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Reduction Of U.S. Troops In Europe Is Put On Hold

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By THOM SHANKER, The New York Times

Published: November 22, 2007

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to freeze plans for further reducing Army forces in Europe and will maintain about 40,000 soldiers in Germany and Italy, nearly twice as many as had been envisioned under a drawdown that began two years ago, senior Pentagon and military officials said.

In forming a new plan, Gates accepted proposals of the two senior Army officers in Europe, who advocated keeping the larger force on the Continent to sustain training and other exercises with foreign militaries and as a hedge against risks to U.S. security.

The number of Army troops in Europe has fallen to 43,000 from 62,000 two years ago under a plan signed by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and endorsed by President Bush when it was adopted in 2004.

That plan had been described as the most significant rearrangement of the U.S. military since the Cold War, calling for the number of Army troops in Europe to be cut to about 24,000 by the end of 2008.

An order to delay the return of Army troops from Europe probably means that it will be up to the next president - working with Congress, the Defense Department, the military and host nations - to decide the number of U.S. forces in Europe.

Military officers who advocated reversing, at least for now, Rumsfeld's decisions on withdrawing ground troops from Europe cited the great uncertainty about how long large numbers of soldiers and Marines would remain in Iraq, and argued for continuing military commitments in Europe to reassure allies and deter adversaries.

Senior Pentagon officials familiar with Gates' thinking said he was swayed by practical budgetary concerns as much as by the strategic policy arguments put forward by Gen. John Craddock, commander of U.S. forces in Europe, and Gen. David McKiernan, who is in charge of Army forces there.

The Army told Gates that not all of the housing was ready for the returning soldiers, and that it could waste millions of dollars to prepare temporary residences, and to move the troops and their families twice, first to interim residences, then to permanent ones, the officials said.

"The secretary is inclined to approve General Craddock's request to delay the redeployment of the brigades, less from a philosophical standpoint than from a practical standpoint," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon's press secretary.

"It happens to satisfy the needs of General Craddock and of the Army," he said.

Morrell acknowledged that delaying the return of U.S. ground forces from Europe "also fits with what the secretary feels we should be doing in projecting strength around the world."

Holding the U.S. troop level steady in Europe would be "a reminder to the rest of the world that, though we have our hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are still very much engaged globally, and our commitment to our allies is not at all diminished," Morrell said.

While Gates has decided on sustaining Army levels in Europe, his formal order awaits analysis by Defense Department lawyers and legislative specialists on how the new plan would conform to decisions by the Congressional Base Realignment and Closing Commission, which mandated a number of troop relocations, senior officials said.

Even with commanders in Europe and Army leaders at the Pentagon pressing for the action, Gates has proceeded with caution in deciding, reluctant to be seen as rushing to reverse a key Rumsfeld program.

Since taking office last December, Gates has also endorsed plans offered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to expand the overall size of the Army and Marines, reversing Rumsfeld's public reluctance to take such a step despite the stress of long and repeated deployments of U.S. ground forces to Iraq and Afghanistan.

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