Special Report
The 15 Countries Where America Has the Most Soldiers Stationed
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The United States established in March of this year its first permanent military garrison on NATO’s easternmost flank amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“This is a historic moment, a sign that the United States is committed to Poland and NATO, and that we are united in the face of Russian aggression,” Polish National Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said during a ceremony commemorating the U.S. Army Garrison Poland located in centrally located Poznań city, about 190 miles west of Warsaw.
The new U.S. Army base adds to the about 750 U.S. military sites outside of its territory in more than 80 countries worldwide, where Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard active-duty personnel are assigned. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated in 2021 these U.S. foreign military facilities cost $55 billion a year to maintain. (These are the newest ships in the U.S. Navy.)
Most of these bases are small, scattered across Africa’s conflict zones and in strategically significant parts of South America and the Caribbean. A swath of large U.S. bases spans from the U.K., through Europe, and south to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.
In the Far East, the U.S. military presence is strong in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia, assuring the country’s naval dominance in the former Pacific Theater of World War II and acting as a regional defense against potential threats from China and North Korea. (These are the U.S. military’s future weapons.)
To determine the 15 countries where America has the most soldiers, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed unclassified military personnel data from the Department of Defense Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications, using data from Sept. 30, 2022 — the most recent fully updated report. The number of military sites came from Base Structure Report FY22 published by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment with a snapshot as of Sept. 30, 2021.
A third of the 15 countries where America has the most active-duty personnel are in EU member states, not including one in the U.K. Four of the 15 are located in the Middle East, including Turkey, and three are in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia. The other two countries with the most active-duty troops are located in Djibouti and Cuba. Not included on the list, the U.S. also maintains bases in its Pacific territories such as Guam.
About nine out of 10 of these U.S. uniformed service members are located at these 15 bases, with nearly 75% located in Japan, Germany, South Korea, and Italy.
These are the countries where the U.S. stations most of its military personnel abroad.
15. Qatar
> Number of active-duty US troops: 397
> Number of US military sites: 2 – #27 most
14. Netherlands
> Number of active-duty US troops: 434
> Number of US military sites: 6 – #19 most
13. Djibouti
> Number of active-duty US troops: 509
> Number of US military sites: 1 – #30 most
12. Cuba
> Number of active-duty US troops: 596
> Number of US military sites: 1 – #30 most
11. Kuwait
> Number of active-duty US troops: 714
> Number of US military sites: 7 – #17 most
10. Belgium
> Number of active-duty US troops: 1,143
> Number of US military sites: 11 – #12 most
9. Australia
> Number of active-duty US troops: 1,580
> Number of US military sites: 9 – #15 most
8. Turkey
> Number of active-duty US troops: 1,735
> Number of US military sites: 12 – #10 most
7. Spain
> Number of active-duty US troops: 3,164
> Number of US military sites: 4 – #22 most
6. Bahrain
> Number of active-duty US troops: 3,698
> Number of US military sites: 12 – #10 most
5. United Kingdom
> Number of active-duty US troops: 9,840
> Number of US military sites: 23 – #7 most
4. Italy
> Number of active-duty US troops: 12,432
> Number of US military sites: 49 – #6 most
3. South Korea
> Number of active-duty US troops: 25,372
> Number of US military sites: 79 – #4 most
2. Germany
> Number of active-duty US troops: 35,781
> Number of US military sites: 123 – #1 most
1. Japan
> Number of active-duty US troops: 53,973
> Number of US military sites: 113 – #2 most
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