HEIDELBERG, Germany — While U.S. officials work on plans for massive closures of U.S. military bases in Germany in the coming years, the German military is preparing its own infrastructure downsizing.
The German military will close 105 installations, leaving fewer than 400 bases throughout the country, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.
“This is not an easy decision for me,” German defense minister Harold Struck said at a news conference this week, according to the Tribune.
As with the U.S. military’s base closure plans — both at home and aboard — the German cuts are designed to save money and streamline the armed forces.
German officials are planning to cut the military from 285,000 to 250,000 troops, the Tribune report stated.
The remaining German military is to be split into a 35,000-strong force of highly trained combat soldiers, backed up by an additional 70,000 troops intended primarily for long-term peacekeeping missions. The remaining forces will be used for homeland defense.
Struck is faced with a dwindling military budget — last year down to 1.4 percent of the gross domestic product — and said the closures are expected to save about $150 million, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Struck said the final plans for U.S. reductions in Germany will be announced this summer.
The Pentagon intends to close dozens of U.S. bases in the country while relocating both of its heavy divisions now based in Germany to the United States.
