What the Army can control is its preparations for contingencies, and doing so is one of the main efforts of the 1st Infantry Division at Camp Boles. “Nobody knows what anyone from the other side is thinking, so that’s something we can’t control.” “You still feel it,” he said of the conflict in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the activities don’t fully alleviate geopolitical concerns, Merino said. Merino spoke to Stars and Stripes after belting out Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” during a karaoke performance in the Morale, Welfare and Recreation tent organized by the base American Red Cross office.

(Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes) Aldhair Merino, of the 1st Infantry Division, sings Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” during a karaoke performance in Boleslawiec, Poland, on Dec. forces in Poland and other countries on NATO’s eastern flank as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.Īrmy Lt. In August, the Army division moved its headquarters battalion to Camp Boles, where it directs the bulk of U.S. While the location is a “very comfortable place to live” and nearly 400 miles from the border with Ukraine, West said Russia’s aggression remains at the front of everyone’s mind. Rich West, who provides religious services and counseling to troops at the outpost known as Camp Boles, told Stars and Stripes recently. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty,” 1st Infantry Division chaplain Lt. Likewise, many soldiers say their work in Boleslawiec feels more important now than it did before the war, which has created a distinctive environment in which everyone remains hypervigilant despite not being in combat. forces in 2017, but support for the Americans has become almost unanimous following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year.

Some older town residents were against the arrival of U.S. An elderly woman enters the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Boleslawiec, Poland, on Dec.

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