NATO's Grynkewich Briefs Pentagon's Colby on Europe Force-Posture Options

US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, joined a virtual briefing on September 18, 2026 with Pentagon Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby on potential approaches to the six-month review of US troop deployments in Europe. The session is one input into at least four sets of troop-level options due to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by November 6, ahead of a December completion deadline; Grynkewich did not commit to any reduction of the roughly 80,000 US troops currently stationed in Europe, stressing the review's goal is to push European allies to do more while preserving Washington's ability to meet global commitments elsewhere. The briefing coincided with NATO's Chiefs of Defence — including US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine — convening separately in Copenhagen for the alliance's September 18-19 Military Committee Conference, where they reviewed Ankara summit follow-up and elected Germany's General Carsten Breuer as the next Military Committee chair, underscoring the alliance's continued shift toward European institutional leadership even as Washington's own posture review remains unresolved.