AlonDec 26, 2023

Why do European armies base each battalion in a different place? For example, here are Germany, France, and Italy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_German_Army#Geographic_Distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_French_Army#Geographic_Distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_Italian_Army#Army_Geographical_Distribution

In contrast, the US is happy to base an entire division in one place, and even on deployment in Cold War Europe, an entire brigade was based in one place, not broken up by battalion. What's going on here?

Structure of the German Army - Wikipedia

Show threadConnor CrowleyDec 26, 2023

@Alon it's recent. During the cold war when the German armies were incredibly capable this was not the case.

Today I would imagine it is for the political distribution of jobs from a very small force.

Show threadAlonDec 26, 2023
@ConnorC What I don't get is why for all this politics, the Bundeswehr barely has any bases in the East.
Show threadConnor Crowley

@Alon That could be an artifact from integration. The west German army was the decided "winner" in the integration (both forces shrunk significantly) and the Soviets didn't want bases in the east?

Total speculation, but they haven't exactly invested in the military at any point since, so no real opportunity for any base growth or expansion?

Dec 26, 2023 at 9:22pmMastodon for Android