What are 53,000 US soldiers doing in Europe?

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Lonestar
No kidding. When the BRAC came out last year that said "we're going to close down a buncha bases in Germany and Italy" the locals went ape****. Not because we'd be leaving those countries defenseless, oh no, but because those American Servicemen would be leaving and no longer spending dem American dollars.

Living in an area where a US unit was withdrawn in the last years (Lancers old gang) I can assure you, that the reaction of most people was "shrug". While I don't deny some marginal economical impact, you should not overestimate it, however. Germany is not some third world country where your troops are the #1 job provider, and to my knowledge, neither is Italy. The Americans largely ate their own food, wore their own clothing, had their own supermarkets and stores selling goods from the States, which had their own US employees. Who might have been majorly displeased by their demise are maybe some pub owners and whores. The general public certainly is not. Your "the locals are gone ape****" sounds more like wishful thinking.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Living in an area where a US unit was withdrawn in the last years (Lancers old gang) I can assure you, that the reaction of most people was "shrug". While I don't deny some marginal economical impact, you should not overestimate it, however. Germany is not some third world country where your troops are the #1 job provider, and to my knowledge, neither is Italy. The Americans largely ate their own food, wore their own clothing, had their own supermarkets and stores selling goods from the States. Who might have been majorly displeased by their demise are maybe some pub owners and whores. The general public certainly is not.

I know Navy Buddies who have said "Naples is the ******* of the world. If I had to give the world a enema, it would be inserted in Naples."

[Harovan]

To my shame I have to admit, that I never was in Italy and can't comment on this. Oh, and you shamelessly outed me as stealth posting editor.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Lonestar


I know Navy Buddies who have said "Naples is the ******* of the world. If I had to give the world a enema, it would be inserted in Naples."

I probably said that at our poly meet. .

But I got to see Rome.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
To my shame I have to admit, that I never was in Italy and can't comment on this. Oh, and you shamelessly outed me as stealth posting editor.

sucks to be you

Incidently, I believe it was a NYT article I read off of Early Bird

[Patroklos]

I know Navy Buddies who have said "Naples is the ******* of the world. If I had to give the world a enema, it would be inserted in Naples."

I will happily confirm this. Absolute ass.

And I don't know about England, but in Italy the servicemen live out in town, and though they do use the NEX, almost all of the base employees are local Italians.

European governments squable over which of our warships stop were for the impact of 1000-5000 sailors for a weekend, I am sure 53,000 over 70 years means something.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph


Living in an area where a US unit was withdrawn in the last years (Lancers old gang) I can assure you, that the reaction of most people was "shrug". While I don't deny some marginal economical impact, you should not overestimate it, however. Germany is not some third world country where your troops are the #1 job provider, and to my knowledge, neither is Italy. The Americans largely ate their own food, wore their own clothing, had their own supermarkets and stores selling goods from the States, which had their own US employees. Who might have been majorly displeased by their demise are maybe some pub owners and whores. The general public certainly is not. Your "the locals are gone ape****" sounds more like wishful thinking.

They moved the 2d ACR home base to Fort Polk which is just a bit north and west of New Orleans. Did my infantry training there in July-August. Those poor guys. An absolute swamp infested with every type of nasty biting thing and hot and humid, gawd. I'm sure the local whores were happy...

Maybe the only unit happy about being deployed in Iraq.

The 2d ACR also were the guys that won the battle of 73 easting in the first Iraq war.

Sir Ralph, what did they do with the barracks? Condos?

[Proteus_MST]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Most combat troops are gone from Germany. As was mentioned above, the remaining assets are mostly infrastructural, like airfields and hospitals such as the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the biggest US military hospital outside the states, which serves as the nearest place for higher level medical service for injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yep,
most of the severely wounded Soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq got to Landstuhl until they were in a condition to be flown back to the USA if I remember correctly

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Lancer
They moved the 2d ACR home base to Fort Polk which is just a bit north and west of New Orleans. Did my infantry training there in July-August. Those poor guys. An absolute swamp infested with every type of nasty biting thing and hot and humid, gawd. I'm sure the local whores were happy...

Maybe the only unit happy about being deployed in Iraq.

The 2d ACR also were the guys that won the battle of 73 easting in the first Iraq war.

Sir Ralph, what did they do with the barracks? Condos?

That sounds like the place where GhengisFarb once was based. He used to lament about snakes and alligators. Surely a difference to old and pretty Bamberg, innit?

There are still some smaller units as "rearguard" in the barracks, so they haven't yet been rededicated to civilian use. I don't know what units, though (and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to know). But it can't be many, US soldiers are rarely seen in public nowadays. The family quarters seem to be increasingly abandonned, too. A few years ago there were a lot of cars (lot of SUV's too ) that could be seen from the road, now it's only a few.

The Bamberg airfield is still operated, too, but increasingly civilian, I hear (Aeroclub Bamberg).

[Eli]

Yep,
most of the severely wounded Soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq got to Landstuhl until they were in a condition to be flown back to the USA if I remember correctly

They fly all the way from Afghanistan to Germany but can't fly to the US?

[Proteus_MST]

Around 5 hours of flight in contrast to maybe 15 hours of flight.
I assume for many severely wounded soldiers these 10 hours make a difference.

[Patroklos]

But it can't be many, US soldiers are rarely seen in public nowadays.

The US rarely allows the wearing of uniforms out in public in most countries. And even when they are allowed it is discouraged. Hell, even here in the states I change into my uniform at work, I can count on one hand the number of times I have worn my uniform to and from work over the last three years.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Patroklos
The US rarely allows the wearing of uniforms out in public in most countries. And even when they are allowed it is discouraged. Hell, even here in the states I change into my uniform at work, I can count on one hand the number of times I have worn my uniform to and from work over the last three years.

I'm aware of this. But you can easily tell Americans from non Americans by the license plate of their car, even the private one. And I really feel the difference, when I'm driving around.

Also, close to where I live is the birth house of Levi Strauss, which is now a museum. There were some US buses every week who brought visitors. This ceased about 1-2 years ago.

[Merkin Muffley]

We shouild let Russia into NATO and let them replace our boys in Europe.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
That sounds like the place where GhengisFarb once was based. He used to lament about snakes and alligators. Surely a difference to old and pretty Bamberg, innit?

WTF? I haven't logged on to Poly in almost a quarter of a year and your still badmouthing me?

I hate Fort Polk. Oklahomans were dancing in the streets when we saw a hurricane heading for LA. Up until we realized we were going to have to clean it up.


Hehe, about 12 of the guys I was with at Fort Polk are in this unit with me now (we volunteered to go with this unit) and we keep telling the locals how much nicer it is here than New Orleans.