Three main U.S. military installations are set to continue unchanged in Germany, regardless of Pentagon moves to pull up to 70,000 military personnel out of Europe and Asia, the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Europe said Thursday. General Charles F. Wald named those installations as Spangdahlem Air Force Base and Ramstein Air Force Base, both on Germany's western fringe, and the European Command (EUCOM) in Stuttgart. "A significant number of American troops will stay in Germany," said Wald, who is deputy commander at EUCOM, which oversees U.S. military activity involving 91 nations in Europe, Africa and part of the Middle East. He did not specify force numbers at the three major German sites, he mentioned nor did he comment on the future of installations in other parts of Germany, such as at Grafenwoehr, near Nuremberg, which are to expand rather than close. A week ago, the Pentagon cleared massive investments to expand the army training ground at Grafenwoehr, which includes gunnery ranges and a mock-up village for house-to-house fighting practice. The 37,000-hectare facility is the biggest training base off U.S. soil. --More 2118 Local Time 1818 GMT
