US Troops [EPA Yonhap News File Photo]

Amid plans by the Donald Trump administration to reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany by at least 5,000 troops, there is a possibility that rotating brigades could be withdrawn, the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on the 4th (local time).

The media outlet, citing remarks from U.S. Department of Defense officials who mentioned a "combat brigade," speculated that the 1st Armored Brigade of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division could be withdrawn. This unit is stationed in Bavaria, Germany, as part of NATO's "Atlantic Resolve" operation.

Atlantic Resolve is a NATO defensive exercise led by the U.S. military in Central and Eastern Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Romania, following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. U.S. military units are typically known to rotate on a nine-month cycle. FAZ suggested that the U.S. Department of Defense could reduce its troop numbers in Germany by not sending follow-on units after the return of the 1st Armored Brigade.

The 2nd Cavalry Regiment, part of the U.S. Army's V Corps, which is a permanent stationed unit, is also mentioned as a potential withdrawal target. Armed with Stryker armored vehicles, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment has been stationed in Bavaria, Germany, since 1952 and was deployed to the Iraq War in 2003 and the war in Afghanistan in 2013. With a troop strength of 4,800, it effectively operates as a brigade-level unit. FAZ noted that this unit's troop numbers are similar to the U.S. Department of Defense's plan to reduce forces by 5,000, and it was also mentioned as a withdrawal target when President Trump announced in 2020 his intention to reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany by 12,000 troops.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. President Donald Trump [Yonhap News File Photo]

However, these analyses are merely speculations based on clues from the U.S. Department of Defense and President Trump's remarks. President Trump stated on the 2nd, one day after the Department of Defense announcement, "We will be reducing it by far more than 5,000." FAZ reported, "There is no clear information about which units will be withdrawn. The German government and NATO are trying to find out."

As of December last year, the U.S. military presence in Germany was approximately 36,000, based on U.S. Department of Defense data, and this number fluctuates depending on rotating deployments and training exercises. German media outlets estimated the number to be 39,000 in mid-last month. This is close to half of the approximately 86,000 U.S. troops stationed in Europe.

During the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, the United States had nearly 300,000 U.S. troops deployed in Germany, but this number was significantly reduced after the end of the Cold War. U.S. forces in Germany are stationed only in the former West German regions of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Bavaria in southern Germany. Under the "2+4 Treaty" signed in 1990 by East and West Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, the deployment of foreign troops and weapons is prohibited in the former East German territories.