Three questions on US troops moving from Germany
John R. Deni
1 hour ago
https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/mt-n2e4gfJ8dNLFnwr49WJzksoA=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/HSXLGIVEPBEFHM4MRONOQGEWZY.jpg
Earlier today [July 29], Secretary of Defense Mark Esper conducted a press conference on forward presence in Europe. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten and U.S. European Command commander Gen. Tod Wolters (by video feed) joined him. This follows on the heels of an announcement in June that the United States would be reducing the number of troops based in Germany. Here are three critical questions and answers regarding these two events:
1. Does the withdraw of U.S. troops from Germany fulfill the “five principles” outlined by the defense secretary in guidance provided to EUCOM following the June 2020 announcement?
A. Enhance deterrence — It is strikingly counterintuitive that a withdrawal of U.S. forward-based forces in Europe coupled with an increase in rotational Army deployments to southeastern Europe would strengthen deterrence. Of course, deterrence is in the eye of the beholder, and there is no certain way to know how Russia will perceive this. However, it is probably obvious to them, as it is to our allies, that when the United States forward stations troops in allied countries — with families — it represents a far stronger, more enduring, even bipartisan commitment to deterrence and a clearer signal of what Washington is willing to shed blood over. This is what our own allies tell us, in private and public. More broadly, given the president’s rhetoric regarding Germany and the fact that all of the announced troop moves involve either removing troops from Germany or cancelling plans to place additional troops in Germany, the United States risks sending the unmistakeable message to Russia that there is a deep cleavage currently existing within the trans-Atlantic community, principally between two of its most powerful members.
B. Strengthen NATO — It seems counterintuitive that the announced troop moves would strengthen NATO. It is possible the proposed shift of EUCOM headquarters from Stuttgart to Mons would improve coordination between NATO HQ and EUCOM HQ. Beyond that, though, it appears far more likely that the rebasing of troops — especially the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment currently based in Vilseck, Germany — will weaken interoperability among the allies, as there will be fewer long-term unit partnerships between Europe-based U.S. forces and their European counterparts. Just as the United States experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan when it relied on nine- or 12-month combat rotations, units that have been rotationally deployed to Europe have found that by the time they begin to know and understand the region, their host nation, their host nation counterparts, and the adversary’s operations, their rotation ends and they return to the United States.
https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/07/30/3-questions-on-us-troops-rebasing-from-germany/
= new reply since forum marked as read
