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1 1 (February 13, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcacy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E.$~ & Updated February 13, 2020 United States European Command: Overview and Key Issues United States European Command (or EUCOM, pronounced YEW-corn) is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and was established in 1952. Today its area of responsibility comprises 51 countries stretching from Portugal's Azores Islands to Iceland and Israel. USEUCOM's commander is currently U.S. Air Force General Tod Wolters, who is simultaneously the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). During the Cold War, the European theater was a primary focus for U.S. defense and national security and EUCOM was focused almost exclusively on deterring, and if necessary defeating, the Soviet Union. At the height of the Cold War, there were more than 400,000 U.S. troops stationed in Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a withdrawal of the bulk of forward-deployed U.S. troops in the European theater. Decisions to do so were arguably based on a number of strategic assumptions held by successive administrations after the end of the Cold War, including that * Europe could be stable, whole, and free; * Russia could be a constructive partner in the Euro- Atlantic security architecture; and * particularly prior to September 11, 2001, threats posed by terrorism and migration from the Middle East/North Africa region were limited. EUCOM subsequently focused its activities on non- warfighting missions, including building the security capacity and capability of former Soviet bloc states, prosecuting crisis management operations in the Balkans, and logistically supporting other combatant commands (by providing, in particular, critical medical evacuation facilities at Landstuhl), including U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Over the past 25 years, decisions regarding U.S. basing and posture in the European theater have largely reflected these assumptions. The bulk of U.S. forces in Europe have been withdrawn and many bases and outposts were either consolidated or closed. However, two Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) were retained (in Italy and Germany) as were some naval bases, particularly those along NATO's southern flank, and a number of Air Force bases that were deemed critical for supporting operations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Events in recent years, particularly since 2014, have tested, if not undermined, the strategic assumptions underpinning EUCOM's posture. To Europe's east, Russia annexed Crimea, began a proxy war in Eastern Ukraine, and is modernizing its conventional and nonconventional forces. Russia also increased its military activities in Europe's high north, particularly through reportedly adding nuclear- capable missiles to Kaliningrad (a Russian territory on the Baltic Sea that is not contiguous with Russia itself), enhancing its air patrolling activities close to other states' airspace, and enhancing its naval presence in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the North Sea. Taken together, these moves have heightened some congressional concerns about Russian aggression and its implications for NATO territories, particularly among Central and Eastern European NATO allies. To Europe's south, instability resulting in part from the Arab Spring led to collapse of states, civil war in some instances, and significant refugee flows into Europe. The conflicts in Iraq and Syria are examples, although some European countries are also concerned about conditions in Libya. This has led to political tensions across the broader European Union, and to concerns about terrorists embedding within refugee flows. In 2014, EUCOM began transforming itself back into a warfighting command, while retaining its missions to support CENTCOM and AFRICOM, perform crisis management operations, and build partner states' security capacity. The United States fields two primary types of forces in Europe: permanent and rotational. Permanent refers to those U.S. personnel who live in Europe and are assigned to U.S. European Command. The length of these assignments for most service members is between three and five years. Approximately 74,000 personnel are permanently assigned to EUCOM. These include * 34,000 Army personnel, * 27,000 Air Force personnel, * 3,000 Marine personnel, and * 10,000 Navy personnel. An additional 20,000 permanent DOD civilians are also authorized for EUCOM and its supporting commands. Finally, on February 11, 2020, DOD announced the reactivation of the V Corps headquarters in Fort Knox, KY, which will provide command and control for U.S., allied and partner formations in Europe. Once a site for a forward command post is selected, approximately 200 V Corps personnel will rotate through Europe. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, DOD has also increased its rotations of temporary forces in and out of EUCOM to assure allies of the United States' commitment to their security. Dubbed heel-to-toe rotations, air, ground and naval assets are deployed from the continental United States to conduct exercises with NATO allies for several K~:> mppm qq\ p\w gn'a', ggmm a 'S I 11LIANJILiN,

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