In February, the US Army announced the reactivation of the 5th Corps in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and identified Europe as the location for the forward headquarters – now the decision has been made in favor of Poland.
“The activation of an additional corps headquarters provides the necessary level of command and control that can focus on synchronizing the tactical elements of the U.S. Army, allies and partner nations operating in Europe. This will strengthen the command of US Army Europe and US European Command as it works with allies and partners to promote regional stability and security,” said US Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville.
Now that the negotiations with Poland on the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) have been successfully concluded – in the context of the US President’s initiated reduction of US troops in Europe and especially in Germany – the headquarters will go to Poland when the United States moves its 5th Corps to Europe. General McConville traveled to Poland to promote Major General John Kolasheski, the future Commanding General of the 5th Corps, to the rank of Lieutenant General and to officially unfurl the Corps’ flag at the new location. The forward headquarters will be rotated on an ongoing basis with a manpower of around 200, because according to the “Two Plus Four Treaty”, which was concluded between the USA, Great Britain, France, the then Soviet Union and the two German states in connection with the reunification of Germany, troops from NATO countries may not be permanently stationed in the area of the then new NATO members. The USA will therefore regularly exchange soldiers in order to comply with this provision – at least pro forma. US Army Europe expects the first rotation in fiscal year 2021 of the US budget. The new headquarters’ primary role will be to plan, lead and oversee rotational forces in Europe. It will also provide opportunities to support allies and partners in the region. In addition, it should already be participating in the “DEFENDER-Europe 2″1 exercise. The history of the 5th Corps dates back to 1918, when the unit was established during the First World War. During the Second World War, the corps was in command during D-Day, the invasion of Normandy.
Over the past ten years, the German government has paid almost one billion euros for the stationing of US troops in Germany. This is according to an answer from the German Ministry of Finance to a question from Left Party MP Brigitte Freihold. At 648.5 million euros, around two thirds of the sum was spent on construction measures. So-called “defense follow-up costs” amounted to 333.9 million euros. These include aid payments to former employees of the US armed forces, the repair of damage caused by US soldiers and the reimbursement of US investments at former troop locations. However, the USA pays many times more for the stationing of troops than Germany does. In a budget forecast from last year, the US Department of Defense estimates the expenses for 2020 at around 8.125 billion US dollars (7.234 billion euros) – that is 61 times as much as the 132.4 million euros that Germany paid for troop deployment last year. According to US figures, no other troop location in the world would cost the American taxpayer so much. “Germany has defaulted for years and owes NATO billions of dollars, and they have to pay for it,” Trump said when announcing the current troop deployment – Militär Aktuell reported. He also pointed out that the stationing of US troops in Germany was causing “tremendous costs” for the USA, while Germany was benefiting economically from the US troops. “These are well-paid soldiers. They live in Germany. They spend a lot of their money in Germany.” After the US plans to withdraw up to 12,000 soldiers from Germany became known, Poland’s head of government Mateusz Morawiecki told a Polish radio station that he hoped some of the US soldiers would be transferred to his country. This would strengthen NATO’s eastern flank and benefit the security of Europe as a whole. And according to the latest agreement on August 3, Poland will also bear the lion’s share of the costs of stationing up to 5,500 US soldiers within its borders.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell explained that Poland had agreed to provide infrastructure and logistical support for US troops in Poland (see list below), including the 4,500 rotating forces or the 1,000 additional troops now planned. In a statement on August 4, US Secretary of Defense Esper said, “the new agreement will enhance deterrence against Russia, strengthen NATO, reassure our allies, and our forward presence in Poland on NATO’s eastern flank will improve our strategic and operational flexibility.”
In detail, Poland has agreed to finance the complete infrastructures for:
- The command post of the 5th Corps Headquarters of the US Army
- The headquarters of a US division in Poland
- A joint combat training center in Drawsko Pomorskie, with subordinate training locations
- Facilities for an MQ-9 drone squadron of the US Air Force
- A port of disembarkation to support the movement of armed forces inside and outside the country
- Structures to support special forces so that they can carry out air, ground and sea operations
- Infrastructure for an armored brigade combat team, a combat aircraft brigade and a combat support battalion
While the majority of politicians in Germany reject the planned withdrawal of US troops, it is largely met with approval among the population. According to a survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 47% of Germans are in favor of reducing the current 36,000 soldiers. One in four even believe that the US armed forces should leave Germany altogether. In contrast, less than one in three (28%) are in favor of the GIs remaining at their current strength, four percent believe that the contingent should even be increased and 21 percent did not specify.
