Senate panel claims US footing greater bill for overseas bases
Source: Agencies |
April 18, 2013, Thursday
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THE United States is footing more of the bill for overseas bases in Germany, Japan and South Korea even as the military reduces the number of American troops in Europe and strategically repositions forces in Asia.
An exhaustive, yearlong investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee focused on costs and burden-sharing as the United States spends more than US$10 billion a year to back up the US military presence overseas, with 70 percent of the amount expended in the three nations. The figure does not include military personnel costs.
The panel's report found the financial contributions by those host countries lagging behind costs or increases in US spending. The report identified inherent problems and missteps in the compensation system as the US returns a growing number of its upgraded facilities on foreign land to the host countries.
"The growth in our share has really been pretty stunning. And I think we've got to stop that direction," Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the committee, said in an interview.
"We cannot carry these greater and greater and greater percentages of the costs of maintaining these facilities. The ones that we give back, we're going to have to be given appropriate consideration for the improvements, and the ones that we keep will have to have a much fairer burden-sharing than has been the case in the last 10 years."
Currently, the US has 48,000 active-duty personnel in Germany at a cost of US$4 billion.
The amount does not include military personnel costs of US$3.9 billion.
The troop reductions - the Army already deactivated one heavy brigade combat team in October 2012 - have resulted in excess military facilities.
However, instead of getting cash for the buildings, the US has been negotiating residual value, in-kind payments of services or facilities with a cash value.
The committee also identified some questionable military construction projects from this arrangement. About US$200,000 of residual value, in-kind payments were directed to add sunrooms to senior officer homes in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2007.
In South Korea, where there are 28,500 troops, the US plans to move its forces from the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to Camp Humphreys, about 65 kilometers south of the capital.
The US must provide most of the military family housing and cover the cost, estimated at US$7 billion. In return, South Korea gets prime real estate in downtown Seoul. During the transition, the US will be responsible for maintaining both sites at a considerable cost.
The Americans have about 50,000 troops in Japan, about half stationed on Okinawa. The cost is estimated at US$2 billion in non-personnel costs for the US.
In 1992, Japan contributed more than US$1 billion to the facility improvement program, an amount that has dropped to US$200 million in recent years. Further complicating the situation, the report found, some 20 percent of that amount is reserved for Japanese projects, often ones requested by local communities.
For nearly two decades the closure of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and the construction of a replacement facility in Okinawa have been in the works. In hopes that the new facility was imminent, repairs and other work at Futenma remained undone and many of its 50-year-old-plus facilities show their age.
An exhaustive, yearlong investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee focused on costs and burden-sharing as the United States spends more than US$10 billion a year to back up the US military presence overseas, with 70 percent of the amount expended in the three nations. The figure does not include military personnel costs.
The panel's report found the financial contributions by those host countries lagging behind costs or increases in US spending. The report identified inherent problems and missteps in the compensation system as the US returns a growing number of its upgraded facilities on foreign land to the host countries.
"The growth in our share has really been pretty stunning. And I think we've got to stop that direction," Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the committee, said in an interview.
"We cannot carry these greater and greater and greater percentages of the costs of maintaining these facilities. The ones that we give back, we're going to have to be given appropriate consideration for the improvements, and the ones that we keep will have to have a much fairer burden-sharing than has been the case in the last 10 years."
Currently, the US has 48,000 active-duty personnel in Germany at a cost of US$4 billion.
The amount does not include military personnel costs of US$3.9 billion.
The troop reductions - the Army already deactivated one heavy brigade combat team in October 2012 - have resulted in excess military facilities.
However, instead of getting cash for the buildings, the US has been negotiating residual value, in-kind payments of services or facilities with a cash value.
The committee also identified some questionable military construction projects from this arrangement. About US$200,000 of residual value, in-kind payments were directed to add sunrooms to senior officer homes in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2007.
In South Korea, where there are 28,500 troops, the US plans to move its forces from the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to Camp Humphreys, about 65 kilometers south of the capital.
The US must provide most of the military family housing and cover the cost, estimated at US$7 billion. In return, South Korea gets prime real estate in downtown Seoul. During the transition, the US will be responsible for maintaining both sites at a considerable cost.
The Americans have about 50,000 troops in Japan, about half stationed on Okinawa. The cost is estimated at US$2 billion in non-personnel costs for the US.
In 1992, Japan contributed more than US$1 billion to the facility improvement program, an amount that has dropped to US$200 million in recent years. Further complicating the situation, the report found, some 20 percent of that amount is reserved for Japanese projects, often ones requested by local communities.
For nearly two decades the closure of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and the construction of a replacement facility in Okinawa have been in the works. In hopes that the new facility was imminent, repairs and other work at Futenma remained undone and many of its 50-year-old-plus facilities show their age.
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