WASHINGTON — Rep. Don Bacon said Saturday that “restoring U.S. forward presence in the Baltics has been a top priority of mine since the Spring when DoD inexplicably withdrew,” and that “the return of U.S. combat presence reassures our allies and strengthens deterrence.”
Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, retired Air Force brigadier general, House Baltic Caucus co-chair, and chair of the House Armed Services cybersecurity subcommittee, posted the statement on X on Sept. 26. He quoted a Joint Baltic American National Committee item on Lithuania’s announcement that U.S. Army tanks are returning after a months-long gap.
Restoring U.S. forward presence in the Baltics has been a top priority of mine since the Spring when DoD inexplicably withdrew. The return of U.S. combat presence reassures our allies and strengthens deterrence.
Lithuania’s Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said a heavy battalion with M1 Abrams tanks and an engineer battalion will arrive at the end of October, about 1,000 soldiers for nine months. Kaunas was in Washington Sept. 20–26. A Sept. 22 Ministry of National Defence notice said his meetings with Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby and members of Congress would focus on “ensuring the U.S. military presence in Lithuania.” He proposed a permanent U.S. base. He said no decision has been made.
President Gitanas Nausėda, also in the United States that week, issued a Sept. 22 presidential statement saying a new rotation “is already on its way.” He thanked President Donald Trump and the U.S. administration and said U.S. presence “is an indispensable part of our deterrence and collective defence.” He said the exact number was not yet final but “will not be smaller than before.” He later told LRT the force would likely be about 1,000 and that he had sent Trump two letters on host-nation support, Lithuania’s 5.4 percent-of-GDP defense budget, and cooperation on the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. heavy battalions have rotated through Pabradė, near the Belarusian border, since 2019. In May, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered a Europe rebalancing that included withdrawing about 5,000 troops from Germany and canceling the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, deployment from Fort Hood to Poland. The Lithuania battalion is normally drawn from that Poland-based brigade. About 1,000 U.S. soldiers left in June with no immediate replacement, the first armored-battalion gap since 2020. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Germany drawdown followed “a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe.” Army officials later described an August 1st Infantry Division rotation. The Department of War had not issued a standalone public confirmation of the Lithuania battalions as of midweek.
Germany is permanently stationing the 45th Armoured Brigade “Lithuania,” about 5,000 troops at full strength by 2027. Lithuania’s 2026 defense budget is €4.79 billion, or 5.38 percent of GDP, including host-nation support for U.S. contingents. Kaunas said Lithuania has bought about €2 billion in U.S. equipment over three years, including Javelin, JLTV, Black Hawk, HIMARS, and AMRAAM for NASAMS.
Bacon has pressed the Baltic file for years. He co-signed a 2025 NDAA letter to keep the Baltic Security Initiative and said a reported cutoff of that aid was “flat out wrong.” In September he wrote that there was “little support” in Congress for a large Europe drawdown and that “some folks in Pentagon seem oblivious to current Russian aggression.” Lithuania borders Belarus and the Suwałki Gap. Nebraska’s 2nd District votes Nov. 3.