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Subject:
Occupation Without End in Europe
James Dunnigan
4/19/2005 7:56:23 PM
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Sixty years after the end of World War II, there are still 62,000 American
troops in Europe. They are stationed in 236 bases, including 13 training areas.
The force has been reduced considerably over the years, especially after the
Cold War ended in 1991, leaving over a quarter million American troops in
Europe. But in 2015 there will still be 24,000 American troops over there, in 88
bases, and using four training areas. The 1st Infantry Division will return from
Europe in 2006, and the 1st Armored Division will go home in 2008. Both of these
units were originally sent to Europe in 1942. The only major combat unit that
will remain in Europe will be the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which is stationed in
northern Italy.
April 14, 2005: China?s armed forces are undergoing a
massive transformation. All of it seems directed at giving China the ability to
take Taiwan by forces. In the last five years, China has reduced the size of its
armed forces by over half a million troops, and retired thousands of older
aircraft, tanks and ships. At the same time, a force of over 300 modern fighters
has been purchased from Russia, or built under license in China (with a lot of
parts from Russia.) A similar program is underway with the navy, but with more
new warships incorporating Russian technology. This includes the construction of
many more amphibious ships. China?s shipbuilding industry has been thriving for
over a decade, and those resources were available for the recent spurt of
amphibious shipbuilding.
While the armed forces still rely on a lot of
conscripts, several hundred thousand officers and NCOs have undergone training
to make them more professional, and better able to deal with new technology, and
better trained troops. Billions of dollars has been spent on training exercises,
including amphibious training for over a dozen combat divisions.
Much
money has been spent on new communications equipment, and China has organized a
cyberwar capability. The communications improvements are tied into the civilian
economy, giving China more ability to mobilize the civilian economy for wartime
support. This improves China?s ability to invade Taiwan, because there has been
enormous growth in China?s coastal and high seas shipping industries. These
ships can be mobilized for military use, if China has the planning and
communications to make it happen. Increasingly, they do.
Beyond the
potential for an invasion of Taiwan, China?s investments in its defense
industries is also directed at the development of ?next generation? weapons.
China?s dependence on Russian military technology is seen as only temporary. In
the next decade, more and more of the new weapons will be original Chinese
designs. China plans to be a military superpower, and is on its way to achieving
that goal in one or two decades.
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