More Lethal Aid to Ukraine? U.S. Trainers, Javelins Have Already Made Russians a Little More Nervous by Kyle Rempfer - Military Times
The U.S. has been providing lethal aid in the form of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine since May, and Russian armor is reportedly deterred by the investment.
On top of the lethal aid, the U.S. has trainers currently in the country, including National Guardsmen running the Yavoriv Combat Training Center and American special operations forces running selection courses for their Ukrainian counterparts.
The successes have lawmakers and military leaders looking for other ways to help.
“The fact that they have a Javelin that they could employ and they know how to employ it as a deterrent,” Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander-Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.
“The Ukrainians, in my view, have trained very well for the use of that, they’ve been responsible in the security and the deployment of it and we watch that closely.”…
U.S. special operations forces have also been deeply involved in training their Ukrainian counterparts.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said during the hearing that she recently traveled to the country to spend time with Ukraine’s “brand-new special operations forces that just graduated from their Ukrainian Q Course, which is run by our American special operations forces.”
Ernst visited a training center in Berdychiv, Ukraine, where U.S. and Ukrainian SOF work closely to improve recruitment, retention, training, and overall military tactics, according to a statement from her offices regarding the February trip…