U.S. Defense Chief Announces New Base, Where are these Troops Coming From?
I listened to SecWar Hegseth’s speech today and it was actually pretty good. However, what caught my attention was his announcement that state governors can compete to host a new military base that will be home to 15,000 to 25,000 soldiers:
Hegseth invited governors to bidfor their state to be the home of the “next great American” base.
“We’re calling on every governor in the country and adjutant general, every tag across this great republic, to step up to the plate and bring us their best sales pitch,” the Defense secretary said.
“If your state wants the honor of hosting 15,000 to 25,000 of America’s great troops, show us why and how you’re going to do it, cutting through the red tape, offering up the land and rolling out the red carpet for our military families,” he said during the speech.
Naval Station Everett in Washington state was the most recent base built inside the U.S., opening in the 1990s. The base is home to several guided-missile destroyers and Coast Guard ships.
Hegseth said the new base will not be a “soulless government installation,” arguing the Pentagon will “plan out and chart out a dynamic, self-sustaining power projection platform.”
You can read more at the link, but both the media and Hegseth are wrong about the newest base opened in the U.S., it was not Naval Station Everett. The newest base to open in the U.S. is Camp Blaz on Guam. The camp officially opened in 2023.
Besides people apparently not knowing Guam is part of the United States, what I found interesting about this announcement is what was not said which is where are these up to 25,000 troops coming from? They are not going to move from a base in the U.S. because that would force its closure which means they have to come from troops stationed overseas.
That means the main possibility to withdraw troops from overseas would be from Germany, Korea, or Japan. Fortunately for Korea the recent investment deal in the U.S. and the fact the ROK government built the new Camp Humphreys, makes it unlikely to be the place chosen for troop reductions.
Japan has few Army units and PM Takaichi has a great relationship with Trump. This leaves Germany as the likely target for future force reductions. For those looking for a future Europe assignment it is best get one in soon because in a few years there may be far fewer opportunities to get one.
