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Army announces Europe unit moves

Several combat arms and force sustainment units will trade locations in Germany under the fiscal 2010 U.S. Army Europe transformation plan announced May 13 in Heidelberg.

More than 45,000 soldiers are stationed in Europe, mostly in Germany and Italy, according to the Office of the G-3 at the Pentagon.

USAREUR, the Army’s largest overseas command, is scheduled to reach a permanent manning level of 32,000 by 2012-13.

The transformation plan unveiled May 13 moves some Schweinfurt-based units to Grafenwoehr, a community that will add 2,835 soldiers and family members in 2010.

The plan does not call for any large-scale reductions in the force.

A drawdown of Army forces in Germany had been planned to reduce the number of soldiers there to 32,000, but senior commanders in theater have requested the drawdown be halted.

Gen. Carter F. Ham, USAREUR commander, said the Army in Europe needs the force to meet its operational commitments for Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and elsewhere, while simultaneously conducting an ambitious training and outreach program for allies, particularly the new member nations of NATO and nations seeking membership in the alliance.

A decision on that request by the Obama administration is pending and must be approved by Congress.

While there is no timeline for a decision, “sooner rather than later is better,” Ham said in February.

Maintaining the size of the force will allow the Army to maintain a maneuver force of four brigade combat teams in Germany and Italy.

The Army’s plan for the long term is to maintain six major communities in Europe, five in Germany — Kaiserslautern, Baumholder, Wiesbaden, Ansbach and Grafenwoehr — and one in Italy, Vicenza.

Included in the force mix will be the Germany-based 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division (a unit to eventually be reflagged the 170th Infantry Brigade) at Baumholder, the 172nd Infantry Brigade at Grafenwoehr, the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment at Vilseck, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Vicenza, Italy.

Units of the 172nd now in Schweinfurt will move to new facilities in Grafenwoehr. The consolidation of the 172nd, a unit previously flagged as the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, at Grafenwoehr began in 2008.

Units moving from Schweinfurt to Grafenwoehr are:

• 1st Battalion, 2d Infantry Regiment

• 9th Engineer Battalion

• 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment

• 172nd Forward Support Battalion

Several Grafenwoehr-based units of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command will move into facilities being vacated at Schweinfurt. as follows:

• 18th Combat Service Support Battalion

• 23d Ordnance Company

• 574th Supply Company

• 5th Maintenance Company

The 1st Cargo Transportation Company in Grafenwoehr also is slated to move, but a new home at either Kaiserslautern or Schweinfurt has not been determined.

Several units of the 30th Medical Command are affected by the transformation plan.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 421st Medical Battalion and the 557th Ground Ambulance Company, both based at Wiesbaden, will move to Schweinfurt, as will the 71st Preventive Medicine Detachment in Grafenwoehr.

The 12th Chemical Company and the 503rd Chemical Detachment also are slated to move from Grafenwoehr to Schweinfurt.

Other significant actions slated for 2010 include:

• The 56th Quartermaster Company (Aerial Delivery) will activate at Aviano, Italy.

• The 561st Medical (Dental) Company at Grafenwoehr and the 464th Medical (Dental) Company at Landstuhl will deactivate.

• The 4th Transportation Company at Grafenwoehr, the 487th Movement Control Team at Livorno, Italy, the 486th Movement Control Team at Kaiserslautern, the 793rd Military Police Battalion at Bamberg and the 212th Military Police Company at Wiesbaden will return to the U.S.