U.S. SENATORS VISIT LANDCOM DURING CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VISIT TO TURKEY

Feb 21 2020

IZMIR, Turkey – A U.S. congressional delegation led by Kansas Senator Jerry Moran visited NATO Allied Land Command Headquarters Tuesday, February 18, 2020 on a multi-city overseas trip including multiple locations in Turkey. U.S. Army Lieutenant General J.T. Thomson, LANDCOM Commander, hosted the delegation.

Senators traveling with Moran included North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, South Dakota Senator John Thune, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer. After a LANDCOM VIP visitor book signing, the group engaged in discussions focused on the U.S. military role in NATO, multinational contributions to the NATO Force Structure, the NATO Command Structure, and associated land domain challenges in the multinational military environment.

The conversations also touched on NATO efforts to adapt and bolster defence and deterrence capability in an era of renewed great power competition within and outside of NATO’s primary area of responsibility, and Defender-Europe 20, the U.S. Army Europe led multinational exercise. The exercise, which involves the largest movement of troops and equipment from mainland United States to Europe in more than 25 years, will be a significant test of U.S. and Alliance capability.

Following the discussions, the senators accompanied Lieutenant General Thomson on an afternoon visit to Ephesus, an ancient port city whose well-preserved ruins are near Izmir. From there, the delegation departed for Istanbul for additional meetings.