Top Senator Criticizes Pentagon 'mid-level' Leaders On Troop Level Plan In Europe

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee criticized Pentagon "mid-level" leadership for what he said Thursday was a misguided plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops based in Europe. The Defense Department, however, has not made public any proposal to cut force levels there.

"There are some who believe now is the time to reduce drastically our military footprint in Europe," Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said at a hearing with U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command military leadership.

"I'm troubled at those deeply misguided and dangerous views held by some mid-level bureaucrats within the Defense Department," Wicker said. "They've been working to pursue a U.S. retreat from Europe and they've often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense."

It was not immediately clear what "mid-level bureaucrats" Wicker was talking about.

The number of U.S. troops in Europe increased by about 20,000 under Democratic President Joe Biden in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They helped with training, logistics of weapons shipments and, in general, reassured allies on NATO's eastern flank that the United States would defend them.