I remember a cop movie years ago starring Stacy Keach. It was about an old timer cop who had rules for every situation. I can’t remember the name of the movie but I want to do likewise. I have lived quite a few years on this earth and have learned some valuable lessons from the time that I want to record for posterity so I am bringing up a new category here 🙂
RJ’s Rule 39 — We should have no more military bases in a foreign country than that country has bases in ours.
So let’s look at one country to see how we stand on this situation? (Thanks again Wikipedia for the info.)
- pbell Barracks, Heidelberg
- Coleman Barracks, Mannheim
- Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt
- Dagger Complex, Darmstadt Training Center Griesheim
- Funari Barracks, Mannheim (Scheduled to close December 2012)
- Germersheim Army Depot, Germersheim
- Grafenwöhr Training Area, Grafenwöhr/Vilseck
- Hammonds Barracks, Mannheim
- Heidelberg Army Airfield, Heidelberg
- Hohenfels Training Area/Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels (Upper Palatinate)
- Husterhoeh Kaserne, Pirmasens
- Kaiserslautern Military Community
- Katterbach Kaserne, Ansbach
- Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart
- Kilbourne Kaserne, Schwetzingen
- Kleber Kaserne, Kaiserslautern Military Community
- Lampertheim Training Area, Lampertheim
- Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl
- Ledward Barracks, Schweinfurt
- Mark Twain Village, Heidelberg
- McCully Barracks, Wackernheim
- Miesau Army Depot, Miesau
- Nachrichten Kaserne, Heidelberg
- Oberdachstetten Storage Area, Ansbach
- Panzer Kaserne, Stuttgart
- Patch Barracks, Stuttgart
- Pulaski Barracks, Kaiserslautern
- Patrick Henry Village, Heidelberg
- Patton Barracks, Heidelberg
- Rhein Ordnance Barracks, Kaiserslautern
- Robinson Barracks, Stuttgart
- Rose Barracks, Vilseck
- Rottershausen Storage Area, Schweinfurt
- Sembach Kaserne, Kaiserslautern
- Shipton Kaserne, Ansbach
- Smith Barracks, Baumholder
- Spinelli Barracks, Mannheim
- Storck Barracks, Illesheim
- Stuttgart Airport, Stuttgart
- Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim
- Tompkins Barracks, Schwetzingen
- Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden
- Storage Station, Mainz-Kastel
- Warner Barracks, Bamberg
- USAG Wiesbaden Military Training Area, Mainz Gonsenheim/Mombach
- USAG Wiesbaden Training Area, Mainz Finthen Airport
- USAG Wiesbaden Radar Station, Mainz Finthen Airport
- Urlas Housing and Shopping Complex, Ansbach (converted from Urlas Training Area in 2010-2011)
- Yorktown Housing Complex, Schweinfurt
- Anderson Barracks, Dexheim (will reopen)
If my count is correct we have fifty bases in Germany alone. We have almost 55,000 soldiers still stationed there! I don’t think I really have to tell you how many bases Germany has in our country. How many billions, of dollars does it take to keep these bases open? Your guess is probably as good as mine. But in the end anything over $1.00 is too much. Germany is by no doubt the strongest country in the European Union and has an economy more prosperous than ours. Why are we injecting billions of dollars in their economy when ours is struggling so much? So why are we there in such numbers? Why are we there at all????
RJ's Corner 
Excellent point, RJ. The Soviet Union longer exists. The whole reason for keeping soldiers there was to be able to move quickly in case of a problem in Eastern Europe. For the Mid East, we use bases in Turkey or Kuwait.
WWII has been over for 65 years. The Soviet Union has been gone for almost two decades. Is there a reasonable chance for us to ever leave? None whatsoever. No politician will ever bring up the issue for being accused of being weak on terrorism or some other red herring.
Germany will have to tell us to leave. Good luck on that option.
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Yeah the “weak on terrorism” is the trump card and since the voting public seems to be so mis-informed about so much, many would buy into that rhetoric.
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The actual count is more like 30 Posts. Most Posts are VERY small. The housing areas support the bases. Storage centers are “held” by the US – but guarded by local nationals. The Posts there support our on going missions world wide. This includes the middle east- but there are many “humanitarian” missions ongoing in Africa and other parts of the Middle East that are not Iraq or Afghanistan. Just like n the states- only half the soldiers are “home at any given moment. The rest are deployed. (rest/deploy is the current 12/12 month status of most soldiers).
Germany HAS asked us to vacate- and we have withdrawn over 50,000 so far with the anticipation of closing at least 20 more posts in the next two years. We are returning the Posts to German hands.
I, too, we need to have every troop home. Every one. Bring the Navy in and the Marines. Take the Air Force out of Japan. I don’t think we need to be doing humanitarian missions with our military. Heck, I would prefer not to be the world’s policemen anymore. The only thing is—as I have stated before—once the troops are not present- don’t expect to go “saving anyone” like we did in World War II. Without a draft and a hollow army and with the length of this war….there won’t be much of a military anymore- just companies who pretend they are the military (were not those called mercenaries in the past?)
As a mom of a soldier and two veterans I assure you—the hollow military is well on its way!
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Thanks Jan for some of the explanations between a base and a post. But, as you say there are still too many soldiers based in Germany doing things that the Germans can very well be doing for themselves. Let’s bring them all home.
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