USAREUR’s future still under construction

[unhappycamper]

Construction workers layout the foundation of Hainerberg housing’s new lodging facility Wednesday in Wiesbaden. The community's elevated role as the future home of 7th Army has sparked a building boom, to include the new lodge and a command-and-control facility that will be located at Wiesbaden Army Airfield sometime in the future.


USAREUR’s future still under construction
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, February 28, 2008

HEIDELBERG, Germany - U.S. Army Europe will disappear next year. A techie command center is destined for Wiesbaden. Civil affairs will gain a foothold in Europe. And construction will start this summer at Dal Molin airfield in Italy.

With so much on its plate — particularly the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — the Army continues to forge ahead with plans to reshape its forces in Europe. It’s an effort that has been tweaked and stretched for more than five years. And it’s a safe bet that more massaging will occur well into the next decade.

In a sense, said Brig. Gen. David G. Perkins, USAREUR’s operations officer, “we will always be transforming.”

The Army has “to make sure it remains relevant to the national security needs,” Perkins said. “The enemy that we fight changes very rapidly. That’s been one of the challenges.”

In a wide-ranging interview this week, Perkins — the command’s point man on transformation — did say there now is “more resolution” to the final blueprint. However, the haze of war and politics and unforeseen developments make any such plan a work in progress.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52905