“Being there is obviously helpful; allows you to gain unique information that is much more difficult to obtain when you are thousands of kilometers away, says Julianne Smith, former US ambassador to NATO during the presidency of Joe Biden. According to her, soldiers can detect Russian activity near the border with Estonia or track disinformation campaigns targeting Russian-speaking minorities in the region.
Although the American troops stationed in Poland are mainly armored and mechanized units, they also perform reconnaissance and reconnaissance using helicopters – writes our editor Jack Detsch.
Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, who was a senior official at U.S. European Command from 2010 to 2012, says the withdrawal of troops from Europe's eastern flank means a loss of the opportunity to collect intelligence, both from electronic monitoring and from informants.
— The presence of our soldiers at such forward posts allows us to collect both signal and human information, allowing us to “sniff out” something in the vicinity of Kaliningrad or St. Petersburg – he adds. — There are many things you can put in a military base that are very useful.
Some American forces in Poland are taking part in exercises in the Baltic states. The Estonian embassy in Washington told the editorial office that the American authorities informed Tallinn of their intention to “reorganize the rotation of US troops stationed in the region, including in Estonia.”
The White House declined to comment on the potential impact of reducing the number of troops in Poland on intelligence activities, referring journalists to the Department of Defense, which in turn limited itself to Tuesday's statement on the overall troop reduction plan.
According to Jim Townsend, former deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Obama administration, the intelligence potential of the presence of American soldiers in Poland should be treated as the “cherry on the cake”, i.e. an additional benefit, and not the most important issue.
Townsend emphasizes that American armored units will likely participate in the exercises together with European or Ukrainian soldiers, which is an opportunity to exchange tactics and techniques useful in the fight against Russia.
In Europe, the United States is perceived more as a provider of intelligence than as a recipient, especially when it comes to satellite photos from the Ukrainian battlefield. Last year, a temporary restriction on information sharing with Ukraine sparked outrage both in Kiev and among Donald Trump supporters such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
However, Poland itself is a unique listening point in Europe. This is where the center for coordinating security assistance to Ukraine from both the US and the entire NATO is located.
— Poles probably know more about Russian activities in Ukraine than we do, due to their extensive contacts in this country. They probably also have a better understanding of the situation on site. We have to listen to them, says Townsend.
Talks regarding the Department of Defense's plans for Poland are still ongoing. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that he had talked with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Christopher Mahoney. According to the minister, the talks “confirmed the lack of plans to reduce the presence of US troops in Poland.”
