Ten thousand US troops station in Europe will be coming home, according to the WSJ:
The Pentagon will pull some 10,000 troops out of Europe in a broad reorganization that will shrink the number of Army and Air Force personnel stationed in Germany and close a number of bases.
The changes represent new details of a plan previously announced by Washington to reduce the number of hard-to-deploy heavy brigades and cut costs by stationing more units in the U.S., rather than overseas.
Two heavy Army brigades, one based in Baumholder, Germany, and the other in Grafenwöhr, will be deactivated. The V Corps, one of the Army’s war fighting headquarters, also will be closed. Also to be shut are two Air Force squadrons, at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany and a second in Italy.
In all, the U.S. plans to vacate four of its bases in Europe, turning them over to the German government.
Navy bucks the trend, however:
Three Norfolk-based destroyers will relocate to a U.S. base in Spain in coming years to help provide ballistic missile defense in Europe.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Thursday that the guided missile destroyers Ross, Donald Cook and Porter would join the destroyer Carney from Mayport, Fla., in Rota, Spain. The vessels are equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, which is designed to intercept and shoot down missiles. Each ship has a crew of about 275 sailors…
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced last fall that four ships would be forward-deployed to Spain in support of President Barack Obama’s pledge to improve European security, but didn’t provide specifics.
Three destroyers and 825 sailors in, 10,000 Army and USAF personnel out.
Add a file or two of Marines and it’s a fair swap.
NAVY and USMC forces are more flexible in mission and utilization. The need to deploy quickly and along maritime routes is what we need overseas. The days of worrying about a wave of 5000 tanks streaming in from Russia are history. This change should have been made 10-15 years ago.
Now if we keep the silly bastards from knocking down the ships we have, maybe we can keep the wolves at bay. It must be nice to imagine that by apologizing for perceived past issues, our foes in the world arena will play nice….This fairytale attitude that POTUS holds on to is naive.
We need to be like the Sheepdog…always on guard and prepared for the wolves. To let down our guard now would be suicidal.
“The days of worrying about a wave of 5000 tanks streaming in from Russia are history.”
Until the Moron-in-chief gets his 300 nukes.
Yeah, I always wondered what the purpose of NATO was after the collapse of the USSR. That was the last excuse for the massive Army/USAF presence in Europe. The 7th fleet has had a forward deployed presence in Yokosuka for decades, it’s about time the east coast Navy stepped up. :p
Seriously, while the economics of it are uncomfortable, I’m of the school of a smaller standing Army and Air Force with the heavier assets in the (Air) National Guard and using the Navy/USMC team for international QRF. Of course, I’d rather see a 20% across the board cut in federal employment first…
Homeport Spain? Don’t throw me in that briar patch.
Playa Del Sol, here we come.
Yes, let’s remove troops from Europe on the brink of a massive economic crisis. Because Europe handled the last one so well.
One of the realities that drove keeping forces in Europe was that we didn’t have the infrastructure to house them in CONUS, especially the Army. Made worse by the end strength gains after 9/11. Now we are reducing end strength, not so much of a problem. Much of this is window dressing. The Spang sqd is a A10 sqd, part of the A10 drawdown. The Aviano sqd is a C2 sqd – not a flying sqd. V Corps has already been subsumed into the “new look” USAREUR. I don’t think there will be much on the manpower side.
Sucks to be the German landlords that built all that rental housing at Baumholder. No German can afford those huge houses, especially in the Appalachia of Germany.
Wasn’t Baumholder the HQ for 1st Armored Division? I remember several Armored units being stationed there while I was in Germany in the late 60s.
With the move of 1st Tanks to Bliss, I imagine things were starting to get a bit thin in the Baumholder area anyway.
I bet we could just buy all of Greece outright, for less. Some evictions and a renovation, and it would make a nice base.
Just saying.
Besides, the Emperor will need those units on US soil to support martial law when the economy crashes under the weight of the debt.
Eh, you could’ve just sent the file or two of Marines over there by their lonesome and it still would’ve been more than a fair trade.
Please let me the readers’ attention to the Wall Street Journal’s error about Naval Station Rota. The base belongs to Spain, not the United States. The United States built Rota Naval Base in 1953 and turned the base over to Spanish command in the 1990s.
I thoroughly enjoyed living in Andalucia as a kid and later as a Naval Aircrewman. I totally agree with Blackeagle603.
They may have bumped the Destroyer number up to four as I have seen in other articles. . .