U.S. Operations, Basing in Europe Changing Dramatically

American Forces Press Service ^ | Kathleen T. Rhem

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2006 – The U.S. military footprint in Europe is significantly changed from just a decade ago. Gone are dozens of American enclaves -- some self-contained communities complete with schools, shopping centers and housing complexes -- located throughout Western Europe, but primarily in Germany.

In their place soon will be small regional training centers in Romania and Bulgaria, through which U.S. combat brigades will rotate on training and regional-security-cooperation missions.

Transformation has been a dramatic process in U.S. European Command. In an interview yesterday with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service, Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, the command's deputy commander, described some of the varied ways the U.S. military is changing how it does business in Europe, Eurasia and Africa.

The Eastern European Task Force will consist of a small permanent staff of U.S. servicemembers facilitating the rotation of U.S. brigades through Romanian and Bulgarian bases. These rotational brigades will conduct training with Eastern European militaries and be available to react to any potential developing crises in the region.

"The Eastern European Task Force is clearly an integral leg of a transformed U.S. European Command," Ward said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in April signed an agreement with Bulgaria granting the United States access to Bulgarian training bases. She signed a similar agreement with Romania in December.

Ward described this basing arrangement with the host countries as a win-win situation. The host countries get training from U.S. forces, and the United States spends less money on infrastructure and upkeep of facilities.

"We have the capability in that region to do some things with the existing infrastructure from the former Soviet days, capitalizing on some of their training grounds," Ward said. "We capitalize on what is there, because we go into existing locations and facilities. And I think we reap the benefit of that at a much-reduced cost, as opposed to going in and establishing a whole new infrastructure and base operations to support our training and security-cooperation requirements."

This arrangement also reinforces the notion of expeditionary forces, as employed throughout U.S. Central Command in the war on terrorism, he said.

Once the Army transformation process is further along in Europe, a Stryker brigade combat team of the 2nd Cavalry, scheduled to move to Germany from Fort Lewis, Wash., this summer, and the 173rd Brigade Combat Team, based in Vicenza, Italy, will be available to rotate through the Eastern European Task Force as well, Ward said.

Another valuable aspect of forward basing U.S. forces in Eastern Europe is the opportunity to help shape regional militaries so they can better interact with allies during combined operations. EUCOM, in close concert with NATO, is working to reinforce such concepts as an expeditionary force structure and a professional noncommissioned officer corps, Ward said.

"Transformation is not just about things. Transformation is about the intellectual aspects of thinking about the way you do business, as well," he said. "And, quite frankly, before the physical part of transformation occurs, that intellectual shift has to occur."

Such efforts benefit the United States as well, he said, because they make other countries better partners in the Long War.

[SandRat]

ping

[05 Mustang GT Rocks]

The Bulgarian Parliament approved today the agreement that Condi signed. We'll have the use of 3 bases there with our soldiers starting to arrive in 2007. Eventually we'll have 3,000 U.S. personnel there on short rotations with up to 5,000 when the deployments overlap. My daughter who is a 2nd Lt in USAF just had a visit at their base by a Bulgarian AF general who is in charge of one of the bases that we are going to use.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

"And, quite frankly, before the physical part of transformation occurs, that intellectual shift has to occur.",

I've noticed talk along these lines for the last couple of years. The military seems to be undergoing an attitude adjustment.

Rummy may be making headway.

[SandRat]

all I got was the

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

Hmmm...comes up fine on my end. Try this.

[SandRat]

That worked!

[neodad]

1st Armor Division is slated to come to Ft. Bliss here in El Paso. We're expecting 70,000 soldiers and families.

[Atlantic Bridge]

This is a nesscary transformation process. Since the cold war is over and there are no eminent threats in central Europe anymore, the wide-stretched US-bases in Germany do not make any sense in the meantime. Furthermore the bases in Germany are not suitable for operations in the Middle East or elsewhere, since it is not said if all German gouvernments of the future are supporting the policy of the US there (This will stay a problem throughout all of western Europe - encluding the UK).

As far as I know the offical number of GIs in Germany is going to be reduced to 24.500 until 2014. This is equivalent to the current effective number (officially around 70.000 I think) which is quite low through the Iraq-war. Everybody can live with that, although many lefties in Germany and other parts of western Europe would be happy if the US-presence would vanish completely.

Personally I think that a small remaining presence is in the interest of both the US and western Europe. It will help to obtain the trans-atlantic relations and NATO, which lost much of her significance during the clash about Iraq and through exaggerated enlargement.