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US Army announces German redeployment plans
The Pentagon's plans for a major reduction and redeployment of US army forces in Europe will include moving the headquarters from Heidelberg to Wiesbaden and slashing troop strength by some 38,000 forces, reports said on Tuesday. US Army spokeswoman in Heidelberg, Elke Herberger confirmed a report in the German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, saying "the headquarters of the land-based forces are to be moved from Heidelberg to Wiesbaden". Also under the plans by the US Army commander in Europe, General B.B. Bell, troop numbers in Europe are to be slashed from the current 62,000 to just 24,000 in the next five to ten years. In addition, the military's current main operating areas will be reduced from 13 to just four. Under the plans, two of the US Army's headquarters in Heidelberg, USAREUR (US Army Europe) and Task Force 5, are to be merged and moved to Wiesbaden. At the moment, Heidelberg is host to four of the eight US military headquarters in the southwestern German state of Baden- Wuerttemberg, with some 4,000 soldiers. The troop reductions and redeployment are part of the Pentagon's reorganisation plans aimed at returning some units back to the United States while leaving smaller units in Europe, including some being moved into Eastern Europe. Posted by: seafarious 2005-04-13 |
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