Although NATO Is Growing Larger, Little Will Change for U.S. Troops

When Russian forces invaded Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin expected that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would collapse due to various internal divisions. However, this prediction proved to be a wild miscalculation.

Following the Turkish parliament’s approval of Finland’s request to join NATO, the alliance is preparing to welcome its latest member. Prior to this approval, Finland and Sweden applied for membership. Although Finland is now poised to join NATO, political disagreements have blocked Sweden’s entry. It is worth noting that both countries were non-aligned for many years. With this development, Putin will have yet another NATO member sharing an 810-mile border with Russia. NATO considers any attack on a member a direct attack on the entire alliance.

“President Putin invaded Ukraine with the declared goal of having less NATO in Europe,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “He is getting exactly the opposite. There will be more NATO in Europe, demonstrated by the fact that both Finland and Sweden applied and are invited to become full members.”

It is unclear how Finland’s membership in NATO will affect U.S. troops. Marine Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a Pentagon spokesman, stated that although the U.S. military has trained extensively with Finnish forces in the past, there are no announcements regarding future troop engagements or deployments to Finland. Experts say that Finland joining NATO is significant to the overall alliance, but it will not significantly alter the situation of U.S troops in Europe.

With Finland joining NATO, the alliance will be better positioned to defend Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, which are geographically cut off from the rest of the alliance. This addition will also allow NATO forces to have a wider area through which to carry out reinforcements and counterattacks if Russia chooses to attack the Baltic countries. In the past, U.S. military planners have feared that Russian forces in the Kaliningrad enclave and Belarus could effectively close the 65-mile Suwałki Gap that serves as the only road connection between Poland and the three Baltic states.

According to veteran Navy Capt. Jan van Tol of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank and former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Evelyn Farkas, it is unlikely that the U.S. military will send troops to Finland to deter a potential Russian attack after Finland’s NATO membership begins. There may be moves to deploy Patriot missile batteries in Finland and rotate more troops through the country for training purposes, but U.S. troops are not expected to establish garrisons in Finland as they have in Germany and Poland. Although Finland’s inclusion in the alliance will significantly contribute to NATO’s collective forces, it is Finland’s willingness to fight and defend that makes it a valuable member, according to retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.