President Joe Biden, rattling his sword at Russia and reassuring US allies in Europe, authorized the mobilization of up to 3,000 military reservists for duty in Europe. The move comes as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to senior military officials.
The exact timing of when the reservists may be sent to Europe is up to the Pentagon, but the announcement shows further U.S. determination to take a greater role in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Pentagon officials said that the 80,000 U.S. troops in the European region would not necessarily increase, but the composition of the force may change, as the Pentagon is given more flexibility to incorporate the reservists.
The Selected Reserve are members of a a military unit that are enrolled in the Ready Reserve program and the reserve unit that they are attached to. Selected Reserve members and units are considered to be in an active status. The Ready Reserve is a pool of service members that may be recalled to active duty.
President Biden’s statement on the matter explained his rationale for augmenting the active Armed Forces for Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility.
The total number of mobilized reservists is not to exceed 3,000 at any given time, with a maximum of 450 members from the Individual Ready Reserve, according to Thursday’s order.
The announcement comes just days after Biden authorized sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, on top of the more than $40 billion already sent to Ukraine since it started defending itself against Russia’s invasion.
The last time the reservists were called up was by President Donald Trump in 2020, when he authorized the Pentagon to call-up units of the National Guard, reservists, and individuals from the Individual Ready Reserve, to assist with the response in the early days of the Covid pandemic.
