America’s Oldest Overseas Military Bases

By Melissa Bauernfeind Published Feb 10, 9:29AM EST

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America’s Oldest Overseas Military Bases — © gionnixxx / iStock via Getty Images

Out of 195 countries throughout the world, the United States is the country that maintains the most overseas military bases. With over 750 bases across 80 countries globally, no other nation in history has commanded the presence that America has globally. The vast majority of these bases can be found within the contiguous United States, with Europe hosting the next most, followed by Southeast Asia, which is home to Camp Humphreys in South Korea. Camp Humphrey may be the largest American military base abroad, but it is far from the oldest, having opened in 1950.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the study, U.S. Military Bases Abroad, 1776-2021 by David Vine, professor at the Department of Anthropology at American University to determine America’s oldest overseas military bases. We ranked the bases according to the year they opened, listing the 23 bases founded by 1943 at the latest. Data on the number of active-duty personnel and bases within each country as well as estimated land acreage of each base came from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a military think-tank.

This list is comprised of 23 bases of which 13 are located in Puerto Rico, operated by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Not surprising given the important strategic position Puerto Rico holds between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The first of these was constructed in 1902. (Also see, the six European bases where the U.S. is storing nuclear bombs.)

In the wake of the United States’ victory over Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898, Puerto Rico was one of the territories it received. Following that war, Cuba gained independence from Spain and agreed to lease Guantánamo Bay to the U.S. Navy on its southeastern shore in 1903. Other possessions the U.S. secured from Spain in the Pacific – Guam and Wake Island – have military bases.

Four of America’s oldest overseas bases are in the United Kingdom, established there just after America entered the war in 1941. That same year, the U.S. began leasing from Denmark the Thule Air Base in Greenland, which at more than 233,000 acres, is by far the largest overseas military base by physical size. (This is the largest military base in each state.)

Here are America’s oldest international military bases.

23. RAF Welford Ammo Storage Area, United Kingdom

Opening year: 1943
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Active duty personnel in country: 10,770
US bases in country: 25 — #7 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 736 acres

22. RAF Feltwell, United Kingdom

Opening year: 1942
Location: Thetford, United Kingdom
Active duty personnel in country: 10,770
US bases in country: 25 — #7 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 305 acres

21. RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom

Opening year: 1942
Location: Molesworth, United Kingdom
Active duty personnel in country: 10,770
US bases in country: 25 — #7 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 696 acres

20. RAF Alconbury, United Kingdom

Opening year: 1942
Location: Great Stukeley, United Kingdom
Active duty personnel in country: 10,770
US bases in country: 25 — #7 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 218 acres

19. Cabeza De Perro, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1942
Location: Ceiba, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 29 acres

18. Wake Island Airfield, Wake Island

Opening year: 1941
Location: Wake Island
Active duty personnel in country: 2,600
US bases in country: 1 — #50 most out of 80 (tied)
Land estimated acreage: 5 acres

17. Vieques West, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1941
Location: Vieques, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 275 acres

16. Mount Pirata, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1941
Location: Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 59 acres

15. Roosevelt Rds Naval Station USARC, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1941
Location: Ceiba, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 29 acres

14. Luis Munoz Marin IAP, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1941
Location: Carolina, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 95 acres

13. Fort Allen, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1941
Location: Juana, Diaz, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 117 acres

12. Thule Greenland, Greenland (Denmark)

Opening year: 1941
Location: North Star Bay, Greenland
Active duty personnel in country: 147
US bases in country: 1 — #50 most out of 80 (tied)
Land estimated acreage: 233034 acres

11. Argentia Newfoundland, Canada

Opening year: 1941
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Active duty personnel in country: 185
US bases in country: 3 — #34 most out of 80 (tied)
Land estimated acreage: 161 acres

10. MTA Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1940
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 14650 acres

9. Salinas N00207, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1940
Location: Salinas, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 249 acres

8. Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1936
Location: Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 0 acres

7. Johnston Atoll Airfield, Johnston Atoll

Opening year: 1934
Location: Johnston Atoll
Active duty personnel in country: 00
US bases in country: 1 — #50 most out of 80 (tied)
Land estimated acreage: 684 acres

6. Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1923
Location: Guaynabo City, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 1635 acres

5. AMSA 161, Puerto Rico

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Opening year: 1923
Location: Guaynabo City, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 0 acres

4. CPT Euripides Rubio Jr. USARC, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1922
Location: Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 63 acres

3. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Opening year: 1903
Location: Guantanamo, Cuba
Active duty personnel in country: 1,004
US bases in country: 1 — #50 most out of 80 (tied)
Land estimated acreage: 28817 acres

2. Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

Opening year: 1902
Location: Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Active duty personnel in country: 13,571
US bases in country: 34 — #6 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 0 acres

1. Agana, Guam

Opening year: 1899
Location: Apra Harbor, Guam
Active duty personnel in country: 11,295
US bases in country: 54 — #4 most out of 80
Land estimated acreage: 22 acres

About the Author Melissa Bauernfeind →

Melissa Bauernfeind was born in NYC and got her degree in Journalism from Boston University. She lived in San Diego for 10 years and is now back in NYC. She loves adventure and traveling the world with her husband but always misses her favorite little man, "P", half Chihuahua/half Jack Russell, all trouble. She got dive-certified so she could dive with the Great White Sharks someday and is hoping to swim with the Orcas as well.