America's fortified presence: US military strategy in Europe
Donald Trump's electoral victory sparked a wave of speculation regarding the future of American troops stationed in Europe. Although the American contingent on the Old 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 army has divided the world into six areas of responsibility, assigned to six commands (an additional four commands have no territorial limitations and operate globally). One of the commands is the European Command - United States European Command (USEUCOM).
USEUCOM is responsible for operations throughout Europe, Greenland, Turkey, the Caucasus countries, and Russia, and the commander of USEUCOM is also the supreme commander of NATO armed forces in Europe (SACEUR).
Under its command are the Seventh United States Army stationed in Germany, the Sixth Fleet with a command in Naples (around 40 ships and 160 aircraft), and the Third Air Force (approximately 200 aircraft) with a command in Ramstein, Germany. At the height of the Cold War, American forces on the Old Continent numbered over 400,000 soldiers.
Over the years, these forces have been reduced, and some units were sent back to the United States. Since 2005, the Pentagon has maintained a steady number of around 60,000 troops in Europe. Currently—after 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 is deploying about 40 additional combat aircraft to Europe or reinforcing the Sixth Fleet with four additional missile destroyers. The rotational forces also include most American units stationed in Poland, subordinate to the U.S. Army's V Corps.
The Corps is headquartered at Fort Knox, but since 2022, it has also had a permanent Forward Command operating at Camp Kościuszko in Poznań, Poland, consisting of several hundred soldiers. Beyond practical considerations, the location of the corps' command in Poland was an important symbol—it signifies the permanent stationing in our country of an American contingent in the form of a command battalion.
Two regional divisions with rotational presence (Atlantic Resolve Rotational Division - ARRD) report to it, created from various rotational units currently stationed in Europe.
The command of one of the divisions is located in Poznań and oversees two armoured brigades of the ABCT (Armoured Brigade Combat Team) type and additional units such as artillery detachments.
These units rotate every few months—a case in point is the 1st Armoured Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Poland, which was replaced in September 2024 by the 1st Armoured 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 Americans have the capability for the rapid reinforcement of their European contingent. This is possible because the United States maintains a worldwide network of Army Prepositioned Stock. These are locations where military vehicles and all kinds of equipment are stored.
Similar to the command structure, the world has been divided into several areas—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.
Due to such warehouses, should it be necessary to strengthen their forces in a particular region quickly, Americans do not have to send slow maritime convoys with heavy equipment. Instead, they can airlift only the soldiers who will find everything needed for combat at the target location.
Despite having stationed forces—both permanent and rotational—on the Old Continent, the USA regularly exercises the maritime transfer of troops from the USA. This is served by manoeuvres such as Steadfast Defender 24. Although they are organised cyclically, this year's 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 Old Continent, involving 90,000 soldiers, about 50 ships, 90 aircraft, and over 1,100 various types of vehicles.
