The Pentagon rejected calls by a congressionally appointed commission to slow down the withdrawal of 70,000 American troops from Europe and Asia. The proposals entail the
U.S. Army withdrawing from about half of its European bases, the Pentagon confirmed. The Overseas Basing Commission said the moves were being planned without sufficient coordination with affected countries or synchronization with other security activities and needs, but the Pentagon disputed that view. In a report officially released Monday, the commission also queried the Pentagon estimate that repatriating the troops and their families would cost around $10 billion. The commission said it would cost about twice that amount. It called for more congressional oversight of the process. Among the commission's specific recommendations was one saying that a Germany-based heavy combat brigade due to return to the U.S. should remain where it is. This would provide a hedge against unexpected future security threats in the European region, demonstrate commitment to NATO, and show U.S. resolve in the Balkans. "We further decrease our presence in NATO only at risk of lessening our influence in Europe." It also said plans to withdraw
U.S. Marines from Okinawa should be scaled down, calling the southern Japanese island a "strategic linchpin." The Pentagon's review of force posture abroad is aimed at making the U.S. military a leaner, more focused force capable of handling post-Cold War threats and contingencies.
President Bush announced the initiative last August, citing the need for "a more agile and flexible force." According to the commission report, the plan envisages returning approximately 30 percent of al U.S. sites abroad to host nations, mostly in Germany and South Korea. The plan to bring tens of thousands of personnel home is meant to dovetail with plans to close, realign or expand military bases on U.S. soil -- a process known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). The panel questioned the coordination of the two, inter-related initiatives. It also noted that "the entire process will be undertaken at a time during which we will continue to fight the global war on terror and consolidate and rebuild in Iraq and Afghanistan." In its recommendations, the commission argued that "the detailed synchronization of so massive a realignment of forces requires that the pace of events be slowed and reordered." Commission chairman Al Cornella told a press conference: "We're saying slow this down, step back, take a breath." 'Deliberate, thoughtful and flexible' At a later Pentagon briefing, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry defended the efforts to coordinate the planned changes as well as the timing. Consultation had been underway with regional commanders, government agencies including the State Department and National Security Council, and with lawmakers, he said, adding that more than 45 briefings had been held on Capitol Hill.
The Defense and State Departments had also "gone to over 20 countries to explain to them what we're doing, why we're doing it, and get their ideas on how we could possibly do it better," Henry said. "We have had over 40 ambassadorial visits and consultations, and numerous allied and partner delegations that have come to visit us here in the Pentagon to discuss this with us." Henry also called into question the recommendation that the whole process be slowed down. "All along the way, in not one of those negotiations did anyone raise any caution about the pace with which we were moving forward," he said. "They, as we, saw it as deliberate, thoughtful and flexible." Also taking part in the briefing, acting undersecretary of the Army Ray DuBois gave an indication of the scale of the
Army pullout from Europe. "The
Army will cut by nearly half the number of installations that it operates and maintains in Europe, should all of these movements come to pass," he said, adding that this would allow significant amounts of money saved to be reinvested in infrastructure for the returning forces in the U.S. The Pentagon representatives declined to give details of specific returns of U.S. personnel from abroad, saying that matter was tied up with decisions about which bases in the U.S. would be closed or realigned.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is due shortly to name a list of
domestic military bases to affected by the BRAC process. The list will go to the commission, which may make alterations before sending a recommendation to
President Bush. The president will have until September 23 to either accept or reject the list in its entirety. The commission was established under the Military Facility Structure Review Act, legislation introduced by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and signed into law in November 2003. The panel comprises seven members with national security or foreign affairs experience.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
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