US army seeks to better integrate military personnel into European communities

In Wiesbaden and Poznań, two of the European cities hosting US military bases, army and local officials are working together to integrate military personnel into the local community, a process that takes time and trust.

The US military has had a heavy presence in Europe since the end of World War II, when most of their installations and garrisons were established.

While its numbers have fluctuated over time, as of February 2022, more than 100,000 service members were stationed on the continent, including 20,000 that were deployed or had their deployments extended due to the war in Ukraine, according to the US Department of Defence. 

There are now eight US army garrisons – permanent military installations – in Europe, with the one in Wiesbaden, Germany, established 70 years ago.

“The US community is part of Wiesbaden’s urban society,” Carl-Michael Baum, the liaison officer of Wiesbaden city to the local garrison commander’s office, told Euractiv. “When walking around town, you will hear many people conversing in English.”

“Danglish” – or the mixture of the German and English languages – is also commonplace in Wiesbaden, according to Capt. Mary Oliver, who is assigned to the headquarters of the US Army in Europe and Africa.

She spends her free time taking part in a local roller derby, where there is “zero relation” to her work life.

“It keeps it so that you’re not only seeing the military community,” Oliver said. “It’s really healthy.”

Slow evolution

In Poznań, Poland, soldiers and military personnel mainly live within the city rather than on base. They shop from local grocery stores and can learn Polish on base to better assimilate.

While the US military has had temporary installations in Poland over the years, the first permanent garrison was established in March 2023.

“It’s a slow evolution,” Mark Heeter, a public affairs officer for the US Army, said of the developing relationship between military personnel and civilians in Poznań, adding much of the adjustment has to do with trust.

Meanwhile, like in Wiesbaden, more and more people in Poznań know English.

According to Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Aleckna, who oversees operations and soldiers’ quality of life, one of the challenges with a new garrison is changing how soldiers and locals label each other.

He explained that American soldiers are called “mission partners” or MPs. “We say MPs because we take their guidance and support them.”

From Aleckna’s perspective, there was no resistance to the new permanent garrison as Poznań was already a Polish military community before American troops were permanently stationed there.

But it will still take some time for the local community to adjust to the new garrison as they are still trying to figure out what it means to be a military community hosting Americans, according to Aleckna.

“We’re still building it,” Aleckna added about the operations in Poland. “We’re building the plane in-flight.”

Relationships are more developed in Wiesbaden and other military communities because Americans have had to integrate and be invited into local communities.

“As far as the military members are out and about in Wiesbaden, they are not directly recognisable as such,” Baum said. “Then they are here ‘privately’ and participate in society.”

Building relationships

Many locals worldwide report, however, that it is typically easy to spot American soldiers even when they are not in uniform, Carla Martinez Machain, a political science professor at the University of Buffalo and author of the book Beyond the Wire: US Military Deployments and Host Country Public Opinion, found.

According to Machain, a permanent military presence can positively and negatively affect a city.

Local economies and the relationships between civilians and military personnel can increase positive perceptions of military presence.

“At the same time, we also found that for some people, more contact is associated with more negative perceptions, so a more permanent presence would also be likely to increase the negative externalities (like crime and pollution),” Machain said.

As US military presence increases, so do anti-base protests, Machain found in her and her research partners’ study.

“This effect fades out in countries that have had a military presence for a longer time,” Machain said.

[Edited by Silvia Ellena/Nathalie Weatherald]

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