I was stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base from June 84 to June 86, with it being my first assignment in the Air Force, and was one of those once in a lifetime experiences.
I was 19 years old when I arrived, and in many ways I grew up there. There’s no doubt that I have an emotional attachment to the base, but it’s a part of the closure. It’s happening in parts. Around 5,000 are being sent stateside, and about the same are being sent to other bases in Europe. Incidentally, there’s a relatively small amount of US Army soldiers on the base, as well.
I lay aside my love foe the base and without reservation believe that President Trump is doing the right thing. Poland has been asking us to place some of our troops there.
Germany did this to themselves by not paying the required 2% of their GDP to the military effort.
One part of the contract we have with Germany states that retired US troops cannot shop in the BX/PX/commissaries on the American bases in the country. A lot of American military members retire in Germany, and they are forcing us them to shop on the German economy.
Goodbye to them!
Perhaps we should move the troops to the real theater of the Cold War, Asia. Say insert half of those troops into Taiwan?