230,000+ US troops assigned to bases around the world
Pakistan Times Foreign Desk Report

WASHINGTON (US): The United States has more than 230,000 troops permanently assigned to bases around the world, with the largest concentrations in Germany, Japan and South Korea, according to Pentagon statistics.

The numbers do not take into account the roughly 145,000 troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The numbers reflect new US military commitments in the Gulf region and old ones that date back to World War II and the Cold War.

Iraq and the Gulf

Pentagon officials said there are now about 125,000 US troops in Iraq, most of them on temporary duty from their permanent bases in Germany and the United States.

A US official put the total number in the Gulf at 7,000 permanently assigned military personnel.

These would include 3,400 US military personnel in Qatar, the site of a huge air base and a forward headquarters for the US Central Command, and another 1,500 in Bahrain, headquarters of the US 5th Fleet. There is a substantial US presence in Kuwait as well.

Another 19,000 US troops are deployed in Afghanistan, scene of a continuous US military presence since the US-led campaign that toppled its Taliban regime in 2001, US defense officials said.

Europe

Some 117,000 troops were assigned to duty stationed in Europe and areas of Africa, according to a US official. Officials note that troops deployed in Iraq but stationed in Germany are counted as being in Europe.

Of the total in Europe, 75,603 were stationed in Germany, according to Pentagon figures released in June. The Germany based 1st Infantry Division is serving in Iraq.

Germany also is the home of the 1st Armored Division and Ramstein Air Base, headquarters of the US Air Force in Europe and a major logistics hub. US fighter aircraft fly from Spanghdalem air base in Germany.

Italy hosted 13,300 troops in June. The US Navy's 6th Fleet is headquartered near Naples. The air force operates out of Aviano Air Base, and the 173 Airborne Brigade is stationed in Vicenza.

Some 12,000 US troops are stationed in Britain, most of them air force personnel. The US 3rd Air Force has its headquarters at RAF Mildenhall, England.

Nearly 2,000 US troops are based in Spain. The US navy maintains a naval station at Rota on the Atlantic coast. About 1,800 US troops are based in Turkey. Most are air force personnel stationed at Incirlik air base.

Another 1,750 US military personnel are in Iceland, the site of a base for F-15 air defense fighters. About 1,000 US military personnel are assigned to Portugal, mainly in the Azores.

East Asia and the Pacific

Japan serves as a base for the largest numbers of troops in the region, an estimated 45,000, according to Pentagon officials. More than half are stationed in Okinawa.

The US 7th Fleet is headquartered at Yokosuka, Japan as is the USS Kitty Hawk, the only US aircraft carrier strike group that is permanently deployed outside the United States. The US 5th Air Force is headquartered in Yakota Japan, and the III Marine Expeditionary Force is based in Okinawa.

The United States has assigned 37,500 US troops to South Korea, but it is deploying 3,600 of them to Iraq and has proposed reducing force levels there to 25,000.

Latin America and the Caribbean

About 2,500 US military personnel are assigned to the Miami, Florida-based US Southern Command, which covers Latin America and the Caribbean.

Two US divisions to be pulled out of Germany

Two heavy US army divisions in Germany will return to the United States as part of a major realignment of forces, and will be replaced with a Stryker combat brigade, senior US defense officials said Monday.

The officials said the move would not go ahead before 2006 to allow time to coordinate it with Germany and make plans for a round of base closures in the United States.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said much of the projected 70,000-person reduction in US military forces overseas "will be embedded in the return of the two heavy divisions that are in Germany."●