America's bolstered military presence in Europe: A closer look
The electoral victory of Donald Trump sparked a wave of speculation regarding the future of American troops stationed in Europe. Although the American contingent on the continent is a shadow of its Cold War-era strength, it has been significantly reinforced in recent years. What forces does the USA have in Europe?
The American military has divided the world into six areas of responsibility, each assigned to a specific command (plus an additional four commands that operate globally without territorial limitations). One of these commands is the European Command, known as the United States European Command (USEUCOM).
USEUCOM is responsible for operations across Europe, Greenland, Turkey, the Caucasus countries, and Russia. The commander of USEUCOM also serves as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) for NATO armed forces in Europe.
Under its command is the Seventh United States Army stationed in Germany, as well as the Sixth Fleet, which has its command in Naples (comprising about 40 ships and 160 aircraft), and the Third Air Force (around 200 aircraft) with its command in Ramstein, Germany. At the height of the Cold War, American forces in Europe numbered over 400,000 soldiers.
Over the years, these forces were reduced, and some units were sent back to the United States. Since 2005, the Pentagon has maintained a steady number of around 60,000 soldiers in Europe. Currently—following reinforcement in response to Russian aggression—there are approximately 100,000 Americans stationed in Europe, some of whom are part of a so-called rotational presence.
Rotational reinforcement of American forces in Europe
An example of this is the deployment of about 40 additional combat aircraft to Europe or the reinforcement of the Sixth Fleet with four additional missile destroyers. The rotational forces also include most of the American units stationed in Poland, which are subordinate to the U.S. Army's V Corps.
The Corps is headquartered at Fort Knox, but since 2022, it also has a permanent Forward Command operating at Camp Kościuszko in Poznań, Poland, consisting of several hundred soldiers. The location of the corps' command in Poland, beyond practical considerations, serves as an important symbol—it signifies the permanent stationing of an American contingent in the form of a command battalion in the country.
Two regional divisions with rotational presence (Atlantic Resolve Rotational Division - ARRD) report to it, created from various rotational units currently stationed in Europe.
One of the divisions' commands is located in Poznań. It oversees two ABCT (Armored Brigade Combat Team) armored brigades and additional units such as artillery detachments.
These units are rotated every few months. For instance, the 1st Armored Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Poland was replaced in September 2024 by the 1st Armored Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division.
These are units sent to Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve in response to Russia's aggressive actions. Along with other units, these forces number several thousand soldiers. American rotational units are also stationed in Romania and the Baltic states.
Army Prepositioned Stock
The United States has the capability to reinforce its European contingent rapidly. This is made possible by a worldwide network of Army Prepositioned Stock. These are locations where military vehicles and all kinds of equipment are stored.
The world is similarly divided into several areas for this stock: APS-1 refers to warehouses in the USA, APS-2 to warehouses in Europe, APS-3 to equipment stored at sea, APS-4 to warehouses in Northeast Asia, and APS-5 to warehouses in Southeast Asia.
With these warehouses, the U.S. can quickly strengthen its forces in a region without sending slow maritime convoys with heavy equipment. Instead, they can airlift only the soldiers, who will find everything needed for combat at the target location.
This warehouse houses equipment for an additional brigade—about 80 M1A2SEPv3 Abrams tanks, around 130 M2A4 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, as well as artillery, armored personnel carriers, and recovery vehicles. The Pentagon plans to open another such warehouse in Scandinavia. This amounts to hundreds of combat vehicles waiting to be manned by crews airlifted in.
In addition to having stationed forces—both permanent and rotational—in Europe, the USA regularly conducts exercises for the maritime transfer of troops from the USA. This is facilitated by maneuvers such as Steadfast Defender 24. Although organized cyclically, this year's exercises were the largest since the Cold War.
The exercises involved the transfer of troops from the USA to Europe and then their movement across the continent, involving 90,000 soldiers, about 50 ships, 90 aircraft, and over 1,100 various types of vehicles.
