Army changed their mind about closing U.S. bases in Belgium & Germany
As part of an ongoing review of planned closures of U.S. military installations across Europe, the Army has announced that it won’t close seven bases in Germany.
The military has decided to retain 6 sites and transfer one to the Air Force, which was previously scheduled to be closed as part of the Defense Department’s 2015 infrastructure consolidation initiatives.
The installations staying in Army hands are Barton Barracks, Ansbach, Germany; Pulaski Barracks, Kaiserslautern, Germany; Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Germany; Weilimdorf Warehouse, Stuttgart, Germany; Amelia Earhart Center, Wiesbaden, Germany and Daumerie Caserne, Benelux, Belgium.
The Army has decided to is keep the installations due to its increasing presence in Europe.
The DoD considers its footprint in Germany to be a critical part of its efforts to deter Russian aggression in eastern Europe.
“We needed to relook [at] the purpose of Army pre-positioned stocks because, in the past, Army pre-positioned stocks were essential and key to great power conflict,” said Gen. Edward Daly, chief of Army Materiel Command. “Now, based on the Army senior leaders’ intent, we want to focus it as much on great power competition, to use those stocks in great power competition as much as we had planned on using those stocks for great power conflict.”