Nearly 4,000 Ukrainian service members have been trained by US during war
Mike Brest
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The number of Ukrainian troops training on U.S. weapons is nearing 4,000, while the service members who are training on the sophisticated Patriot missile system are close to completing the program.
Three thousand two hundred thirty-five of the roughly 3,870 Ukrainian troops are being or have been given specialized training on weapons, while the other 635 are getting familiar with combined arms training, which focuses on how to integrate different weapons systems to enable complementary benefits, Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a DOD spokesman, told the Washington Examiner. Many of the training sessions are taking place at Grafenwoehr Training Area, a United States Army military training base in Germany.
TIMELINE OF RUSSIA’S YEARLONG WAR IN UKRAINE
Eight hundred and ninety troops have been or are being trained on the M777 howitzer, 610 on the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 520 on the M119 howitzer, 310 on the M109 howitzer, 225 on the M120 mortar system, 140 on the M113 armored personnel carrier, and 65 are being trained in the U.S. on the Patriot defense system, the official added.
Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, Joint Staff operations director, told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, “All told since January, the U.S. military has trained another 1,000 Ukrainians, bringing the total trained by the United States to just over 4,000.”
“U.S. armed forces will soon complete training and equipping of Ukraine’s first Patriot battery,” he added. “As you know, our air defense experts are providing key training in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. We are confident the Ukrainians will employ Patriots with the same expertise they are demonstrating every day with their current air defense capabilities.”
Garn said the Patriot system training will conclude in the “next several weeks.”
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Feb. 11 that the first group of Ukrainians training on the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle at Grafenwoehr Training Area had completed the five-week program and a second group had begun the course.
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The U.S. has provided roughly $30 billion of military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded a year ago. President Joe Biden has denied some requests for certain weapons systems from Kyiv, though he has also reversed previous noes into yeses. Currently, Ukraine has upped its request for F-16 fighter aircraft and long-range weapons.
Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, also testified in front of the committee that it would take roughly 18 months to provide Ukraine with F-16s if Biden changes his mind. It would then take roughly the same amount of time to train them on it.