US military bases worldwide

[Dworkin]

Hi,

I was watching a John Pilger clip and he inspired me to look at a US military bases world map.



Well, looking at that, it is hard to criticise Trump’s present antics in light of the militarism going on through successive presidencies. It is a plain fact that the US military reaches in to 50 countries, and where they go they rarely leave.

There is some level of balance though. China and Russia are free of bases, and their common border allows an integral part of the globe to be US free. Interestingly, South America and Africa are also relatively free.

Comforting thoughts? Well, I guess the sideshow of US politics is just that, and the work is done below the media radar. So, we can stop worrying about particular presidents or parties, as they will all inherit this embedded structure as they come and go. The other thought is that the US worker has to pay for this behemoth in their tax dollars, and the ‘guest’ countries will be getting the ground rent.

But, when there is any bleating about Russian or Chinese ‘expansion’ I recommend a sobering look at the linked map.

D.

[malaise]

1. Very well said

Rec

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Map is wrong: NO US bases in Canada

https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-US-army-bases-in-Canada-Why-or-why-not

Most US operation in Canada were joint operations with the CAF in one form or another. The exception was Newfoundland that had 3 US bases, one joint US-Canada-UK base prior to confederation. The US operated several satellite radar posts which supported those base operations.

Argentia US Naval Station was the last US base and ceased to be a US Naval Station in 1991 and was officially closed in 1994.

[Proud liberal 80]

3. There are several bases in Africa

Edit: I just noticed that your map said 2001-2003. African bases didn't start to pop up until around 2007.

[Proud liberal 80]

4. Also, a lot of those European bases

Are now closed

[sarah FAILIN]

5. I have no problem criticizing Trumps current antics

Having bases around the world is no excuse for what he has done.

[Averagegrunt]

6. Little to none

For the most part Germany, Italy, and the U.K. is where the US Bases are located in Europe. None in France at all. A lot of Eastern European Nations have become a bit more active for a build up of little training posts for their Militaries. Believe it or not a lot of Nations request US Military for either humanitarian aid or varies training opportunities we can offer. I was just stationed in Europe and Italy in general gets a lot of benefits economically. The SOFA had like a 80/20 job split on post.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. Since 17776, the US has been

among the most "expansionist" of nations, all the while justifying such intervention as "enlightening" or democratizing" the hapless areas targeted.

Remember, for example, "Manifest Destiny" (http://www.historynet.com/manifest-destiny) and the "Monroe Doctrine" (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/monroe).

From the first link:

Outside the United States, the effects of manifest destiny were being seen in U.S. intervention in the Spanish-American war when Spain ceded the Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S. This was an expansion of U.S. territory as colonies rather than states and was another demonstration of growing U.S. imperialism.

The US envied the British and French for their vast colonial empires, but itself only became the military power it is now after WWII, and especially during the Cold War. Here is one estimate of what we have in firepower: http://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=united-states-of-america

This link notes that nuclear weapons are not taken into account in its listing.

For nuclear weaponry, here is one source: https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

Here is an assessment of US nuclear weaponry from another source: http://index.heritage.org/military/2017/assessments/us-military-power/u-s-nuclear-weapons-capability/ Note that this second source is The Heritage Foundation, which has a "conservative" agenda and has apparently had a lot of influence on Trump's "thinking" or whatever passes for "thinking" in Trump's case, so please take at least some pronouncements with a grain of salt.

The US has NO moral "high ground" left. None whatsoever ... if we ever really did.

[OnlinePoker]

8. Where the U.S. military are stationed

The second section of the following link shows where all military and civilian workers are stationed anywhere in the world and it's supposed to be updated quarterly (last date is Dec 2016).

https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/dwp/dwp_reports.jsp

[Lurks Often]

9. Don't know where you got the map, but it is wrong

The U.S. does not have bases in Taiwan, Panama, Indonesia or quite a few other of the countries on the map

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Most Americans are unaware of activities and distrubution of US troops in Africa.

-Or South America for that matter. The majority of troops in Africa are special forces groups. Many in Congress are likewise unaware of their activities or the costs of maintaining them. They are typically described as carried on the budgets of of larger units stationed elsewhere, as if they were a special group operating in coordination with that larger unit in the same locale.

There is no map or public accounting of support personnel, either military or contractors, for those locations and activities. Support troops include, but are not limited to: maintenance, medical, supply, admin, military police, intelligence, training, cooks, etc. There used to be a standard number of support troops needed to supply and service troops in the field and they were carried on the budget as such. The most recent answer I found was 7 support for every 1 combat, though some suggest it is more than that with the private contractors included. Naturally this does not include mercenary or "security" contractors.

[Dworkin]

16. Halliburton

Ford,

Yes, there will be much going on around the edges. I remember the name Halliburton cropping up in the good old days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton

D.

[Progressive dog]

11. Don't compare Trump to Obama, Clinton, or FDR

and sure as hell don't compare the USA support for allies to Russian and Chinese imperialism.

[The Wizard]

12. There's no empire to be seen here

Just move along. Orange Frankenstein has his tiny hands on the levers of power. Yes we're doomed.

[Old Crow]

13. The info on that map looks pretty outdated.

It counts U.S. bases in "over 50 countries" (my emphasis). According to Wikipedia, the number of countries we currently have bases in (excluding the USA) is 18. Here they are in alphabetical order, with the branch or branches that maintain one or more facilities there following the country name. Our biggest overseas presence appears to be in Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

01. Afghanistan: Marines, Air Force
02. Bahamas: Navy
03. Bahrain: Navy
04. Cuba: Navy
05. Denmark (Greenland): Air Force
06. Djibouti: Navy
07. Germany: Army, Marines, Air Force
08. Greece: Navy
09. Israel: Army
10. Italy: Army, Navy, Air Force
11. Japan: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force
12. Kosovo: Army
13. Kuwait: Army, Navy, Air Force
14. Qatar: Air Force
15. South Korea: Army, Navy, Air Force
16. Spain: Navy
17. Turkey: Air Force
18. United Kingdom: Air Force

This information was collected from the following Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases

Hope this helps.

[Dworkin]

14. Thanks folks

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies. Its looking like a complex subject and no surprises that easily found information can be outdated or mistaken.

Still, it is worth pursuing and I guess the first thing is to locate what bases do still exist currently (I'll follow your lead, OldCrow). Both Pilger and Chomsky have talked about a 'necklace' or 'ring' of bases around China. This is often mentioned elsewhere in the media. Obviously the Japanese bases will be there for historical reasons, as with the South Korean bases.

I'll make a start fact checking those areas as far as possible in the public domain.

D.

[Old Crow]

15. You're welcome. It is, indeed, a complicated subject.

From the cursory research I did, there are a lot of qualifications and degrees involved and a lot of unknowns.

For example, in the middle of Australia, there's a satellite base that's run by the Aussies and the Americans called "Pine Gap," the purpose of which is officially unknown. Most experts believe it's the central upload/download spot for America's spy satellites. So I suppose it should be added to the list, although not much is known about it.

In New Zealand, there's a small contingent of U.S. military personnel who occupy one hangar at an airport. They're there specifically to service flights going to Antarctica. Should that be counted as a U.S. base? Maybe not in this case because their purpose, at least ostensibly, is to support scientific work. The U.S. military has pretty much zero influence or role in New Zealand, mainly because New Zealand has declared itself a nuke-free zone and does not cooperate with the U.S. military in virtually anything military-related.

One of the other commenters posted a link to a spreadsheet that lists all U.S. military personnel over the world by country, and that was helpful. Some countries (Jamaica, for example) have fewer than 20 U.S. military personnel, who presumably work out of an office somewhere. Should that be counted as a facility? And the same spreadsheet lists a LARGE number of U.S. military personnel (over 10,000, if I remember correctly) with the country listed as "UNKNOWN." I have no idea what that means. Are these people aboard sailing vessels? Or are they operating out of foreign bases or facilities that are not officially acknowledged?

There's lots and lots to research on this interesting topic. Please keep us posted as to what you find.

Thanks!

[Dworkin]

17. A night's sleep

Folks,

After a night's sleep I have decided that this thread subject is just too heavy for me. It is one thing to take a casual interest in world politics and another to get involved in debating this stuff in depth. Things are what they are, the spring sunshine is shining and there is pottering to be done on our allotment.

Apologies for making waves here at DU.

D.

[Lee-Lee]

18. As other have said that map is nowhere near accurate

Most of those maps or websites listing draw their info from what is known as the DOD Base Structure Report that lists all DOD real estate owned, leased or rented overseas.

Problem is people exaggerate and call every ones of those a "base". For example I just checked the 2015 listing to see what was listed for Canada, there is a single leased plot of land with a 144 square foot building. Literally a 12x12 shack on some land.

The number similarly includes thing like recreation areas overseas for servicememembers.

There are a lot of leased hangars at airports or buildings at ports.

The report also lists every parcel owned separately and in cases like Germany what is really one base that has parcels that are not contiguous or were acquired at different times can be made up of anywhere from 2 to over a dozen parcels. Only one base but many parcels and if you dishonestly represent what the report says you end up calling it many "bases".

I don't think anyone would legitimately consider a shack on some acreage in Canada a base no more than you would consider the recruiting officer down in the strip mall a base.