March 18th, 2013 last U.S. tank leaves Europe. .
http://www.stripes.com/news/us-army-s-l ... y-1.214977Start & 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.
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The number of U.S. Tanks stationed in Europe is ZERO, ( 0), as of March 18th, 2013. .
Just as a point of clarification, the U.S. has two types of operational Military Units containing tanks ( both are types of Brigades) that could be rotated back into Europe for training and annual joint exercises with the Nato European allies. Regardless of which type is rotated back, the number of tanks sent back to Europe for training will be less than 100.
One, of the two Brigade types with tanks, is known as a "Heavy Brigade Combat Team" and the other is known as a "Tank Brigade Combat Team".
The older Brigade type, the "Heavy Brigade Combat Team" is being replaced, beginning in 2013, and continuing over the next few years, with the newer Brigade type, the "Tank Brigade Combat Team".
The older "Heavy Brigade" has 58 Tanks and the newer "Tank Brigade" has 77 Tanks ( both are considered Combined Arms brigades, not true "tank Brigades" ). At the same time the U.S. is moving from the Heavy Brigades ( with 58 tanks ) to Tank Brigades ( with 77 tanks ), the U.S. is reducing the number of units with tanks from 15 Brigades ( on active duty ) to 10 Brigades ( on active duty ) with tanks. When all components of the U.S. Army are considered ( Active Duty Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard ) the reduction is from 22 Brigades with tanks, to some number less than 15 Brigades with tanks.
http://web.archive.org/web/200907251303 ... index.html
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/67816.pdf
https://blackboard.leavenworth.army.mil ... ep2013.pdf
Obama is now "promising" to rotate between 58 and 87 tanks back into Europe, every year, for a few months a year, to train, with the Europeans in Nato.
Obama is also "promising" to ensure one, yes count them, and one, (1), entire Brigade of between 3500 and 4800 men, with between 58 and 87 tanks, is ready deploy to Europe, on an "as needed basis", to satisfy the U.S. obligations to defend Europe under article 5, of the Nato treaty.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42493.pdfLibrary 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 U.S. tank units stationed in Europe ) 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.
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I can hear it now, from the Obama white house:
"The President would have sent them, but it turns out that the Russians have over 1,600 tanks, so there really was nothing that any President could do."
"No the President did not know all the U.S. Tanks had been pulled out of Europe. No the President did not know the Pentagon had less than one hundred tanks dedicated to defending Europe. I must ask you to direct your questions to the Pentagon on why they did not keep the President informed".