Generational Dynamics Forum - New Site

Start & Stripes Newspaper wrote:
STUTTGART, Germany — The U.S. Army’s 69-year history of basing main battle tanks on German soil quietly ended last month when 22 Abrams tanks, a main feature of armored combat units throughout the Cold War, embarked for the U.S.

The departure of the last M-1 Abrams tanks coincides with the inactivation of two of the Army’s Germany-based heavy brigades. Last year, the 170th Infantry out of Baumholder disbanded. And the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade at Grafenwöhr is in the process of doing the same.

On March 18, the remaining tanks were loaded up at the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s railhead in Kaiserslautern where they then made the journey to the shipping port in Bremerhaven, Germany. There they boarded a ship bound for South Carolina.

Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Report wrote:
Army Drawdown and Restructuring: Background and Issues for Congress

Andrew Feickert

Specialist in Military Ground Forces

February 28, 2014




January 26, 2012, Administration Major Budget Decision Briefing

On January 26, 2012, senior DOD leaders unveiled a new defense strategy, based on a review of the defense strategy at the time and budgetary constraints. This new strategy envisioned

During this briefing, the following Army force structure decisions were highlighted:

• Europe and Global Partners:
• Adjust Our Posture in Europe:
• Eliminate two ( the only two tank units ) forward-stationed Army heavy brigades;
• Maintain NATO Article 5 commitments3 and ensure interoperability with
allied forces by allocating a U.S.-based brigade to NATO Response
Force;4 and

[ Please note this one single Heavy Brigade, based in the United States, with 58 tanks ( 87 tanks if one of the new Tank Brigades was designated instead ) was supposed to fulfill both the defense of Europe from Russia ( Article 5 responsibilities of the U.S. ) and the Nato Response Force contribution requirement.]

3 According to NATO, http://www.nato.int/terrorism/five.htm, Article 5 of the Washington Treaty is the basis of a fundamental principle of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked. This is the principle of collective defense.

4 According to NATO, http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_49755.htm, The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force made up of land, air, maritime, and special forces components that the Alliance can deploy quickly to wherever it is needed. It is comprised of three parts: a command and control element from the NATO Command Structure; the Immediate Response Force, a joint force of about 13,000 high-readiness troops provided by Allies; and a Response Forces Pool, which can supplement the Immediate Response Force when necessary.