Map of the small U.S. military installations, ranges and training areas in the continental United States.

Countries with United States military bases and facilities

This is a list of military installations owned or used by the United States Armed Forces both in the United States and around the world. This list details only current or recently closed facilities; some defunct facilities are found at Category:Closed military installations of the United States.

An "installation" is defined as "a military base, camp, post, station, yard, center, homeport facility for any ship, or other activity under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, including leased space, that is controlled by, or primarily supports DoD's activities. An installation may consist of one or more sites" (geographically-separated real estate parcels).^[1]: DoD-3

The United States operates a global network of military installations and is by far the largest operator of military bases in the world, with locations in dozens of nations on every continent, with 38 "named bases"^{[note 1]} having active-duty, US National Guard, reserve, or civilian personnel as of 30 September 2014. Its largest, in terms of personnel, is Ramstein Air Base, in Germany, with almost 9,200.^{[1][note 2]} Due to the sensitive and often classified nature of this information, there is no comprehensive list with the exact number or location of all bases, stations and installations. The total number of foreign sites with installations and facilities that are either in active use and service, or that may be activated and operated by American military personnel and allies, is just over 1,000.^[2]

U.S. officials have been accused of collaborating with oppressive regimes and anti-democratic governments to secure their military bases, from Central America to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.^[3] The Democracy Index classifies many of the forty-five current non-democratic U.S. base hosts as fully "authoritarian governments."^[3] Military bases in non-democratic states were often rationalized during the Cold War by the U.S. as a necessary if undesirable necessity in defending against the communist threat posed by the Soviet Union. Few of these bases have been abandoned since the end of the Cold War.^[4]

Several rounds of closures and mergers have occurred since the end of World War II, a procedure most recently known as Base Realignment and Closure. Anti-racist agitation in the early 2020s led to calls for changing bases to remove the names of Confederate figures who fought against the Union during the American Civil War.^[5] The Naming Commission was created by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,^[6] and renaming began in December 2022.^[7]

Joint bases

Foreign

• War Reserve Stocks are located in many foreign states.

Australia

• Pine Gap – Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG), near Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
• Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt – located on the northwest coast of Australia, 6 kilometres (4 mi) north of the town of Exmouth, Western Australia.
• Robertson Barracks – located in Darwin, Northern Territory.
• Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station – located near Kojarena 30 km east of Geraldton, Western Australia.
• Other U.S. bases in Australia are present and this list does not include ADF bases with U.S. access. The U.S. military has access to all major ADF training areas, northern Australian RAAF airfields, port facilities in Darwin, Fremantle, Stirling naval base in Perth, and the airfield on the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Iraq

Main articles: List of United States military installations in Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve § Military bases, and Military intervention against ISIL aerial order of battle

• There are approximately 2,500 U.S. service members in Iraq,^[13] spread across several facilities in Iraq and other bases in Iraqi Kurdistan,^[14] being used as training bases for Iraqi and Kurdish forces^[15] as well as launching operations against targets in Syria.^[16]

Al-Anbar Governorate Al Asad Airbase[17] Camp Habbaniyah Baghdad Governorate Camp Victory Duhok Governorate Atrush Field

Erbil Governorate Al-Harir Air Base Erbil International Airport Nineveh Governorate Kariz near Zummar Saladin Governorate Balad Air Base

Niger

See also: United States Military Operations in Niger

The U.S. operates drone bases from three locations across Niger. These locations are staffed by several hundred U.S. Special Operations Forces in a non-combat role, aiding the Nigerien military with training and surveillance.

• Arlit^[18][19][20]
• Nigerien Air Base 201, Agadez^[18][21]
• Niamey^[18]

Syria

Main articles: Operation Inherent Resolve § Military bases, and American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war

Landing zone at Al-Tanf, Syria

There were approximately 1,500–2,000 U.S. forces in Syria, spread across 12 different facilities, being used as training bases for Kurdish rebels.^[22][23] These soldiers withdrew from Syria to western Iraq in October 2019.^[24] Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon was planning to "leave 150 Special Operations forces at a base called al-Tanf", where the United States is training Free Syrian Army rebels.^[25] In addition, 200 U.S. soldiers would remain in eastern Syria near the oil fields, to prevent the Islamic State, Syrian government and Russian forces from advancing in the region.^[26]

According to the Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to Astana talks the U.S. presence in Syria is "illegal" and "without the consent of (the) government".^[27]

United States Army

This is a list of links for U.S. Army forts and installations, organized by U.S. state or territory within the U.S. and by country if overseas. For consistency, major Army National Guard (ARNG) training facilities are included but armory locations are not.^[28]

United States Marine Corps

United States Navy

United States Air Force

United States Space Force

United States Coast Guard

See also

• Base Realignment and Closure
• United States military deployments
• List of United States drone bases
• Lists of military installations

Explanatory notes

References

• Chirico, JoAnn (2014). Globalization: Prospects and Problems. SAGE Publication Ltd. p. 71. ISBN 9781483315447.
• Vine, David (2017). "How U.S. Military Bases Back Dictators, Autocrats, And Military Regimes". HuffPost.

Sources

• "List of U.S. Bases Across the World". militarybases.com.

Further reading

• Deppen, Patterson (19 August 2021). "The All-American Base World; 750 U.S. Military Bases Still Remain Around the Planet". TomDispatch. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
• Johnson, Chalmers (13 July 2009). "Empire of Bases" (Opinion). The New York Times. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
• Johnson, Chalmers (2004). "The Sorrows of Empire: Imperialism, Militarism, and the End of the Republic" (PDF). Asia Papers. Sigur Center Asia Paper Number 19. The George Washington University. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
• Vine, David (2015). Base Nation. New York: Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 9781627791694. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
• Vine, David (2020). The United States of War (Hardcover ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520300873. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military bases of the United States.

• Department of Defense, Base Structure Report (PDF) FY 2018 Baseline