| Advertisement |
Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The Pentagon on Monday released the results of its nearly yearlong review of the military's international posture, making few recommendations. Mara Karlin, performing the duties of deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters during a press conference that President Joe Biden had recently approved the recommendations that she said "will inform our approach to the national defense strategy."
Advertisement
The Global Posture Review was launched by Biden in early February, weeks after he assumed the helm of the country, to ensure the U.S. military footprint aligns with his foreign policy and national security priorities.
Many of the report's outcomes remain classified to protect operation security, but Karlin said the priority of the Global Posture Review was the Indo-Pacific region due to the growing threat from China.
According to a release from the Pentagon, the review calls for additional cooperation with allies and partners in the region to deter potential Chinese military aggression and threats from North Korea, including seeking greater regional access for military partnership activities.
It directs enhancing infrastructure in Australia and the Pacific Islands while planning rotational fighter and bomber aircraft deployments in the island nation -- which Biden had announced in September.
Karlin added that more broadly in the Indo-Pacific region there will be infrastructure improvements in Guam and the commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, including logistic facilities, fuel and munition storage and airfield upgrades.
In Europe, the review pointed to strengthening U.S. combat deterrent against Russia, and its initial assessment of the situation informed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in February to rescind the 25,000 force cap for Germany put in place by the previous Trump administration.
Karlin added that the United States informed Belgium and Germany that it will retain seven military sites that were to be returned to host nations.
The review also informed Austin's decision in April to permanently station an Army Multi-Domain Task Force and a Theater Fires Command for a total of 500 Army personnel in the European nation.
For the Middle East, little information was released but the Pentagon stated the review directs it "to conduct additional analysis on enduring posture requirements" in the region.
In Africa, the review supports interagency reviews to ensure the department has "an appropriately scoped posture" to monitor threats from regional violent extremist organizations.
"This is not sort of the end all, be all on posture around the world," Karlin said, stating the review tries to capture a "baseline" of how things are now and that she expects further updates to Africa and the Middle East.
"It will continue to evolve," she said.
