Stars and Stripes reports that “a company of paratroops arrived in Poland Wednesday, the first U.S. ground combat troops to deploy to eastern Europe since the geopolitical crisis in Ukraine began months ago setting Russia and the West in a Cold War-like clinch.”  

“The troops, from the Vicenza-based 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, deployed a day after the Pentagon announced the plan to dispatch units to Poland and the Baltics — about 600 troops in all.”  

“Since the escalation of tensions between NATO and Russia after the latter annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO allies have dispatched fighter jets and other aircraft to Poland and the Baltics, all of which share a border with Russia. But the deployment of troops could be the first step in a move eastern European leaders have long sought: stronger NATO security guarantees and permanent U.S. boots on the ground.”