Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicles are staged inside one of the six Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway caves where they will remain until needed for a military operation, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief or training exercise. The equipment was transported by the Maritime Prepositioning ship the USNS Williams earlier in the month for scheduled equipment modernization. Outdated and unserviceable gear will be sent back on the ship to Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., as the final step in the operation. U.S. Marines from 2nd Marine Logistics Group out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., in coordination with their Norwegian counterparts, are modernizing some of the equipment by placing approximately 350 containers of gear and nearly 400 pieces of heavy rolling stock into the storage caves. Specific equipment, which will greatly increase the program's readiness, includes M1A1 Main Battle Tanks, Tank Retrievers, Armored Breaching Vehicles, Amphibious Assault Vehicles, Expanded Capacity Vehicle (ECV) Gun Trucks and several variants of the MTVR 7-1/2 ton trucks. Planning for this equipment refresh began in the spring of 2010. Marines and contractors from Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., and Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa are also in Norway to ensure the operation is conducted in a safe and timely manner.
En attendant l’installation d’une base militaire américaine permanente sur son territoire, la Pologne va accueillir un site de stockage de matériels et de blindés en mesure d’équiper une brigade de l’US Army. Selon le Wall Street Journal, cet entrepôt sera construit sur le site de la base aérienne de Powidz, à 200 km à l’ouest de Varsovie. Il devrait être opérationnel d’ici deux ans.
