I. Introduction
Madam Chairman, Senator Feinstein, distinguished Members of the Committee; it is my privilege to appear before you as Commander, United States European Command (USEUCOM), to discuss the very exciting efforts underway in the European Theater to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century. On behalf of the men and women in USEUCOM who proudly serve this nation, and their families, I want to thank the committee members and staff for your unwavering support over this past year. Your efforts have provided us with the resources for mission success and have enabled us to do our part in protecting our democracy and in contributing to the security of our nation. Your dedication to improving our important facilities and the quality of life of our men and women in uniform is both recognized and greatly appreciated.
II. The USEUCOM Area of Responsibility
USEUCOM’s area of responsibility encompasses a vast geographic region covering over 46 million square miles of land and water. The new Unified Command Plan, effective 1 October 2002, assigns USEUCOM an area of responsibility that includes 93 sovereign nations, stretching from the northern tip of Norway to the southern tip of South Africa, and from Greenland in the west to Russia's distant eastern coastline (Enclosure 1). The very title "U.S. European Command" is somewhat of a misnomer and does not fully capture the vastness of our area of operations.
The astonishing diversity of our area of responsibility encompasses the full range of human conditions: some nations are among the wealthiest of the world, while others exist in a state of abject poverty; some are open democracies with long histories of respect for human liberties, while others are struggling with the basic concepts of representative governments and personal freedoms. For example, Africa, long neglected, but whose transnational threats, ungoverned regions, and abject poverty are potential future breeding grounds for networked non-state adversaries, terrorism, narco-trafficking, crime, and sinking human conditions, will increasingly be factored into our strategic plans for the future. The resulting change in the security environment has driven a change in our strategic orientation with increased emphasis eastward and southward. III. Historical Setting
U.S. Forces in Europe, in concert with our NATO Allies, played a pivotal role in bringing about the end of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. The dramatic collapse of the Soviet Empire brought tremendous opportunities for the former Warsaw Pact states. It also brought unprecedented uncertainty for NATO and the U.S. European Command. For nearly a decade after the end of the Cold War, funding for U.S. European Command infrastructure was virtually non-existent.
The existing uncertainty of the future size and makeup of U.S. Forces in Europe led to a long period of significantly reduced funding for infrastructure at European bases (Enclosure 2). Assuming that we no longer required the same robust presence as that of the Cold War era, we down sized our force structure and the number of military facilities in theater. Since the fall of the Berlin wall in October 1989, USEUCOM has undergone a reduction in forces of approximately 66 percent, from 248,000 (in 1989) to 109,000 (in 2002). We have closed 566 installations over the past decade, along with over 356 other sites and training areas. This reduction equates to a 70 percent shift in personnel and facilities compared to Cold War Era peaks. The scope and rapidity with which force levels and structure were reduced in USEUCOM was an extraordinary accomplishment.
During this turbulent time, my predecessors adjusted our force disposition in keeping with the requirements of our national strategy. Their efforts resulted in the beginning of our “efficient basing” programs and a number of alternative funding programs that have produced tangible results in our effort to provide adequate, affordable housing and facilities for our men and women in uniform. Although the end of the Cold War promised a much more stable and secure Europe, the scope of USEUCOM’s mission grew as the newly independent states struggled to define their place in a free Europe. In the same period, USEUCOM experienced a dramatic decline in the number of installations and a substantial reduction and realignment of our force structure in theater. Consequently, we now have a greater reliance on our forward basing capabilities than ever before. And, I believe forward based and forward deployed forces will be even more important as we confront the security challenges of the next century.
IV. The New Security Environment
Today, we find ourselves at the crossroads of two centuries. While the bipolar security environment of the 20th Century shaped our command, and defined our mission, the 21st Century requires that we depart from the clearly defined role of territorial defense. As we shed the limitations of 20th Century warfare, we are emerging from a doctrine of “attrition” warfare to “maneuver” warfare, from symmetrical to asymmetrical response options, from the principle of mass to the principle of precision, and from large and vulnerable military stockpiles to a revolutionary integrated logistics concept. We are changing from the traditional terrain-based military paradigms to effects-based operations, in order to prepare for a new set of security challenges.
The developed world now faces threats from sub-national or supra-national groups; threats that are based on ideological, theological, cultural, ethnic, and political factors. Our new adversaries do not recognize international law, sovereignty or accepted norms of behavior. These are the challenges of the new world "disorder.” They demand new approaches and different metrics by which we allocate resources and develop strategies for the protection of our national interests and the future security of our environment.
Our NATO allies have also recognized the dramatic changes in the European security environment and have responded with the most significant changes to the Alliance’s strategic direction since its founding. At the 1999 Washington Summit, members approved the new strategic concept, defining the range of threats the Alliance would have to confront, and identified a broad range of new capabilities necessary to meet them. The same year, three new states joined the Alliance as the expansion eastward began. The Washington Summit set the stage for an even bolder expansion in 2002. During the historic Prague Summit last year, the Alliance again expanded, this time inviting seven new members to join; Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Slovakia (Enclosure 3). Equally significant was NATO’s commitment to transform its military capabilities, command arrangements, and operational concepts. The endorsement of the NATO Response Force provides political guidance for the Alliance to develop an agile and tailorable joint military force to respond to the full spectrum of crisis, both within and outside NATO’s boarders. NATO’s strategic reorientation and renewed focus on relevant military capabilities will enhance USEUCOM’s capability and ensure full interoperability with our most important allies as we transform our forces.
To respond to the dangerous and unpredictable threats of the 21st Century, we are developing a strategy that matches our resources to needed capabilities. We shall continue to refine our strategy and recommend a basing plan that enhances our ability to project our forces, support sustained operations, and conduct engagement activities in the most remote regions of our theater, as required. This plan will reflect the tremendous importance of our main operating bases as strategic enablers to support operations both outside and inside our area of responsibility. In achieving our goals we will begin the process of an in-depth theater transformation that will yield a greater return on our strategic investment. V. USEUCOM Transformation Assumptions
Our efforts to transform USEUCOM’s infrastructure are based on four principal assumptions. First, that the United States desires to maintain its current position as a nation of global influence through leadership and the judicious application of military, economic and diplomatic instruments of power. Secondly, that the United States will remain committed to supporting its friends and allies through its involvement in global institutions and in support of treaties and international agreements to which it is a signatory. Thirdly, that the United States, by virtue of its critical contribution to the world order of the 20th Century, remains committed to a global engagement strategy. The military vanguard of this strategy will be found in our forward based, and forward deployed forces, which contribute the first line of defense to promote peace, stability, and order in our world. Finally, that the United States will continue to pursue in depth transformation of the Armed Forces. Changing our basing strategy to respond to the dramatically different challenges of the new century is a key element of this transformation. VI. Main Areas of Emphasis
The challenges presented by the new security environment and USEUCOM’s commitment to national security interests, coupled with the opportunities made possible by transformed forces and infrastructure, suggest three areas of focus: a critical evaluation of our existing infrastructure; a reassessment of how we assign and deploy forces to our theater; and new operational concepts to take advantage of transformational capabilities and concepts. To begin with, we are critically evaluating every facet of our European Theater footprint. The continued reduction/realignment of “legacy” infrastructure that was justified by the Cold War strategy of the 20th Century is central to our conceptual transformation. We will re-orient some of the capability of our forces in a manner that better reflects our expanding strategic responsibilities and the emergence of new regional and global realities. Next, we are reassessing how we deploy and assign forces to the European Theater. We will use forces that are joint, agile, flexible, and highly mobile. The combination of permanent and rotational forces, accompanied by an expeditionary European component construct, is better suited to meet the demands of our fluid, complex, multi-faceted, and dangerous security environment. Additionally, we are adopting operational concepts that capitalize on innovation, experimentation, and technology in order to achieve greater effect. We are witnessing a shift from our reliance on the quantitative characteristics of warfare (mass and volume), to a new family of qualitative factors. Today, warfare is characterized by speed, stealth, precision, timeliness, and interoperability.
The modern battlefield calls for our forces to be lighter, less constrained and more mobile, with a significant expansion in capability and capacity. The principle of maneuver, attained by leveraging technologies, reduces a unit's vulnerability while increasing its lethality and survivability. High-speed troop lift (on land and sea), precision logistics, in-stride sustainment, and progressive Command and Control (C2) architectures are strategic enablers that translate into power projection.
VII. USEUCOM as a Strategic Enabler With our forward presence, bases in USEUCOM provide a springboard from which U.S. forces are able to rapidly support efforts beyond our area of responsibility. In addition to being an “ocean closer,” USEUCOM enjoys a robust and secure transportation network in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands that provides a tremendous power projection capability and provides our nation immense capability and flexibility to carry out our National Security Strategy. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
USEUCOM's role and contributions to Operation ENDURING FREEDOM are significant, and go far beyond simply providing intermediate staging facilities. Our transportation planners have extensive experience with some of the best ports, rail connections, and airfields in the world, allowing immense flexibility in carrying out this campaign. For example, U.S. Army Europe rapidly established a rail line of communication from Bremerhaven, Germany, through Eastern Europe to Kabul, Afghanistan, facilitating the efficient movement of bulk supplies and heavy equipment. U.S. Air Forces in Europe has flown thousands of tons of humanitarian and military supplies into Southwest Asia. The Naval Air Station Sigonella and Naval Station Rota provided the staging and throughput for the majority of supplies moving south and east. The Army's 21st Theater Support Command is fully engaged in the effort providing thousands of tons of medical supplies, food, blankets, and relief support in this effort.
The importance of USEUCOM’s strategic bases is further demonstrated by the support provided to Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Over 22,000 U.S. military personnel from USEUCOM are under the operational control of USCENTCOM in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Most recently, the 173rd Airborne Brigade from the U.S. Army Southern Europe Airborne Task Force (SETAF) traveled 2,200 miles to successfully complete a “combat jump” into northern Iraq. The capability to successfully deploy SETAF is a direct result of the Efficient Basing South initiative. Additionally, European-based Patriot Air Defense systems have been deployed to Turkey and Israel reassuring these key allies of the United States’ reliability and concern for their defense.
European-based U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft are moving supplies and equipment bound for the Iraqi Theater of Operations through Europe. Additionally, we are providing advanced basing support to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Transportation Command at Burgas, Bulgaria; Constanta, Romania; Ramstein and Rhein Main Air Bases, Germany; Souda Bay, Greece; Akrotiri, Crete; Aviano, Italy; Moron and Rota, Spain; and RAF Fairford, and RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. So far, this airlift bridge has moved over 26,165 passengers and 45,188 short tons of equipment and provided a departure point for special operations aircraft, and bombers, as well as tankers to support a myriad of coalition forces.
In addition to our six main operating bases, four Forward Operating Bases were established to support coalition operations. Most significantly, our forward presence enabled our B-52s operating from RAF Fairford to strike targets in Iraq with half the number of air refuelings and two-thirds the quantity of fuel. Ultimately, this presence enabled us to double our sortie generation rates by turning bombers and crews in 18 hours or less versus 48 hours from locations in the U.S. This was crucial to not only to strike assets such as B-52s but also for C-17s operating out of Aviano Air Base, Italy, which dropped over 1,000 Army airborne troops into Northern Iraq, opening up the northern front. Reduced timelines mitigate strains on PERSTEMPO, lessen impact on operational assets, and provide commanders greater flexibility on the battlefield.
U. S. Naval bases in Europe provided logistics support to two carrier battle groups and one Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) operating with the SIXTH Fleet in the eastern Mediterranean. Air wings from these two carriers, and cruise missiles from other ships, conducted strike and close air support missions into northern Iraq, providing continuous air support to Coalition Forces. U.S. Marines from the Amphibious Ready Group were inserted into northern Iraq directly from NSA Souda Bay, supporting security efforts in that volatile region. Sailors from U.S. Naval Forces Europe's Naval Mobile Construction Battalion deployed to support force flow preparatory tasks in Turkey and tactical logistics support on the battlefield in Iraq alongside units of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
USEUCOM is also actively engaged in the movement and treatment of U.S. and allied soldiers wounded or injured in Southwest Asia. Casualties are transported to the Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, and Fleet Hospital EIGHT, a naval expeditionary hospital that was set-up at Naval Station Rota, Spain. European-based intelligence specialists from every branch of the U.S. Armed Services are providing timely, accurate, and actionable intelligence to U.S. Forces engaged in combat in Iraq, our commanders and national leaders.
Theater capabilities are the derivative of operational concepts that have been validated through combined and joint exercises. The Marine Corps’ strategic agility and operational reach capability was demonstrated during the Dynamic Mix exercise conducted in Spain last year by the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. The derivative of this exercise is Task Force Tarawa, which has played a vital role in the war in Iraq. Exercising strategic enablers in theater, such as the Maritime Positioning Squadron (MPS) assets of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, provides valuable lessons, increases efficiencies, and leads to operational success.
The operations in Afghanistan and Iraq highlight USEUCOM’s value as a strategic enabler and underscore the importance of regional engagement. In both operations, new and willing allies made significant contributions that resulted in increased operational reach and combat effectiveness for U.S. and coalition forces. These same new allies offer new and exciting opportunities for training and future basing.
IIX. Basing Concepts for the 21st Century
Semi-permanent expeditionary bases, such as those utilized in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, can more effectively engage and influence the stability of the region. Joint Forward Operating Bases such as “Camp Bondsteel” in Kosovo have proven their merit and demonstrate a visible and compelling presence at a fraction of the cost of a larger “small American city” base, more emblematic of the past. The strategic value of establishing smaller forward bases across a greater portion of our area of responsibility is significant and would allow us to assign and deploy our forces more efficiently.
Transforming how U.S. forces are based and deployed in the USEUCOM area of responsibility will be a difficult process, but one, which is absolutely essential. To achieve our goals and meet the new security challenges, we must be willing to embrace institutional change and accept a shift in our previously understood paradigms. The importance of moving this process along quickly is heightened in light of the current disposition of our facilities and installations. The average age of USEUCOM's 36,435 facilities in our 499 installations is 32 years. It is worse in family housing, where the average age in U.S. Army Europe family facilities, is now 48 years. In U.S. Air Forces in Europe, it is 43 years, and in U.S. Naval Forces Europe, it is 35 years. Due to other pressing requirements, insufficient resourcing and modernization, since 1989, has resulted in 19,090 government quarters being officially termed “inadequate.”
The utilization of a rotational basing model, more flexible and along the lines of an expeditionary construct, will complement our forward-basing strategy and enable us to reverse the adverse proportions of our theater “tooth-to-tail” ratio. Rotational forces require less theater infrastructure and increase our agility to respond to changing environments at significantly lower cost than that generally associated with closing and moving bases. In this regard, rather than enabling our operations, some of our "legacy" bases (those that are not strategic enablers), can become modern day liabilities as we strive to deal with the security challenges of the new century.
While this may represent a dramatic shift in how USEUCOM operates, it is not a foreign concept to our Service Chiefs. The Navy-Marine Corps team, for example, has been a predominantly expeditionary force since its inception. The Air Force has already created and implemented the Expeditionary Air Force model and the Army is in the process of creating lighter and more agile forces. Our global presence, of both sea-based and land-based units, redistributed more strategically, will achieve the desired goals of our National Security Strategy. This approach to transformation is not intended to undermine the consolidation and revitalization process related to the "enduring" infrastructure of our vital Strategic Bases. It is a continuum of our effort to increase efficiencies and provide greater effectiveness for our forces. Through the proper melding of forward basing with new and more agile expeditionary components, we will achieve the desired capability and the right balance to ensure our effective forward presence in the 21st Century.
With your support, it will be possible to achieve significant reforms to our old and costly infrastructure in the near future. We have come a long way since the days of the Cold War, yet there is much still to do. The process to review our current infrastructure inventory and assess its merit through the lens of transformation is already well underway. IX. Theater Basing & Consolidation Efforts USEUCOM completed a deliberate and detailed internal review of basing requirements and infrastructure that was completed in March 2002. This study allowed us to develop criteria by which we could evaluate our Real Property Inventory and determine those installations essential for mission accomplishment. As an example, our study determined that 80 percent, or 402 of the existing 499 installations in theater, were judged to be of "enduring" value (Tier I). This is to say, 402 European installations were assessed to be vital to the execution of U.S. Strategies, and worthy of regular funding and improvement, without which our mission may risk failure. It was determined that future military construction expenditures, in support of these installations, were both appropriate and necessary. Our Fiscal Year 2004 military construction program focuses on these enduring installations deemed "vital" by the basing study.
The study also determined that 14 percent, or 68 of the 499 installations in theater, were "important" to theater operations (Tier II). The study further determined that 6 percent, or 29 installations in theater were of "non-enduring" value (Tier III), or of "non vital" importance to the accomplishment of our missions. Tier III installations only receive the minimal sustainment (Operations & Maintenance) funding required. They will receive no military construction funding. USEUCOM’s Fiscal Year 2004 military construction submissions, contained in the President’s Budget are only for enduring installations.
This early study enabled us to accurately assess the utility of our bases in theater and provided us a useful benchmark to align our future infrastructure requirements to our new strategy. Our budget request reflects the relevant points from this study, along with our ongoing efforts to establish a force structure and basing plan that more aptly meets the challenges of the current security environment. Toward that end we are working in the Secretary of Defense’s broader study on, “Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy,” which will ensure that USEUCOM’s footprint is properly sized and structured to meet our changing national security interest.
Much of the groundwork for the study was well underway in 2000, when the U.S. European Command established a formal theater basing working group. This group brought together the basing plans of each of our Service Components to address issues that cross Service lines and best posture our in-theater forces to meet current and emerging threats. The release of the Quadrennial Defense Review provided the working group with the force structure information needed to pursue an appropriate basing strategy. As we restructure our footprint in USEUCOM we are considering future capabilities like the Army’s Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Design and planning for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team conversion is underway and is reflected in U.S. Army Europe's input to the Future Years Defense Program.
It is important to understand the criteria used to evaluate basing strategies. The March 2002 study met the strategy requirements set forth for that study which was primarily for fixed forces. A fixed force strategy is very different from a strategy using rotational forces working and training out of semi-permanent expeditionary bases. We have begun a new evaluation of our basing requirements, using different criteria, with an operational premise of employing some rotational units in theater. USEUCOM’s service components are leading the way in this important effort and are the agents of change as we continue with this vital transformation. X. Military Construction Requests by Service Components Rather than invest significant sums of money into all of our existing facilities, some of which may not be suited to our future basing needs nor to our force requirements, we can seize the moment to apply the newer metrics of transformation to determine how best to spend, and where best to spend, our resources. The process has begun with the reshaping of our Fiscal Year 2004 military construction requirements.
USEUCOM submitted a realigned MILCON program, reducing the number of requested projects from 50 to 37, a reduction of $164.20 million, to the Secretary of Defense. Theater components are realigning four non line item family housing projects with their services for a combined value of $70.90 million. We have requested that five projects for enduring installations, with a total value of $57.90 million, be added to the military construction program. Together, these adjustments will help set the conditions for successful transformation.
X.a U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) U.S. Army Europe has the greatest amount of infrastructure in the theater and in order to ensure funding is concentrated on only enduring installations; USAREUR’s military construction program has been adjusted from eleven line item projects to five, a reduction from $177.60 million to $121.70 million. USAREUR is working with the Department of the Army to realign three non-line item family housing military construction projects with a value of $49.90 million to installations that are enduring. The adjustments to the Fiscal Year 2004 program will reduce older static infrastructure and improve the efficiency of the enduring bases.
Consistent with the objectives of our earlier basing study, USAREUR’s Efficient Basing East is an ongoing initiative to enhance readiness, gain efficiencies, and improve the well being of 3,400 soldiers and 5,000 family members by consolidating a brigade combat team from 13 installations in central Germany to a single location at Grafenwöehr, Germany, further east. Executing this initiative will enhance command and control, lower transportation costs, enable better force protection, improve access to training areas, eliminate over 5 million square feet of inventory, and reduce base operations costs by up to $19 million per year. U.S. Army Europe's other major basing initiative, Efficient Basing South, is likewise consistent with established basing objectives and is well into the execution phase. Efficient Basing South, which added a second airborne battalion to the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy, provides U.S. European Command with enhanced forced entry capabilities, increased flexibility and more efficient use of ground combat troops by increasing the Army's tooth-to-tail ratio. It addresses the theater requirement for additional light-medium forces, which in concert with other support modules, will deploy as part of the Immediate Reaction Force. The second battalion, reached full strength in March 2003, and recently deployed to Northern Iraq.
In support of the Efficient Basing South initiative, the Defense Department's submission to the President's Fiscal Year 2004 budget includes a critical $15.5 million Joint Deployment Processing Facility at Aviano Air Base, Italy, to support the 173rd Airborne Brigade's rapid deployment mission with a heavy drop rigging facility. A project we have asked consideration for funding this year is a $13 million Personnel Holding Area to provide our troops with cover and space to check parachutes, weapons, and equipment before boarding their airlift.
X.b U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE)
U.S. Air Forces in Europe are also assessing its basing strategy in the theater, looking east and south to optimize access, interoperability, cooperation, and influence. This strategy relies on permanent bases, necessary to provide mobility throughput and power projection to Forward Operating Locations in the new NATO countries. Although these bases are not all main operating bases, they are geo-strategically located in the European theater.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe continues to consolidate some of its geographically disparate units throughout the region to major operating bases that support airlift and power projection capabilities, thus increasing efficiencies while reducing footprint. Fiscal Year 2004 military construction is critical for these consolidation efforts, focusing on improvements to infrastructure and quality of life. The budget contains 21 line-item projects valued at $178.07 million. Recently submitted transformational adjustments to the program reduce the line-item projects to 18, but add two projects for a combined value of $158.71 million. These projects provide improvements to enduring installations across the spectrum including a mobility cargo processing facility, consolidated communications facilities, aircraft ramps, and crash fire stations. Critical quality of life improvements that positively impact our mission include an airman’s dormitory, Family Support and Child Development Centers. One non-line item family housing project for $21 million is also being realigned to an enduring installation in the theater.
X.c U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR)
Power and influence projection throughout the area of responsibility, strategic agility worldwide, and our ability to swing combat and logistics forces around the world-requires assured access through Air and Sea Lines of Communication. Line of communication control is a fundamental strategy that will be enhanced by our future Forward Operating Bases, and Forward Operating Locations, as they directly support the force flow and stability operations of the future. The Navy's revised Fiscal Year 2004 military construction submission contains four projects, totaling $94.90 million that will continue to strengthen U.S. Naval Forces Europe’s support to project logistics and combat power east and south.
Recapitalization of Naval Air Station Sigonella's operational base improves its ability to support logistics flow. The significant Quality of Life and operations support facilities upgrades at NSA La Maddalena's waterfront, the homeport of Navy’s Mediterranean based ship-repair tender, will ensure USEUCOM maintains the capability for unimpeded access to repair facilities for nuclear powered warships. Construction of a Bachelor Quarters at Joint Maritime Facility St. Mawgan will eliminate serious antiterrorism and force protection risks and improve single sailor quality of life at this critical joint maritime surveillance facility. These projects will ensure that these critical bases can support future operations and maintain our surveillance coverage of the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
U.S. Naval Forces Europe is also considering consolidating several satellite locations, including those in London, as a means of gaining efficiency and reducing the footprint to effectively respond to the changing theater mission requirements and transformational initiatives. In 1990 there were 14 major naval bases and 17,500 naval personnel permanently stationed at shore bases. Today, U.S. Naval Forces Europe's footprint has been reduced by five bases and the number of personnel in-theater has decreased by one third. Previous closures have predominately been in the United Kingdom with follow-on military construction focusing on enhancing Navy bases in the Mediterranean.
X.d U.S. Marine Forces Europe (MARFOREUR)
U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe is the smallest Service Component Command in USEUCOM. It is, however, well structured to support transformational concepts with its pre-positioned equipment set, the Norway Air-Land Brigade and Maritime Pre-Positioning Squadron-1 (MPSRON-1). The force projection capability associated with MPSRON-1 is a timely and effective means to place a self-sustaining 15,000 man, combat-ready brigade when and where its presence is required. The Norway Air-Land Brigade set of equipment and supplies started in the mid-1980’s as a pre-positioned deterrent located in Norway during the Cold War. Over the years, the Norway Air-Land Brigade program has evolved into a very cost effective, and timely pre-positioned capability for the entire USEUCOM area of responsibility. The equipment and supplies have been used numerous times during past years from the war in Kosovo, to the current War on Terrorism. The return that USEUCOM gains for the extremely small cost and physical footprint associated with U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe is substantial.
X.e U.S. Special Operations Europe (SOCEUR)
Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) continues to examine the feasibility of relocation from Patch Barracks, Vaihingen, Germany, to other installations within the Stuttgart military community. Consolidation of headquarters command and staff elements is a key goal. HQ SOCEUR currently operates from six facilities on two installations, Patch Barracks and Kelly Barracks, within Stuttgart. Two of SOCEUR’s four subordinate units are based on Panzer Kasern, Stuttgart.
Effective 1 October 2004, SOCEUR’s military personnel authorization increases by 79 personnel with the addition of a Standing Joint Special Operations Task Force. Also in Fiscal Year 2004, USSOCOM will fund approximately $11.4M for the construction of hanger and office facilities for the Fiscal Year 2005 basing of F Company, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, at the Stuttgart Army Air Field, totaling 105 personnel. In Fiscal Year 2005, HQ SOCEUR will receive a Joint Special Operations Air Component consisting of an additional 32 manpower authorizations. Basing options within the USEUCOM Theater are being evaluated.
X.f War Reserve Material
Multi-service war reserve material in the theater is presently stored in several Preposition Sites throughout USEUCOM’s area of responsibility. There is $22 million in our Fiscal Year 2004 military construction request to establish facilities to store a pre-positioning set of equipment that supports our basing strategy. Pre-positioned equipment is essential to support our rotational force concept. These war reserve material sites are strategic enablers that facilitate rapid response to crises, reduce the burden on strategic-lift assets, and optimize our ability to project power. XI. Infrastructure Investment: A Key Enabler It cannot be overstated -- the quality of our infrastructure has a profound impact on our operations, intelligence capabilities, training, security cooperation activities, and the quality of life of our service members. We recognize the need to eliminate excess infrastructure, and the Congressionally mandated and OSD-directed Overseas Basing Requirements Study highlights our most recent efforts to do so. However, despite our continued efforts and determination, it has not been possible to improve existing infrastructure and reduce the degradation of mission readiness at existing funding levels. Considering the tremendous impact our infrastructure makes on all aspects of our mission, and the current state of our facilities, infrastructure investment is our most critical funding requirement.
We have a coherent basing strategy based on current and emerging threats; we continue to consolidate our facilities; and, we have maximized the use of alternative funding sources. In addition to Appropriated and Non-Appropriated Agency Construction and Service funding, we pursue several alternative funding programs that have contributed to this effort. Such programs include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program, Residual Value, the Payment-in-Kind program, and Quid Pro Quo initiatives. Since 1990, these programs have generated in excess of $2 billion for construction projects throughout U.S. European Command's area of responsibility.
Significant efforts by the Service Components to consolidate, privatize, and outsource have reduced the requirements backlog. Our very successful, and still embryonic use of the build-to-lease program to recapitalize our family housing throughout the theater has substantially decreased our military construction requirements. However, we need to do much more in this regard, and the renovation of existing housing is an area that still accounts for 20 percent of the theater's request for military construction funding.
USEUCOM has embraced the concept and practice of Public-Private Ventures with build-to-lease housing, contracted support services, and the privatization of utilities. We are aggressively pursuing utilities privatization and the use of private sector financing to improve utility system reliability. U.S. Army Europe started these programs in the 1980's with the privatization of their heating plants and systems and continued in 1996 with other utilities. 85 percent of U.S. Army Europe’s heating systems have been privatized providing a cost avoidance of $2 billion. Since 1996, 39 percent of their utility systems have been privatized resulting in a cost avoidance of $27.60 million. In Fiscal Year 2003, the Army’s cost avoidance was $15.40 million. U.S. Air Forces in Europe has contracted out base operating support functions, using private industry to provide civil engineering, services, supply, and other important support. U.S. military personnel and civilian employees normally hold these positions, but at certain locations, we have effectively transferred the workload to the private sector. The USEUCOM Service Components have all divested their family housing and presently have a mix of both Government Family Housing and build-to-lease family housing.
Our Fiscal Year 2004 military construction request has recently been revised and submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for consideration. The adjustments submitted reflect recommended funding support for our most strategically enduring installations, supports our long-term effort to capitalize on new capabilities and appropriately arrayed forces to enhance our theater engagement strategy. With the funding requested, we can continue to transform and align our forces in a manner that is consistent with our expanding strategic interests and Alliance responsibilities, while improving the quality of life for those who serve.
XII. Summary
USEUCOM is proceeding with a strategy that matches military capabilities with the challenges of the new century. Through the proper blend of our Strategic Bases with newer and more agile Forward Operating Bases, we will achieve the combined capability, and the right balance, necessary in the new millennium. I would like to thank the Congress for its continued support, without which our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen would be unable to perform the tasks assigned to them by our nation. With your continued assistance, they will remain ready and postured forward to defend freedom, foster cooperation and promote stability throughout our theater of operations. I appreciate the opportunity to testify, and for the committee's consideration to my written and oral remarks.
I look forward to responding to your questions.
LEXICON OF TERMS
Main Operating Base: Strategically enduring asset established in friendly territory to provide sustained command and control, administration, and logistical support in designated areas.
Forward Operating Base: Semi-permanent asset used to support tactical operations without establishing full support facilities. Can be scalable, and may be used for an extended time period. May contain prepositioned equipment. Backup support by a MOB may be required to support
Forward Operating Location: Expeditionary asset similar to a FOB, but with limited in-place infrastructure. May contained prepositioned equipment.
Preposition Site: Sites that contain prepositioned war reserve material (Combat, Combat Support, Combat Service Support), usually maintained by contractor support. Base:
1. Locality from which operations are projected or supported. 2. An area or locality containing installations, which provide logistic or other support. 3. Home airfield or carrier.
Installations: A grouping of facilities, located in the same vicinity, which support particular functions. Installations may be elements of a base. Facility: A Real Property entity consisting of one or more of the following: a building, a structure, a utility system, system, pavement, and underlying land.
Site: A geographic location that has one or more bases or facilities associated with it.
