eucom-2014-congressional-posture-statement

operations, and, when necessary, are tasked to provide a tailored Joint Task Force Headquarters.
They also conduct a majority of EUCOM’s steady state activities.
1. European force structure must permit full spectrum operations
DoD’s 2012 strategic guidance, “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for
21 st Century Defense,” looked out over the next 10 years and initiated the plan for a strategic
rebalancing of forces in Europe itself. It mandated the U.S. will continue to maintain a robust
and visible military presence in Europe capable of deterring and defending against aggression,
while meeting the collective defense requirements under NATO’s Article 5. The 2014 QDR
reinforced this position.
It is therefore imperative we maintain a credible force structure allowing for a full
spectrum of military operations here in EUCOM and in our neighboring combatant commands.
EUCOM’s air, land, sea and special operations forces maintain a trained and ready response
posture to: assure Allies and Partners while deterring aggression; sustain Ally and partner
expeditionary capability; and maintain Ally and partner interoperability. As stated earlier, U.S.
forces in Europe are critical to defending the homeland forward. Their “train and equip” mission
in particular has paid enormous dividends by enabling coalition forces who continue to fight
alongside us. From 2007 - 2011, the U.S. trained 42,000 Europeans from countries like Georgia,
Slovakia, Romania and Hungry to deploy in support of ISAF. This training provided our
European Partners the opportunity to develop skills to deploy and fight, which has in turn
eliminated the need to deploy as many U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
The persistent presence of U.S. forces in Europe also enables achievement of theater
objectives and demonstrates the most visible U.S. commitment to the Alliance. The Army’s two
assigned Brigade Combat Teams and their supporting aviation capability, the Air Force’s six
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