The
United States Armed Forces were initially organized as USEFT (United States Force European Theater), from 1 August 1945 to 28 February 1946
A.D., in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main, in the I.G. Farben building. On 15 March 1947, they were reassigned to EUCOM (European Command) in Frankfurt. In 1948, they moved from Frankfurt to the Campbell Barracks from Heidelberg. On 1 January 1950, it was reorganized as USAREUR (
United States Army Europe). USAREUR was subordinate to USEUCOM (
United States European Command), since 1967, at the Patch Barracks from Stuttgart-Vaihingen. According to the German
Bundestag, U.S. forces in Germany in the early 2010s numbered approximately 40,000–45,000 personnel, depending on whether stationed forces or broader assigned personnel were counted. This reflected a long-term post–
Cold War decline from much higher Cold War-era levels exceeding 70,000 troops. In June 2020, President
Donald Trump announced plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops stationed in Germany. A month later, Defense Secretary
Mark Esper specified that troop levels would be cut to about 24,000, implying a withdrawal of roughly 12,000 personnel, around one third of the force. The proposal faced criticism in both Germany and the United States, including from the
U.S. Congress, which imposed conditions on any withdrawal in the 2021 defense authorization legislation. Following the inauguration of
Joe Biden in 2021, the planned reduction was halted, and instead a modest increase of approximately 500 troops was announced. On 30 April 2026, President Donald Trump again raised the possibility of reducing the approximately 36,400 U.S. troops stationed in Germany amid renewed political tensions with Berlin. According to reporting by
The Guardian, a review of troop deployments is under consideration, although analysts note that large-scale reductions remain unlikely due to the strategic importance of U.S. bases in Germany and legal constraints imposed by U.S. defense legislation. A day later, U.S. Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal of around 5,000 American troops stationed in Germany over the next six to 12 months. ==Existing installations==