US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher tweeted on Friday that October 16th marked another step in Polish US defence cooperation: “Big day in PL-US relations today! V Corps @usarmy will be officially reactivated in Fort Knox. This means we will be establishing a V Corps Forward Command Post in Poznan, Poland, very soon. It’s a huge success which proves how important the allegiance with Poland is for us!” Mosbacher wrote on Twitter.
The forward command post of the V Corps is to include some 200 soldiers, the first are due to arrive in Poland this month. Their first mission is to deal with operational planning and command of the rotational forces in Europe .
Polish US defence cooperation is on another higher level tweeted Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak “ today sees the reactivation of the V Corps US Army , while in Poznan the V Corps Forward Command is being formed. Our defence cooperation with the US has enetered another, higher level. We take care of the security of our country” Błaszczak wrote on Twitter on Friday .
The creation of the forward command of the V Corps in Poland was announced in an agreement signed in Warsaw on August 15 by Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The agreement is to facilitate the deployment of more US troops in Poland. Their number is to in increase by some 1,000 to 5,500.
The reactivation of the V Corps was announced in February this year by the Department of Land Forces within the US Department of Defense. The commander of the V Corps was John Kolasheski, who on August 4 in Krakow was nominated for the rank of Lieutenant General.
V Corps HQ is at Fort Knox, Kentucky. When announcing the decision to activate the command of the Corps, the Pentagon announced that the forward command post would be in Europe. The entire command is to count about 635 soldiers, some of them will rotate in Poznań. The 5th Corps is to be the main participant in the Defender-Europe 21 exercise planned for May and June 2021 in the Balkans and the Black Sea region.