The Pentagon plans to withdraw its two Army divisions from Germany and replace them with fewer, lighter and more mobile troops as part of a global shifting of US military forces, US officials said.
The move would represent a significant change in the US military presence in Europe, where US forces stood guard throughout the Cold War against the threat of a land invasion from the Soviet Union. The Pentagon has no intention of abandoning Europe but wants more flexibility in the way it can move Germany-based forces into other parts of the world like the Middle East, US officials have said.
Defense Undersecretary Douglas Feith briefed German defense and diplomatic officials last week in Germany on the Pentagon thinking about US troops in Germany.
Feith stressed in an interview on Tuesday that there had been no decision on US troops in Germany. He said, however, that planning was "very far along," and "we are going to share our analysis" with the Germans.
A senior official in US President George W. Bush's administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the near-final Pentagon thinking on the matter was to withdraw the two US divisions.
Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder did not discuss the Pentagon's desire to withdraw its two Army divisions during a meeting at the G8 summit in Georgia, an official said.
Feith said the Pentagon was "pushing forward with cutting-edge capabilities" and that fewer, lighter and more modern units would be moved into Germany.
"It is not a retreat," Feith said. "We are swapping some forces for others."
In the revamping, Feith said the 5th Corps headquarters, which is in Germany and oversees nearly all US Army troops in Europe, would be overhauled but remain a headquarters.
The two divisions in Germany are the 1st Armored and the 1st Infantry. They would be returned to the US under the Pentagon plan although it was unclear where.
In Berlin last week, Germany and US officials had insisted that the US had yet to complete plans for any troop withdrawals from Germany and was still consulting with allies.
German foreign ministry spokes-man Walter Lindner said last Friday that it was too early to discuss timetables and numbers.
Some 70,000 US troops are assigned to Germany, although the Army's 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armored Division are currently in Iraq. The 1st Armored is due to finish its Iraq tour within a few weeks.
Turkey, close to Iraq and other hot spots in the Middle East, has been cited as a place to which some forces -- particularly fighter planes -- could be moved.
The Bush administration is implementing a worldwide force realignment to deal more effectively with emerging threats.
At the same time, it is trying to cope with keeping 138,000 US troops in Iraq to help the newly sovereign government in Baghdad gain the upper hand over opposition forces.
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