U.S., Poland to conduct joint missile drill

The U.S. and Polish military forces will conduct a joint drill later in March involving a U.S. Patriot missile battery and Poland's 3rd Warsaw Air Defense Missile Brigade, Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Steve Warren announced on Friday.

Warren said some 100 U.S. soldiers and 30 vehicles will participate in the exercise on Polish territory, adding that the exercise is part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a series of multinational training and security operations designed to reassure its European allies and partners of U.S. dedication to stability in Eastern Europe in light of the Ukrainian crisis.

In another move to show U.S. commitment, the Pentagon announced Monday that it will deploy about 3,000 soldiers to Eastern Europe starting next week for training exercises with forces from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to reassure its European allies concerned about potential Russian aggression.

The unit will replace the leaving U.S. Army - Europe's 2nd Cavalry Regiment to continue land forces training mission with its allies within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The U.S. Defense Department has earlier announced plans to trim down its permanent base in Europe. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is stepping up short-term deployments across Europe for training purpose. Endite