Introduction to US Military Presence in Germany
Germany is an important part of the United States’ national defense strategy in Europe, as U.S. soldiers were among the Allied forces that occupied it for ten years after the end of World War II. Although troop numbers have of course declined significantly since then, the U.S. military still maintains a strong presence in Germany, and over the decades U.S. military communities have formed around a handful of German cities.
Current US Military Presence
The total number of U.S. military personnel has also increased significantly in recent years, from fewer than 39,000 in 2019 to more than 50,000 in 2024. The only other country where the U.S. has a comparable number of foreign troops stationed is Japan. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the United States sent more troops to Europe, with some soldiers sent to bases in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
US Army Presence in Europe
The U.S. Army currently has around 10,000 soldiers stationed at its garrison in Poland and another 2,600 at its Army Support Activity (ASA) on the Black Sea, which includes Mihail Kogalniceau Air Base in Romania and Novo Selo Training Area in Bulgaria. These troops change regularly. The Grafenwöhr military training area in Bavaria is one of the US Army’s largest in Europe.
Role of EUCOM
Germany’s strategic importance to the United States is reflected in the presence of the European Command (EUCOM) headquarters in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, from where it serves as a coordination structure for all U.S. forces in 51 primarily European countries. EUCOM describes its mission as protecting the United States by deterring conflict, supporting partnerships such as NATO, and combating transnational threats.
US Military Garrisons in Germany
Germany is home to five of the seven U.S. Army garrisons in Europe – the other two are in Belgium and Italy – and the U.S. Army’s headquarters in Europe is at the garrison in Wiesbaden, a city near Frankfurt in mid-western Germany. US military figures show that these five garrisons, each consisting of different facilities in different locations, currently contain around 29,000 soldiers. This number includes the US Marine Corps forces in Europe and Africa, which are headquartered in Böblingen in southwest Germany as part of the US Army Garrison Stuttgart.
US Air Force Presence
In addition, around 13,000 US Air Force soldiers are spread across various locations in Germany – primarily at the two US Air Force bases in Ramstein and Spangdahlem. An official government response to a request from the Socialist Left Party in 2023 revealed that the German state also contributes to the costs of maintaining US and NATO forces in the country. This number is also increasing.
Civilian Communities
Because U.S. military installations also employ American civilians and military personnel can sometimes take their families abroad with them, large American civilian communities have formed around some bases in Germany. In fact, some US bases in Germany, such as the one near Ramstein, are self-contained small towns with their own American shopping centers, schools, postal services and police forces. Sometimes the US dollar is the only legal tender.
Nuclear Presence
Although Germany “expressly renounces the possession of nuclear weapons,” the country has hosted U.S. nuclear weapons since the 1950s as part of NATO’s nuclear sharing operations. The exact number of US nuclear weapons has not been officially confirmed, but estimates suggest that there are around 10 to 20 B61 bombs stationed at the German Büchel air base in Rhineland-Palatinate. In the event of war they would be flown on German aircraft.
Controversies and Criticisms
Another point of contention is the fact that Ramstein Air Base is used as a control center for drone attacks in Yemen and elsewhere. Critics therefore accuse the federal government of being complicit in extrajudicial killings by the USA.
Historical Context
During the Allied occupation after World War II from 1945 to 1955, hundreds of thousands of US, British, French and Soviet troops were stationed in Germany. The northeastern part of the country, which officially became East Germany in October 1949, came under Soviet control. In West Germany, the occupation was regulated by the Occupation Statute, signed in April 1949 when the country was founded.
Post-War Agreements
The law allowed France, the United Kingdom and the United States to keep occupying troops in the country and to retain complete control over the disarmament and demilitarization of West Germany. When the military occupation of West Germany officially ended, the country regained control of its own defense policy, although the statute of occupation was followed by another agreement with its NATO partners. This agreement, known as the Convention on the Presence of Foreign Armed Forces in the Federal Republic of Germany, was signed by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1954.
Reduction of US Troops
The number of U.S. military personnel has been declining since the end of the Cold War in 1990, when, according to the federal government, an estimated 400,000 foreign soldiers were stationed on German soil. About half of these were U.S. military personnel, but they were gradually withdrawn as tensions with the remnants of the Soviet Union eased and conflicts elsewhere, such as the first Gulf War in Iraq, drew more U.S. military personnel away. Although their numbers have increased again in recent years, the number of US troops in Germany is still only a fraction of the number at the height of the Cold War.
