The military of the United States is deployed in most countries around the world, with approximately 160,000 of its active-duty personnel stationed outside the United States and its territories.[1] This list consists of deployments excepting active combat deployments, including troops in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia.[2]

Outside of active combat, US personnel are typically deployed as part of several peacekeeping missions, military attachés, or are part of embassy and consulate security. Nearly 40,000 are assigned to classified missions.[3]

Rationale

Statements by U.S. military and government

A longstanding justification for maintaining military installations worldwide for the United States is that a military presence abroad by the U.S. promotes and strengthens democracy.[4]

Statements by others

According to Hermann and Kegley, military interventions have boosted democracy in other nations.[5] The majority of academics, however, concur with professor of international politics Abraham Lowenthal that American efforts to spread democracy have been "negligible, often counterproductive, and only occasionally positive."[5][6][7]

JoAnn Chirico believes that the U.S. military presence and installations are often considered responsible for suppressing democracy in countries such as Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Niger, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.[4]

According to the Los Angeles Times, American authorities also believe that assisting authoritarian regimes or what they refer to as "friendly governments" benefits the United States and other nations.[8] In her essay, Dictatorships and Double Standards, Jeane Kirkpatrick argued that although the United States should encourage democracy, it should be understood that premature reforms may cause a backlash that could give the Communists an opportunity to take over. For this reason, she considered it legitimate to support non-communist dictatorships, adding that a successful and sustainable democratic process is likely to be a long-term process in many cases in the Third World. The essence of the so-called Kirkpatrick Doctrine is the use of selective methods to advance democracy in order to contain the wave of communism.[9]

Current deployments

The following regional tables provide detail of where personnel from six branches of the US military are currently deployed. These numbers do not include any military or civilian contractors or their dependents. Additionally, countries in which US military are engaged in active combat operations are not included. The numbers are based on the most recent United States Department of Defense statistics as of September 30, 2023.[1]

Americas

Jurisdiction Total Army Navy USMC USAF USSF USCG
 United States
(excl. Alaska & Hawaii)		 1,077,374 372,051 280,040 136,774 245,690 8,284 34,535
 Alaska 21,375 11,054 46 21 8,568 13 1,673
 Puerto Rico 644 – 39 23 23
–
 559
Guantanamo Bay 566 106 423 31 –
–
 6
 Honduras 391 252 2 9 127
–
 1
 Canada 162 28 39 14 73 3 5
 Greenland 143 – – – 115 28 –
other 682 121 138 294 70 2 57
Total 1,101,337 383,612 280,727 137,166 254,666 8,330 36,836

East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Ocean

Jurisdiction Total Army Navy USMC USAF USSF USCG
 Japan 53,246 2,360 19,576 18,664 12,555 70 21
 Hawaii 44,545 19,044 12,610 5,982 5,483 155 1,271
South Korea 24,159 15,224 358 658 7,859 59 1
 Guam 6,363 1 3,768 136 2,162 4 292
 Australia 2,243 42 82 1,986 123 7 3
 Philippines 257 10 13 224 7
–
 3
 Singapore 239 11 166 29 25
–
 8
 Thailand 113 37 9 43 24
–
 –
other 435 69 36 296 27
–
 7
Total 131,600 36,798 36,618 28,018 28,265 295 1,606

Europe

US military bases in Germany in 2014
Jurisdiction Total Army Navy USMC USAF USSF USCG
 Germany 35,188 21,247 405 461 12,919 146 10
 Italy 12,405 4,123 3,320 179 4,760 23 –
United Kingdom 9,949 173 279 43 9,389 52 13
 Spain 3,212 30 2,691 101 389
–
 1
 Belgium 1,105 584 89 34 396 2 –
 Netherlands 425 125 29 14 224 2 31
 Greece 368 7 326 9 26
–
 –
 Portugal 244 5 47 16 176
–
 –
 Poland 216 88 87 12 29
–
 –
 Romania 133 21 91 9 12
–
 –
 Norway 105 23 13 31 37
–
 1
other 589 129 53 270 130 1 6
Total 63,939 26,555 7,430 1,179 28,487 226 62

West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Indian Ocean

Jurisdiction Total Army Navy USMC USAF USSF USCG
 Bahrain 3,474 18 2,791 338 19
–
 308
 Turkey 1,778 140 6 36 1,596
–
 –
 Kuwait 595 468 1 90 36
–
 –
 Djibouti 409 3 2 403 1
–
 –
 Qatar 335 111 5 40 167 12 –
 Saudi Arabia 287 171 15 30 61
–
 10
 Egypt 253 127 8 98 20
–
 –
Diego Garcia 220 – 220 – –
–
 –
United Arab Emirates 174 22 21 68 63
–
 –
 Israel 112 62 10 28 12
–
 –
 Jordan 110 63 4 30 13
–
 –
other 1,047 180 71 695 101
–
 –
Total 8,794 1,365 3,154 1,856 2,089 12 318

Unspecified

Jurisdiction Total Army Navy USMC USAF USSF USCG
Overseas
(incl. unincorporated US territories)		 6,214 698 5 4,351 1,141 16 3
Domestic
(50 states and District of Columbia)		 20 13 – 7 –
–
 –
Total 6,234 711 5 4,358 1,141 16 3

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Number of Military and DoD Appropriated Fund (APF) Civilian Personnel By Assigned Duty Location and Service/Component (as of September 30, 2023)". Defense Manpower Data Center. November 15, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Letter to the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate regarding the War Powers Report". whitehouse.gov. December 8, 2022.
  3. ↑ "America's Forever wars". New York Times. 23 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 Chirico 2014, p. 70.
  5. 1 2 Hermann, Margaret G.; Kegley, Charles (1998). "The U.S. Use of Military Intervention to Promote Democracy: Evaluating the Record". International Interactions. 24 (2): 91–114. doi:10.1080/03050629808434922.
  6. ↑ Lowenthal, Abraham (1991). The United States and Latin American Democracy: Learning from History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 243–65.
  7. ↑ Peceny, Mark (1999). Democracy at the Point of Bayonets. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 183. ISBN 0-271-01883-6.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Support of 'Dictators'". Los Angeles Times. February 18, 1985.
  9. ↑ Wright 2007, p. 29.

Further reading

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