Armed Services Chairs Raise Alarm About Troops Decision

The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees objected Saturday to the decision to pull about 5,000 US troops out of Germany. "Prematurely reducing America's forward presence in Europe before [NATO allies' military] capabilities are fully realized risks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Mike Rogers wrote in a rare joint statement, per the Washington Post. They called on the Pentagon to "engage with its oversight committees" about the implications of the withdrawal for US security and recommended moving the troops east instead of removing them from Europe, the Hill reports.

A senior Defense official told the Post that the withdrawal is in keeping with the Trump administration's intent to shift military priorities from Europe to the Western Hemisphere and Indo-Pacific region. "We've urged them to take a practical, businesslike approach to building a Europe-led NATO," the official said. "They didn't take that advice, and this is the result." It varies according to operations, exercises, and troop rotations, but 80,000 to 100,000 US personnel typically are stationed in Europe, per the AP. The deployment was beefed up after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022.

The decision was causing angst among the Americans' German hosts. Between President Trump's threat to withdraw the troops and the Pentagon's announcement, US soldiers and German civilians lined up for the spring carnival in Landstuhl, per the Guardian. Americans have been central to the community since Gen. George Patton's Third Army marched into the area in spring 1945. A 30-year-old caregiver said the interdependence, culturally and economically, made her feel special growing up there. "It's all I've ever known, it's part of us," she said while waiting for fried chicken at a spot catering to Americans. Her husband is the son of a US soldier. "We love our Americans—they enrich the community in every sense and make life more colorful," said a 45-year-old woman. "Not everyone likes things like the noise of their military planes overhead, but it would be such a pity if the Americans left. It would hurt."