About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (March 12, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govyfe0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cogrsioa Resarc Sevc March 12, 2019 United States European Command: Overview and Key Issues History United States European Command (or EUCOM, pronounced YEW-com) 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. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who is simultaneously NATO's 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 (USCENTCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM). 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 The bulk of U.S. forces in Europe have been withdrawn (as of FY2018, approximately 74,000 military service members were assigned to EUCOM and its subordinate commands; see below). 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. USEUCOM's Current Geopolitical Cha enges 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. Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the Department of State (2017), Garmin (2017), and NGA (2019). 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 USCENTCOM and USAFRICOM, perform crisis management operations, and build partner states' security capacity. U.S. Forces in Europe Today 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. https://crsreports.congress.gov

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most