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I thought they basically did out of one or two with a (large) hospital and airbase…. The troops went elsewhere and the equipment came home. Googling says 35k t

I thought they basically did out of one or two with a (large) hospital and airbase…. The troops went elsewhere and the equipment came home. Googling says 35k troops in Germany, but doesn’t break down by service arm. Edit: without the nato airbases it’s a long flight trying to redeploy from N America to, say, the Middle East. Having client states partway keeps troops secure in transit and provides a place to organize/redeploy.

willcipriano 3y ago
Bring them home, they don't like our weapons. Edit: US troops have no business in the ME. The only business they have in Europe is defending Europeans and as far as the Germans are concerned they feel the way we engage in warfare is inappropriate.
- jleyank 3y ago
  It seems various us governments have not shared this opinion in the past.
- Arnt 3y ago
  Those bases are there now mostly to be there in the future. The US wants a large military airport, hospital, warehouses and supporting infrastructure at a location where it can be trusted to remain there for twenty years or more, because building such things takes time. There aren't a lot of suitable locations within, say, three hours of flying time from the present facilities. So they're going to stay.
  - VK538FY 3y ago
    Really? I was under the impression that Poland wanted the US to establish permanent bases on its territory and that they would make most of the American presence in Germany superfluous. (The Russians do not like this at all and the outcome of the current conflict may affect the PL-US cooperation. But that's not really the point here.) Maybe someone can correct me but I understood that the base in Ramstein is the only American base in Germany that is hard to replace because of a favourable position to communicate with satellites and provide nearly instantaneous communication between multiple theatres. Hard for me to say if 1'000 km east in Poland is less favourable.
    - VK538FY 3y ago
      It's also an open secret at this point that American atomic gravity bombs are stored in bases in Italy, Belgium, UK and Germany. The current Polish government doesn't seem to be opposed to doing the same in Poland. Plans to maintain the American nuclear umbrella may still involve Germany regardless of Poland's decisions.
    - Arnt 3y ago
      Sure they want a base, but how much would you bet that they wouldn't try to use the base for political purposes once the Americans have invested too much to walk away? The planners in the Pentagon want their bases for American purposes and only American purposes.

willcipriano 3y ago

Bring them home, they don't like our weapons. Edit: US troops have no business in the ME. The only business they have in Europe is defending Europeans and as far as the Germans are concerned they feel the way we engage in warfare is inappropriate.

jleyank 3y ago
It seems various us governments have not shared this opinion in the past.
Arnt 3y ago
Those bases are there now mostly to be there in the future. The US wants a large military airport, hospital, warehouses and supporting infrastructure at a location where it can be trusted to remain there for twenty years or more, because building such things takes time. There aren't a lot of suitable locations within, say, three hours of flying time from the present facilities. So they're going to stay.
- VK538FY 3y ago
  Really? I was under the impression that Poland wanted the US to establish permanent bases on its territory and that they would make most of the American presence in Germany superfluous. (The Russians do not like this at all and the outcome of the current conflict may affect the PL-US cooperation. But that's not really the point here.) Maybe someone can correct me but I understood that the base in Ramstein is the only American base in Germany that is hard to replace because of a favourable position to communicate with satellites and provide nearly instantaneous communication between multiple theatres. Hard for me to say if 1'000 km east in Poland is less favourable.
  - VK538FY 3y ago
    It's also an open secret at this point that American atomic gravity bombs are stored in bases in Italy, Belgium, UK and Germany. The current Polish government doesn't seem to be opposed to doing the same in Poland. Plans to maintain the American nuclear umbrella may still involve Germany regardless of Poland's decisions.
  - Arnt 3y ago
    Sure they want a base, but how much would you bet that they wouldn't try to use the base for political purposes once the Americans have invested too much to walk away? The planners in the Pentagon want their bases for American purposes and only American purposes.