America's military strategy in Europe: Readiness and reinforcement
The electoral victory of Donald Trump stirred a wave of speculation regarding the future of American troops stationed in Europe. Although the American contingent on the Old Continent is a fraction of its Cold War-era strength, it has been notably reinforced in recent years. What forces does the USA have in Europe now?
The American army has divided the world into six areas of responsibility, assigned to six commands (an additional four commands have no territorial limitations and operate globally). One of these is the European Command—United States European Command (USEUCOM).
USEUCOM oversees operations throughout Europe, Greenland, Turkey, the Caucasus countries, and Russia, and the commander of USEUCOM is also the supreme commander of NATO armed forces in Europe (SACEUR).
Under its command are the Seventh United States Army stationed in Germany, the Sixth Fleet with its command in Naples (about 40 ships and 160 aircraft), and the Third Air Force (around 200 aircraft) with its command in Ramstein, Germany. At the peak of the Cold War, American forces on the Old Continent numbered over 400,000 soldiers.
Over the years, these forces were reduced, with some units sent back to the United States. Since 2005, the Pentagon has consistently maintained around 60,000 soldiers in Europe. Currently, following reinforcement in response to Russian aggression, there are approximately 100,000 Americans stationed in Europe, some of whom are part of a so-called rotational presence.
Rotational reinforcement of American forces in Europe
An example of this is the deployment of about 40 additional combat aircraft to Europe or the reinforcement of the Sixth Fleet with four additional missile destroyers. The rotational forces also include most of the American units stationed in Poland, which are subordinate to the U.S. Army's V Corps.
The Corps is headquartered at Fort Knox, but since 2022, it also has a permanent Forward Command operating at Camp Kościuszko in Poznań, Poland, consisting of several hundred soldiers. The presence of the corps' command in Poland, beyond practical considerations, serves as an important symbol, signifying the permanent stationing in the country of an American contingent in the form of a command battalion.
Two regional divisions with rotational presence (Atlantic Resolve Rotational Division - ARRD) report to it, created from various rotational units currently stationed in Europe.
The command of one of these divisions is located in Poznań and oversees two ABCT (Armored Brigade Combat Team) type armoured brigades and additional units such as artillery detachments.
These units are rotated every few months—a case in point is the 1st Armored Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Poland, which will be replaced in September 2024 by the 1st Armored Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division.
These are units sent to Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve in response to Russia's aggressive actions. Along with other units, these forces number several thousand soldiers. American rotational units are also stationed in Romania and the Baltic states.
Army Prepositioned Stock
The Americans are capable of rapid reinforcement of their European contingent. This is possible because the United States maintains a worldwide network of Army Prepositioned Stock, which is locations where military vehicles and all kinds of equipment are stored.
Similar to the command structure, the world has been divided into several areas—APS-1 refers to warehouses in the USA, APS-2 for warehouses in Europe, APS-3 for equipment stored at sea, APS-4 for warehouses in Northeast Asia, and APS-5 for warehouses in Southeast Asia.
Thanks to these warehouses, should it be necessary to strengthen their forces in a particular region quickly, Americans do not have to send slow maritime convoys with heavy equipment. Instead, they can airlift only the soldiers who will find everything needed for combat at the target location.
In addition to having stationed forces—both permanent and rotational—on the Old Continent, the USA regularly exercises the maritime transfer of troops from the USA. This is executed through manoeuvres such as Steadfast Defender 24. Although organized cyclically, this year's transfers were the largest since the Cold War.
The exercises involved the transfer of troops from the USA to Europe, and then their movement across the Old Continent, involving 90,000 soldiers, about 50 ships, 90 aircraft, and over 1,100 various types of vehicles.
