“But how about all the thousands of troops and stored equipment in Germany? Does anyone really expect the Russians to come storming through the Fulda Gap since 1990?”
Germany pays for those troops...they barely cost us anything. We can bring them back, but it won’t cut A DIME out of our military spending...unless you want to disarm them and shrink the size of our fighting force.
BobL that just didn’t seem right to me so I googled the issue. Here’s one report from the GAO as reported in Army Times, hardly a magazine unsympathetic to the military.
GAO: Brigades in Europe cost billions
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 29, 2010 17:20:28 EDT
The Army can expect to be hit with a bill of up to $2 billion in extra costs over the next 10 years should it decide to retain four, rather than two, combat brigades in Europe, according to the Government Accountability Office.
The GAO report, issued Sept. 13, comes two months in advance of a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, and an assessment of a U.S. Army Europe basing plan proposed by the Pentagon in February as part of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.
Before the drawdown was halted, planning officials expected the force structure cuts would save billions in overseas stationing costs and allow installations at Bamberg and Schweinfurt, both in Germany, to close.
The units originally slated for return to the U.S. are now flagged the 170th and 172nd Infantry Brigades, based at Baumholder and Grafenwoehr.
Should the U.S. and its NATO allies decide to keep these brigades in Germany, the Army will need to seek funding of nearly $180 million annually beginning in 2013 to support the military communities of Bamberg and Schweinfurt, according to GAO.
Army studies also indicate it will cost the service $1 billion to $2 billion in added basing costs to keep the 170th and 172nd brigades in Europe over the next decade, researchers reported.
The fact is that Germany pays 21% of the costs for personnel while we pay for the upkeep and modernization of the facilities. And the facilities are so small that training functions are very limited.