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Some of US Army Soldiers in Europe to Be Shifted to Asia-Pacific Region
Military equipment stationed in Europe for an Army combat brigade was already being moved to Asia as part of a new Bush administration strategy, White told a group of reporters. He said that troops were likely to follow.
However, White did not say exactly how much weaponry and equipment would be moved and how many soldiers would be shifted.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has not announced a change in defense strategy, but he has indicated that in the aftermath of the Cold War it would make sense to increase focus on potential threats in Asia and the Pacific.
"It's a signal once again that we are going to shift our available resources around" to fit the new strategy putting more emphasis on Asia, White said.
But, the US Army's top civilian official said that he will fight any Pentagon move to cut his 480,000 troops.
"I don't intend to cut force structure," White said, adding that Rumsfeld was letting the services make initial decisions on force size. That study is to be completed for Congress by the end of September.
Currently, the United States has some 100,000 military personnel from all services stationed in Europe and another 100, 000 in the Asia-Pacific region. The Army has 65,000 in Europe, most of them in Germany, and 21,000 in Japan and South Korea.
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