US Army in Germany

Published on Nov, 23rd, 2020

Since June this year, the United States has taken the decision to remove a significant number of military personnel from the region, marking a change in relations between the two countries.


The presence of American military personnel in Germany is still significant and is distributed in different German cities. The strategic importance of Germany for the USA is reflected in the location of the headquarters of the US European Command in the city of Stuttgart specifically in Böblingen, south-west Germany, as part of the US Army Garrison as it serves as a structural channel for all other military bases.

The army translated in numbers

On the other hand, Germany is home to the majority of US troops in Europe, approximately 36,600 troops, which can only be compared to the numbers of military personnel in Japan. In addition to Belgium and Italy, the US has its headquarters at the Wiesbaden base near Frankfurt.

US military installations in Germany

US Air Force base: Spangdahlem and Ramstein

Total US personnel: 38.605

USAG Wiesbaden: 2.119

USAG Bavaria: 10.747

USAG Ansbach: 4.438

USAG Stuttgart: 4.680

USAG Rheinland-Pfalz: 7.021

*USAG: US Army garrisons
Source: US Army; US Air Force/ 2019

 

An interesting fact about the American bases in Germany is that many of them function like small towns where the troops together with their families have all the services available such as schools, supermarkets, shopping centers, pharmacies, and all the exercise grounds, material depots, barracks, and airfields. One of these bases, considered one of the largest in the world, covers about 390 square kilometers called Grafenwöhr. These facilities undoubtedly generate commercial movement of goods and services to the surrounding communities so that the closure of any of them can affect the local economy as was the case with the closure of the Bamberg base in 2014.

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Beatriz Campos

Beatriz is an academic linguist fluent in Spanish, English, and German supporting ExpatsGuide social media campaigns and administrative tasks. Chilean national who moved to Germany in 2016.

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