For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 16, 2004
Fact Sheet: Making America More Secure by Transforming Our Military
"Over the coming decade, we will deploy a more agile and more
flexible force, which means that more of our troops will be stationed
and deployed from here at home. We will move some of our troops and
capabilities to new locations, so they can surge quickly to deal with
unexpected threats. We'll take advantage of 21st century military
technologies to rapidly deploy increased combat power. The new plan
will help us fight and win these wars of the 21st century. It will
strengthen our alliances around the world, while we build new
partnerships to better preserve the peace. It will reduce the stress
on our troops and our military families."
President George W. Bush
August 16, 2004
Today's Presidential Action
President Bush today announced the most comprehensive
restructuring of U.S. military forces overseas since the end of
the Korean War. By closing bases no longer needed to meet Cold War
threats that have ended, this new initiative will bring home many Cold
War-era forces while deploying more flexible and rapidly deployable
capabilities in strategic locations around the world.
Taking advantage of 21st century military technologies, the plan
will increase U.S. military capabilities and combat power in every
part of the world; improve our cooperation with, and our ability to
defend, allies; and strengthen our ability to deter aggression -- all
while reducing the number of U.S. forces stationed at overseas bases.
The plan will make America safer by better preparing our military
to address the new dangers associated with rogue nations, global
terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction.
Over the next ten years, the President's plan will close hundreds
of U.S. facilities overseas and bring home about 60,000 to 70,000
uniformed personnel and approximately 100,000 family members and
civilian employees.
The plan will give our service members more time on the home front
and fewer moves over a career. It will give military spouses fewer job
changes and offer greater stability for their families. And it will
save the taxpayers money, by closing hundreds of unneeded facilities
around the world.
Goals of Our Plan for a 21st Century Military
Expand U.S. defense relationships with allies and build new
partnerships. Posture changes will increase our ability to carry out
our defense commitments more effectively. The U.S. presence will be
tailored to optimally balance our 21st century military requirements,
our relationships with allies and partners, local conditions, and the
impact of a U.S. presence on host nations.
Develop flexibility to contend with uncertainty. Global threats to our national security can defy prediction. Therefore, the
United States will develop new and expanded security relationships to
emphasize flexibility in force posture.
Provide for both a regional and global forward presence. The demands of new threats require forces deployed overseas to be
ready for missions anywhere in the world, regardless of where the
forces are based -- while we must be prepared to act regionally and
locally and to maintain our commitments to NATO and other allies.
Enable rapid power projection. Our overseas force realignment must improve rapid response capabilities for distant
contingencies, because our forces will not likely fight where they are
stationed. This requires an updated transport infrastructure to
facilitate movement of forces, prepositioned equipment along transport
routes, and lean command structures for deployable operations.
Focus on capabilities instead of numbers. Leveraging U.S.
advantages in speed, reach, precision, knowledge, and combat power
is now the defining concept for military action. The number of
forward-based forces in a given area is no longer an accurate
representation of the effective military capability that the U.S. can
bring to bear.
Background
Our military global posture, developed to defend against Cold War
adversaries, is not optimized to meet today's threats to our national
security. Following World War II and the Korean War, our global
posture focused on threats to specific regions and tailored our
military presence to those regions. Our Cold War posture was
established with the certainty that we knew our adversaries and where
potential battles would be fought. But with the demise of the Soviet
Union, once-familiar threats gave way to less predictable dangers. The
lessons of the last 15 years teach us that we often send our forces to
unpredictable places. The Cold War strategy of placing heavy forces in
specific locations to defend against a known adversary needs to be
changed to more effectively deal with today's threats.
It is no longer relevant to measure America's war-fighting
capability by the number of troops and equipment in a particular
country or region. During the 1990s, our military began a
transformation from the industrial age to the information age. In this
age, reach, stealth, precision, knowledge, and combat power, and not
just the size of forces, allow us to dominate the battlespace. We
learned that small, highly trained and networked units, platforms, and
even individual warriors can have an effect on the battlefield that was
previously reserved for much larger formations. Today, one high-tech
ship or tank or aircraft can deliver the same combat power that once
required ten ships or tanks or aircraft.
The Bush Administration is working to transform our forces to more
effectively confront the dangers of the 21st century and better protect
America and our vital interests. Early in 2001, the Bush
Administration adopted a new defense strategy that recognized the
changing nature of warfare and the need for the Department of Defense
to transform its institutions, its way of doing business, and its
structures, both within the United States and abroad, in order to meet
the challenges of the new era.
The 9/11 attacks magnified the new era of uncertainty that the
Administration had previously recognized and had begun to prepare for
in the 2001 defense strategy. Operations in Afghanistan -- and the
global war on terror more broadly -- brought to the forefront the need
to conduct a strategy-based review of our global defense posture. That
review, conducted in close consultation with Congress and our allies, has served as the cornerstone of the President's defense transformation agenda.
Outline of Changes
Europe: Our efforts will support NATO's own transformation. We aim to eliminate Cold War infrastructures that are no longer relevant
to today's security needs, replacing them with more flexible,
deployable forces and headquarters. Our future posture will contain
forward forces that are rapidly deployable for early entry into
conflict both in Europe and beyond.
Heavy forces designed for a land war in Europe will return to
the U.S.; they will be replaced by advanced, deployable capabilities
and airborne units, supported by advanced training facilities and
high-capacity mobility infrastructure.
Ground, air, and naval headquarters will be streamlined and consolidated.
Special forces, both forward-stationed and rotational, will increase in
importance; they will be positioned for ease of movement both within
and outside of Europe.
The Middle East Region: Cooperation and access provided by
coalition partners during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom
provide us with a solid basis for other forms of future cooperation.
We will maintain, and in some cases upgrade, sites for
rotational forces and contingency purposes, supported by forward
headquarters and advanced training facilities.
Rotational air, ground, and sea forces will provide presence, and assurance to our allies and partners, without permanence.
While we desire close relationships with Afghanistan and Iraq that will allow us to continue to play a positive role in their rebuilding efforts and in long-term regional security, any decision on long-term U.S. presence in these countries is a sovereign choice for their people and governments.
Asia: We will improve our ability to deter, dissuade, and defeat challenges in Asia through strengthened long-range strike capabilities, streamlined and consolidated headquarters, and a network of access arrangements.
The forward stationing of additional expeditionary maritime
capabilities in the Pacific will enable prompt and effective military
action both regionally and globally.
Advanced strike assets will be stationed in the Western Pacific.
In Northeast Asia we are working with our strongest allies to restructure our military presence and command structures while simultaneously improving capabilities in the region.
In Central and Southeast Asia we are working to establish a network of sites to provide training opportunities and contingency access both for conventional and special forces.
Africa and Latin America: We will expand our cooperative security relationships in Latin America and Africa to help partners meet the
challenges they face.
We will enhance regional training, assist partners in
building capacity for counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics, and
maintain contingency access for remote areas.
We have no plans for Main Operating Bases in these regions.