Defender-Europe 20 exercise curtailed over coronavirus concerns

March 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. European Command's participation in the Defender-Europe 20 combat exercises will be curtailed because of concerns over the coronavirus, the command announced Monday.

About 20,000 U.S. soldiers, including those of the Army Reserves, Active Duty, and National Guard were expected to join personnel from 10 European countries in the deployment, but many will now return to the United States, officials said in a statement.

"As of March 13, all movement of personnel and equipment from the United States to Europe has ceased," an EUCOM statement on Monday said. "The health, safety and readiness of our military, civilians, and family members is our primary concern. With this decision, we continue to preserve the readiness of our force while maximizing our efforts to advance our alliances and partnerships."

The statement specifically mentioned a reduction of involvement by U.S. Forces, and not a cancellation of the exercise. Details regarding the curtailment by EUCOM also have not been revealed.

"We anticipate the armored brigade combat team already deployed to Europe will conduct gunnery and other combined training events with allies as part of a modified Allied Spirit exercise," officials said. "Forces already deployed to Europe for other linked exercises will return to the United States."

The spread of the coronavirus forced EUCOM and Norwegian allies to end Cold Response, a large-scale Arctic exercise scheduled for early March.

U.S. Army Europe said on Feb. 28 that "Defender-Europe 20 is the largest deployment of U.S.-based forces to Europe for an exercise in the more than 25 years." About 6,000 Army personnel and 3,000 pieces of equipment have already been deployed to Germany and Poland from the United States since January.

The exercises are meant to demonstrate the Army's ability to rapidly deploy a large force, moving them to various areas of operation, and sustain them, before returning them to the United States. The major participating units include the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, 1st Armored Division, 1st Infantry Division, 3rd Infantry Division and 82nd Airborne Division.