Alabama's 877th U.S. Army Engineering Battalion is helping
Romania's army build a new road this summer, called Route
Crimson, near the Cincu Military Training Center in central Romania.
Cincu is a commune composed of two rural villages having a
combined population of about 1,800, according to Wikipedia.
It is located in the central region of the country, between the
cities of Brasov and Tirgu-Mures.
According to today's Army Times newspaper, the American troops
are enjoying the opportunity this training exercise affords to
experience a different culture and to feel that they are part
of building something of lasting importance, not merely doing some
routine military chores.
The American and Romanian toppos were recently joined
for a meal by Romania's new president, Klaus Iohannis.
The U.S. effort at Cincu is part of a larger European
Reassurance initiative across Eastern Europe this summer,
intended to let Valdimir Putin know that he will not be allowed
to further expand Russia's territory westward, as he did
last year in Ukraine, while also aiding permanently the
rural transportation infrastructure of Romania and placing
NATO combat equipment into pre--position.
ALLAN CRUSE
26 JUL 2015