercises were about getting a force into one country \u2014 Germany \u2014 \u201cto defend a very-known location against a force that we all understood very well,\u201d Cavoli said. He recalled hearing about Reforger exercises as a little boy when his father was an Army officer serving in Europe. \u201cThe only thing we didn\u2019t know was what time it was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, the Army must deploy a huge force onto the continent, move across and operate in many countries, \u201cand we don\u2019t know what we\u2019ll have to deter or even defend against,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a massive scale<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testing the Army\u2019s ability to deploy large units to Europe is seen as critical to deterring Russian aggression<\/a>. The Army has increasingly turned its posture to stationing most of its combat forces in the United States while maintaining theater operational capability and equipment set aside for rapid reinforcement from the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service has begun rotating forces on a regular basis over the past several years after beginning to withdraw capability from Europe. After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the U.S. began to invest in a buildup in Europe to deter Russia from acting similarly in another country. That included sending an armored brigade combat team on nine-month, back-to-back rotations as well as a combat aviation brigade.<\/p>\n\n\n\t