Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

U.S. European Command (eucom.mil)
February 16, 2012

The United States has enduring interests in supporting peace, prosperity, unity, and freedom in Europe and Eurasia as well as in bolstering the strength and vitality of NATO. As demonstrated by recent and ongoing operations, Europe remains our partner of choice in addressing current and emerging security challenges around the globe. The United States will maintain a robust, visible military presence in Europe, which will be capable of deterring and defending against aggression throughout Europe and Eurasia, and meeting our collective defense commitments under NATO’s Article 5. We will continue to enhance the NATO alliance’s readiness and interoperability and promote the strength, adaptability, security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our allies and partners across Europe and Eurasia.

Consistent with the new NATO Strategic Concept, our force posture in Europe will evolve to meet the full range of 21st century challenges.

• We will enhance the ability of our forward presence in Europe to address ballistic missile threats with an AN/TPY-2 radar in Turkey and by forward-stationing Aegis-Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)-capable ships in Rota, Spain, and establishing land-based SM-3 BMD sites in Romania and Poland.
• We will enhance regional special operations forces’ responsiveness by continued partnership with the NATO Special Operations Forces Headquarters.
• We will create an aviation detachment in Poland to enhance training opportunities.

We will also work with NATO allies to develop a “smart defense” approach to pool, share, and specialize capabilities. …

U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE)

• As a reduction of legacy aircraft, one Air Force A-10 squadron from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, has been identified for inactivation in fiscal year 2013.
• The 603rd Air Control Squadron at Aviano Air Base, Italy, will be inactivated in fiscal year 2013.

U.S. Army, Europe (USAREUR)

• Following the V Corps headquarters deployment to Operation Enduring Freedom later this year, the Army will reduce the V Corps Headquarters structure, and it will not return to Europe.
• The 7th Army/USAREUR headquarters has been transformed to include a deployable contingency command post. This command and control capability can deploy within Europe and, when augmented, can provide command and control for joint and coalition forces in small-scale operations.
• Two brigade combat teams (BCTs) identified for inactivation are the 170th BCT in fiscal year 2013 and the 172nd BCT in fiscal year 2014.
• As the U.S. Army reduces force structure, the U.S. Army in Europe will see a reduction of approximately 2,500 Soldiers from enabling units over the next five years.
• To enhance capacity and interoperability with NATO, the United States will allocate a U.S.-based heavy brigade combat team to reinvigorate its commitment to the NATO Response Force. As part of this commitment, we will also seek ways to enhance multi-national training at the world-class Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwöhr, Germany, in a post-ISAF environment. We will rotate a battalion-sized task force from the allocated U.S.-based heavy brigade combat team to conduct multinational training exercises on a frequency to be determined later in consultation with our allies.
• As previously announced, Baumholder remains an enduring U.S. Army, Europe community along with the Grafenwöhr/Vilseck/Hohenfels complex, Ansbach, Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden, and Stuttgart, Germany; Vicenza, Italy; and Army communities located in the Benelux. Those locations identified as not enduring include Bamberg and Schweinfurt, which will be returned to the host nation no later than fiscal year 2015.

…

Read in full: www.eucom.mil/article/23125/useucom-releases-command-statement-on-force-posture

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Mainichi Daily News
January 14, 2012

The appointment of Naoki Tanaka as Japan’s new defense minister Friday prompted some puzzlement in Okinawa Prefecture, with some local officials and residents saying they are unfamiliar with the new minister whose stance on defense matters, including the long-stalled issue of relocating a U.S. base in the prefecture, is unclear. …

But a senior Okinawa official remained wary about how Tanaka will handle the base issue. “I have no idea what stance he has on security issues. We’ll gather information (about him) from now on.”

Okinawa residents, who have been calling for easing the concentration of U.S. military facilities in the prefecture, have strongly opposed the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station from Ginowan to a less populated area in Nago’s Henoko district within the prefecture.

The people of Okinawa have urged the government to move the key U.S. base outside the prefecture, but the central government intends to implement a Japan-U.S. agreement to relocate the base within the prefecture.

“Cabinet members change one after another, but (the government’s) stance of maintaining military bases (in Okinawa) never changes,” said 61-year-old Tsuyako Watanabe, a resident of Nakijin village in Okinawa. …

In full: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120114p2g00m0dm019000c.html

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Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
December 29, 2011

Futenma project preliminary work goes on

Congress has ordered a slowdown of the controversial plan to relocate the Futenma air station on Okinawa, President Barack Obama has signed legislation temporarily barring funding for the project and the government of Japan is planning to withhold funds as well.

But none of that discouraged the Pentagon from hailing “significant progress” this week after Japanese officials filed an official environmental assessment of the project with the Okinawan government, one of the steps required if the long-planned realignment of U.S. forces in Japan will ever actually occur.

Despite recent calls from U.S. politicians put the project on hold, the submission of the report allows the two countries to focus on construction permits for new Marine Corps runways on the island, Pentagon spokesman George Little said. The U.S. considers the project a critical military priority in the region.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “looks forward to working with Japan in taking the next step: securing the landfill permit” for construction of offshore runways in northern Okinawa to replace Futenma, Little said in a written statement.

Japan defense officials handed over the 7,000-page environmental document to the Okinawa government around 4 a.m. Wednesday, avoiding protesters who had blocked a delivery attempt the day before. It was the first concrete progress on the contentious U.S.-Japan relocation agreement since it was signed more than five years ago, but the move stirred resentment among Okinawans who are weary of hosting large U.S. bases and want Marine flight operations moved off the island.

Under Japanese law, the U.S. and Japan must first get approval from the Okinawa prefectural government before the sea bottom can be filled to create a new V-shaped airfield beside the Marine Corps’ Camp Schwab near Nago city. The base is slated to be transformed into a replacement base for Futenma, which is located in the middle of a dense urban area. …

Read on: www.stripes.com/news/futenma-project-preliminary-work-goes-on-1.164711

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Royal Gazette
By Walton Brown
December 21, 2011

Addressing Bermuda’s House of Assembly on January 15, 1942, on his way home from Washington, Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke of the agreement for the leasing to the United States of bases in Bermuda. He told the Members of Colonial Parliament that “you in Bermuda happen to be called upon to play a part of especial importance and distinction. Everybody has to do his duty to the cause – first to the British Empire, but above that to the world cause.” Sir Winston went on to state: “I wish to express to you my strong conviction that these bases are important pillars of the bridge connecting the two great English-speaking democracies. You have cause to be proud that it has fallen to your lot to make this important contribution to a better world.” He concluded his remarks by expressing his “profound gratitude”.

For more than 50 years the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States was manifested, as far as Bermuda is concerned, in the gift of this lease – not part of the bases for weapons swap that characterised other UK-US base deals. With the Cold War over and the military need for the bases eroding, the United States made the decision in early 1990s to close the bases and return the land to Bermuda well ahead of the 2040 lease expiration date.

One of the residual issues is the base cleanup, now estimated to cost over $70 million. This should not be a cost borne by the Bermuda Government. In recognition of the UK’s “profound gratitude” for the sacrifices made by Bermudians as well as the fact that Bermuda had no role in the decision to grant the US a base on the island, it cannot logically, morally, even legally, be a Bermuda responsibility. Minimally, the UK must bear responsibility for this …

Read on: www.royalgazette.com/article/20111221/COLUMN02/712219997

Ed…..This is all part of the extraordinary ‘arrangements’ that were made – we clean up their mess!

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UK Progressive Magazine
By sherwood Ross
December 3, 2011

Forecasting a future of robotic warfare in which perverted science is put at the service of its Empire, the U.S. has built 60 bases around the world for its unmanned, remotely controlled killer drone warplanes. And more bases are under construction.

“Run by the military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and their proxies, these bases…are the backbone of a new robotic way of war,” writes Nick Turse, an investigative journalist for AlterNet and TomDispatch.

The bases “are also the latest development in a long-evolving saga of American power projection abroad—in this case, remote-controlled strikes anywhere on the planet with a minimal foreign ‘footprint’ and little accountability,” Turse points out.

He notes that there may be even more than 60 bases since the Pentagon has dropped a “cloak of secrecy” over its operations. With the recent murder of American citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen, the drones are now assassinating suspects in no fewer than six countries, Turse says.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post also reports the Obama Pentagon is building a constellation of secret drone bases in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen.

A number of the drone bases are located in the U.S., centered at Creech Air Force base outside Las Vegas, Nev., where “pilots” seated in front of computer screens can direct the unmanned drones and command them to launch a Hellfire missile on a suspect in Afghanistan, 7,500 miles away. …

Read on: www.ukprogressive.co.uk/us-expanding-drone-bases-to-assassinate-%E2%80%9Csuspects%E2%80%9D/article16087.html

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France 24 (AFP)
December 2, 2011

The United States on Friday handed over to Iraqi control the sprawling Victory Base Complex near Baghdad, the main base from which the US war in Iraq was run, a US military spokesman said.

“The Victory Base Complex (VBC) was officially signed over to the receivership of the Iraqi government this morning. The base is no longer under US control and is now under the full authority of the government of Iraq,” said Colonel Barry Johnson, a spokesman for United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I).

“There was no ceremony, just a signing of paperwork akin to the closing of a home sale,” Johnson said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Lieutenant Colonel Angela Funaro, a spokeswoman for USF-I, said that US troops had pulled out in advance and that just five US bases in Iraq now remain to be handed over.

“All US troops departed as of last night,” she said. “The air base which adjoined VBC has transferred to the control of the State Department, but has some troops there.”

At its peak, the Victory base housed more than 100,000 people — some 42,000 military personnel and more than 65,000 contractors…

Read on: http://www.france24.com/en/20111202-us-hands-massive-base-over-iraqi-control

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Mainichi Daily News
November 25, 2011

Japan and the United States have agreed to partly change a bilateral arrangement concerning U.S. military personnel, allowing Japan from now on to have jurisdiction over accidents and crimes involving civilian staff at U.S. bases under certain circumstances, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said Thursday.

Until now, the United States had primary authority to try both military and nonmilitary U.S. personnel if they are suspected of committing crimes while on duty.

The agreement to change the operation of the Status of Forces Agreement was struck on Wednesday by the Joint Committee, Gemba told reporters.

Gemba said this is “one step forward” in addressing the concerns of residents in Okinawa and other areas of Japan that host U.S. military bases, who have voiced anger for many years about the way drunken driving and other crimes involving civilian staff at U.S. bases have been handled.

Since 2006, U.S. workers at the bases involved in serious accidents have only been reprimanded by the U.S. military, not prosecuted in court, according Japanese officials. There are around 5,000 U.S. civilian employees at the bases in Japan.

Still, despite the change, the two countries confirmed that primary jurisdiction rests with the United States.

U.S. suspects will only be tried by Japanese courts when the United States decides not to exercise its jurisdiction and gives its consent to Japanese authorities, said the memorandum signed by the two countries. …

Read on: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111125p2g00m0dm026000c.html

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Fox News
November 16, 2011

President Obama insisted Wednesday that the United States does not fear China, even as U.S. officials acknowledged that a rising China is part of the reason for a new U.S.-Australia security pact created in response to Beijing’s growing aggressiveness.

The plan is to have a Marine, air and ground task force using Australian facilities to act as a “force multiplier” in the region. No new U.S. bases will be built. Marines will rotate into and out of the region, building up slowly from 250. After the buildup is complete, they will total some 2,500.

The number and frequency of U.S. aircraft using Australian air bases will increase and more bases will be in use. …

Read on: www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/16/new-agreement-will-expand-us-military-presence-in-australia

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Press TV
October 27, 2011

An American general says there are only 15 US military bases left in Iraq, which were once up to 505, as the foreign forces prepare to leave the Arab country by the end of the year.

“US Forces-Iraq (USF-I) now resides on 15 bases — nine of those are US, and six are partnered (with Iraqi forces),” said Brigadier General Rock Donahue, head of USF-I’s engineering directorate, AFP reported.

All of the remaining bases must be handed over to Iraqi forces and US troops must leave Iraq by the end of the year, under the terms of the 2008 bilateral security accord, known as the Status of Forces Agreement.

However, the US looks unwilling to leave the Middle Eastern country and its officials are searching new pretexts to prolong their stay in Iraq.

Twelve US lawmakers on Wednesday wrote to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services that the complete withdrawal of American troops from Iraq will be seen as a “strategic victory by our enemies in the Middle East.”

The letter was signed by top Republican Senator John McCain, Independent Joe Lieberman and 10 other Republican senators.

There are currently about 39,000 US soldiers in Iraq, according to the US military.

US President Barack Obama announced on October 21 that all US troops will leave Iraq by the end of 2011. …

Read on: www.presstv.ir/detail/206848.html

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key.aero
By Gary Parsons
September 27, 2011

Making a rare visit to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire yesterday was B-52H Stratofortress 61-0008 from the 93rd Bomb Squadron, 917th Wing based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. B-52s used to be a common sight at RAF Fairford during the 1990s, but visits are few and far between these days.

The B-52 night stopped en-route to the USA from the Ostrava Airshow, held in the Czech Republic over the weekend of September 24/25. The ‘Buff’ brought in a VIP who was then seen departing in the back of a Czech Air Force JAS-39D Gripen – an expensive taxi!

www.key.aero/view_news.asp?ID=4091&thisSection=military

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