Baltic Times/Agence France-Presse
April 6, 2022

US wants bases in eastern Europe, but for short-term deployments

The United States supports having permanent US military bases on the eastern flank of NATO, but for regular short-term rotations of US troop units rather than long-term basing, a top Pentagon general said Tuesday.

…Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told a hearing in the House of Representatives that the key allies on the eastern edge of NATO are willing to host permanent US bases.

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“My advice would be to create permanent bases, but don’t permanently station. So you get the effect of permanence by rotational forces cycling through permanent bases,” Milley said.

He said this would save on the costs of traditional US overseas bases, where troops are placed for two to three years, bringing their families – which requires more support facilities, like schools, health and shopping venues.

Milley said US allies in Europe, particularly the three countries of the Baltics plus Poland and Romania, “are very, very willing to establish permanent bases.”

“They will build them, they will pay for them,” he told the House Armed Services Committee.