[MILITARY.com] STUTTGART, Germany -- The U.S. is no longer actively preparing to move nearly 12,000 troops out of Germany, putting an initiative proposed by the Trump administration on ice while the Pentagon reviews it, the top American general in Europe said Wednesday.
The plan, which called for relocating U.S. European Command from Stuttgart to Belgium, returning the Vilseck, Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment to the U.S. and a host of other moves, would have been one of the largest repositioning of forces in Europe in decades.
"At this very moment, every single one of those options, they are all on hold. They will all be reexamined from cradle to grave," U.S. European Command's Gen. Tod Wolters told reporters.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has begun "a very thorough review" of the proposed drawdown, which was announced in July by his predecessor, Mark Esper, Wolters said.
Then-president Donald Trump had ordered the Pentagon to come up with a plan to reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany, saying that there were too many American troops in the country, which he repeatedly said was not investing enough in its own defense. |