The United States wants to make good on its threats and withdraw thousands of soldiers from Germany: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that around 5,000 US soldiers would be leaving the country in the next twelve months. US President Donald Trump added on Saturday: “Far more than 5,000” US soldiers would be withdrawn, he told journalists, but without giving an exact number. Answers to some central questions about the US Army in Germany:
How many US soldiers are stationed in Germany?
US soldiers have been stationed in Germany for more than 80 years. According to official figures, there were a good 36,000 at the end of December – more than in any other European country. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) spoke on Saturday of “almost 40,000” US military personnel who are “currently” stationed in Germany. The number has fallen steadily since the end of the Cold War. In the 1980s, a good 250,000 US soldiers were still stationed in this country; Germany was a front-line state at the time.
20 years ago, in 2006, there were still more than 70,000. The reason for the decline is a changed global security situation, to which the US military is responding by deploying troops. The number of US soldiers who have spent part of their service in Germany since the end of World War II is in the millions.
Why is Germany so important for the US Army?
The Federal Republic is of great importance for the US armed forces because of its geographical location. The country is a hub for operations in the Middle East: the Ramstein air base in particular is also of central importance for the Iran War. Some of the most important US military locations outside the USA are located in Germany.
Economic importance
US nuclear weapons are stored at Büchel Air Base. The US Regional Command for Europe and Africa is based in Stuttgart. The military training area in Grafenwöhr, Bavaria, is considered one of the largest in Europe. In total, the US Army maintains around 20 facilities in Germany, mainly in the south and southwest.
What significance does the deployment have for Germany?
The presence of US troops is important for Germany – especially from a security perspective, but also for economic reasons. Especially in the face of an aggressive Russia, the Federal Republic is dependent on deterrence from the USA – the Bundeswehr itself does not yet have the necessary capacity for this. A withdrawal of US troops would create a gap that the Bundeswehr could not fill.
The troop presence is also important for the regional economy around the US bases in Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate: it employs around 12,000 German civilian employees and is a significant source of income for the often structurally weak regions because the US Army demands goods and services there.
How does US President Trump assess the US military presence in Germany?
Trump had already threatened a partial withdrawal from Germany in his first term in office in 2020; he wanted to reduce the number of US soldiers to 25,000. The reason was Trump’s anger over what he considered to be too low German defense spending. Trump’s successor Joe Biden then put the withdrawal plans aside. After his second inauguration in 2025, Trump again promised a reduction in US troops in Europe. However, a substantial withdrawal from Germany is unlikely – precisely because of the country’s great strategic importance for the US armed forces. (AFP)
