Unraveling the Pentagon's Foreign Presence - this slide show by Prof. David Vine of American University presented as webinar sponsored by Fellowship of Reconciliation (forusa.org/militarism-watch) March 22, 2013. Includes extensive data on the costs of US bases, as well as sources for more information.

1. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu
UNRAVELING THE PENTAGON'S
FOREIGN PRESENCE

2. Note: This PowerPoint presentation is intended as an evolving
and shared resource for learning about and researching foreign
military bases. Apologies for the many omissions and errors
surely contained below. Corrections, questions, additions, and
suggestions can be sent to vine@american.edu.
Thanks to John Lindsay-Poland, Catherine Lutz, the Fellowship of
Reconciliation, and my many other teachers and mentors in the
world of bases.
-David, March 21, 2013
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

3. NEEDS
UPDATING
Source: David Vine, Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2011)

4. Panetta reassures Portugal on
Azores Islands after U.S. downsizes
decades-old base there
January 15, 2013
By Craig Whitlock
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta listens to questions from journalists… (RAFAEL
MARCHANTE/REUTERS )
LISBON — The Pentagon‘s era of austerity is starting to pinch some remote corners of
the globe, including a volcanic island in the mid-Atlantic.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

5. Pentagon eyeing European
base consolidations
Mar 8, 2013
Kate Brannen
With a shift in military strategy and the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops in
Europe, the Pentagon is eyeing a smaller European footprint — a move that could pave
the way for further base closures at home.
Before leaving office, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta directed senior Pentagon
officials to launch a study of the U.S. military infrastructure in Europe with the goal of
David Vine, American University
eliminating excess capacity. vine@american.edu

6. OVERVIEW
• The Basics about Bases
• Researching Financial Costs
• Researching Other Costs
• Some Research Principles and Key Resources
• Anti-Base Movements
• Putting Knowledge to Use
• Costs of War Project and Other Perspectives
• Q&A
David Vine, American University vine@american.edu

7. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

8. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

9. costsofwar.org
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

10. NEEDS
UPDATING
Source: David Vine, Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2011)

11. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

12. Ronald
McDonald at
Naval Station
Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba
Photo
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu David Vine 2012

13. Scooby Doo at Naval Station
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba?
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu Photo David Vine 2012

14. World War I Vine, AmericanWeapons Testing Base
David Chemical University
vine@american.edu
Spring Valley, Washington, DC

15. Army Corps of Engineers Munitions and
Chemical Weapons Disposal Area, Spring
Valley, Washington, DC
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

16. Not Diego Garcia
(Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera)

17. Source: David Vine, Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2011)

18. Diego Garcia

19. Iraq Afghanistan

20. Iraq Iran Afghanistan

21. Camp Justice, Diego Garcia

22. Chagossian Children at School, circa 1955

23. ~1,200 mi.
~1,200 mi.

24. ~1,200 mi.
~1,200 mi.

25. Final Chagossian Expulsion Order from Diego Garcia
(Memo from Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo
Zumwalt, U.S. Navy Archives, Washington, DC)

26. - http://www.dg.navy.mil/web/

27. Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on
Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2009)

28. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

29. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

30. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• >1,000 Estimated Military “Base Sites” Abroad
760 "Base Sites Claimed by DOD outside 50 States & DC
[Excludes Afghanistan, secret, other omitted sites]
• >5,500 Total Base Sites in US and Abroad
DOD=5,211
[Excludes Afghanistan, secret, other omitted sites]
• ≈ Number of Registered Hospitals in the US (5,724)
- Department of Defense, Base Structure Report 2012;
Nick Turse, ―The Pentagon's Planet of Bases,‖ TomDispatch.com, 2011
American Hospital Association, 2013

31. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• Germany = 232; Japan = 109; South Korea = 85; Italy = 59
• Afghanistan ~ 550 max.
• (Iraq = 505 max.)
- Department of Defense, Base Structure Report 2012;
- Nick Turse 2012, 2011

32. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• What‘s a ―Base‖? What‘s a ―Base Site‖?
• 84% DOD Reported Sites = ―Small Base Sites‖
• ―Small Base Sites‖ = Up to $915 million in Reported Value
• Luxembourg = 3 Base Sites; 65 Buildings
- Department of Defense, Base Structure Report 2012

33. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• 555,074 Buildings & Structures Occupied Worldwide
Including 114,571 overseas
• 298,897 Buildings Occupying 2.3 Billion Sq. Ft. Worldwide
• That‘s About Four Times the Space of Walmart
- Department of Defense, Base Structure Report 2012

34. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• Troop Presence in 166 Countries [many quite small]
See: Department of Defense, “Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by
Regional Area and by Country (309A),” report, Washington, DC, December
31, 2011.
• 11 Navy Aircraft Carriers
• Growing Presence in Space

35. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
WHAT’S IT ALL COST?

36. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

37. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
COSTS
• $22.1 Billion (“Overseas Cost Summary”)
Department of Defense, “Operations and Maintenance Overview Fiscal Year
2013 Budget Estimates,” Washington, DC, February 2013, p. 199-202.
• $250 Billion (Dancs)
Anita Dancs, “The Cost of the Global U.S. Military Presence,” Foreign Policy
in Focus, report, July 3, 2009.
• $170 Billion (Vine)
David Vine, “Picking Up a $170 Billion Tab: How U.S. Taxpayers Are
Paying the Pentagon to Occupy the Planet,” TomDispatch.com,
December 11, 2012. http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175627/

38. $169,963,153,283
- David Vine, ―Picking Up a $170 Billion Tab: How U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying
the Pentagon to Occupy the Planet,‖ TomDispatch.com, December 11, 2012.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175627/
- For full-length article, table of calculations (below): www.davidvine.net

39. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
Net “Rent” Payments and NATO Contributions (Funds from Other Nations Subtracted*) 6,850,087,520
Counternarcotics, Humanitarian, and Environmental Programs 681,420,000
Classified Programs, Military Intelligence, and CIA Paramilitary Activities 13,558,891,583
War Costs (Personnel, Operations & Maintenance, Military Construction, Health Care, 18% of 104,896,568,660
State Department Aid as “Rent,” Other)
David Vine, American University
GRAND TOTAL $169,963,153,283
vine@american.edu

40. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

41. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

42. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

43. DOD, Office of the Secretary of Defense, ―Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 President‘s Budget,
Contingency Operations (Base Budget),‖ February 2012.

44. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
• U.S. Census Bureau, ―Puerto Rico and the Island Areas,‖ in Statistical
Abstract of the United States: 2012, (Washington, DC: Government Printing
Office, 2012), 815-22.
• ―One Guam Buildup‖; Guam Realignment Annual Report, 2012; Bureau of
Statistics and Plans, ―Guam‘s Facts & Figures at a Glance,‖ Office of the
Governor, Hagatna, 2011, available at
http://www.bsp.guam.gov/images/stories/pip/guamfacts_2011.pdf.
• www.statemaster.com (2004 data) for other territories.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

45. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
• Operations and Maintenance Costs (O&M): Department of Defense,
―Financial Summary Tables, Department of Defense Budget for Fiscal Year
2013,‖ Washington, DC, February 2012, FAD 792, 2.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

46. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
• Defense Health Program:
http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2013/budget_justification/pdfs/09
_Defense_Health_Program/VOL_II/Vol_II-Sec_3I_R-
2_RDTE_Program_Element_0605013_DHP_PB13.pdf
• Defense-Wide Spending: Department of Defense, ―Financial Summary
Tables, Department of Defense Budget for Fiscal Year 2013,‖ Washington,
DC, February 2012, 10.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

47. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
Net “Rent” Payments and NATO Contributions (Funds from Other Nations Subtracted*) 6,850,087,520
• Burdensharing and Host Nation Support: Office of Management and
Budget, ―The Budget for Fiscal Year 2013,‖ Washington, DC, February 2012,
277, 324.
• On “Rent”: Kent Calder, Embattled Garrisons; James Blaker, United States
Overseas Basing (full citations below).
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

48. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
Net “Rent” Payments and NATO Contributions (Funds from Other Nations Subtracted*) 6,850,087,520
Counternarcotics, Humanitarian, and Environmental Programs 681,420,000
• Counternarcotics and Humanitarian Programs: Department of Defense,
“Operations and Maintenance Overview Fiscal Year 2013 Budget
Estimates,‖ Washington, DC, February 2013, pp. 59, 244.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

49. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
Net “Rent” Payments and NATO Contributions (Funds from Other Nations Subtracted*) 6,850,087,520
Counternarcotics, Humanitarian, and Environmental Programs 681,420,000
Classified Programs, Military Intelligence, and CIA Paramilitary Activities 13,558,891,583
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

50. CLASSIFIED, CIA, OTHER
BLACK BUDGETS
• Robert Beckhusen and Noah Shachtman, ―See for Yourself:
The Pentagon‘s $51 Billion ‗Black‘ Budget,‖ Wired 15
February 2012,
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/02/pentagons-black-
budget/
• Robert Beckhusen and Noah Shachtman, ―2013 DOD Black
Budget,‖ spreadsheet, 21 February 2012,
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Anb82yNPJZ
c0dDVadWM1c0xTZXlfVjRGZUlRQ3pja0E#gid=3.
• Federation of American Scientists, ―Intelligence Budget Data,‖
available at http://www.fas.org/irp/budget/index.html
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

51. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
Net “Rent” Payments and NATO Contributions (Funds from Other Nations Subtracted*) 6,850,087,520
Counternarcotics, Humanitarian, and Environmental Programs 681,420,000
Classified Programs, Military Intelligence, and CIA Paramilitary Activities 13,558,891,583
War Costs (Personnel, Operations & Maintenance, Military Construction, Health Care, 18% of 104,896,568,660
State Department Aid as “Rent,” Other)
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

52. WAR COSTS
• Costs of War Project: www.costsofwar.org
• Amy Belasco, ―The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other
Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11,‖ Congressional
Research Service, March 29, 2011,
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf
• Basic Pay: # Troops x $125,000/troop/year (widely used
estimate)
• DOD, ―Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by Regional
Area and by Country (309A),‖ report, Washington, DC, 31
December 2011.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

53. Calculating the Costs of U.S. Military Bases and U.S. Military Presence Abroad
All data FY2012 unless indicated by * where some data from 2004, 2008, 2011.
OMITTED SPENDING CATEGORY TOTAL
Pentagon “Overseas Cost Summary” Total $22,148,900,000
Missing Countries 435,404,000
Territories,* Possessions, and Pacific Island Nations 3,621,220,000
Naval Vessels and Personnel outside U.S. Waters; Prepositioned Ships and Stocks; Other 5,244,562,000
Sealift, Airlift, and Mobilization
Health Care, Military and Family Housing Construction, Exchange* and Postal Service 12,526,099,520
Subsidies
Net “Rent” Payments and NATO Contributions (Funds from Other Nations Subtracted*) 6,850,087,520
Counternarcotics, Humanitarian, and Environmental Programs 681,420,000
Classified Programs, Military Intelligence, and CIA Paramilitary Activities 13,558,891,583
War Costs (Personnel, Operations & Maintenance, Military Construction, Health Care, 18% of 104,896,568,660
State Department Aid as “Rent,” Other)
David Vine, American University
GRAND TOTAL $169,963,153,283
vine@american.edu

54. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
UNCOUNTED COSTS
• Pentagon Offices, Embassies, Other Government
Agencies Supporting Bases, Troops Overseas
• U.S. Training Facilities, Depots, Hospitals, Cemeteries
• Currency Exchange Costs
• Lawyers‘ Fees and Lawsuit Damages Paid

55. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
UNCOUNTED COSTS
• Temporary Duty Assignments (TDY) Abroad Salaries
• U.S.-based Troops in Exercises Overseas
• NASA Military Functions Abroad
• Spaced-based Weapons

56. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
UNCOUNTED COSTS
• Recruiting Costs to Staff Bases Abroad
• Interest on Debt Attributable to Past Overseas Costs
• Veterans Administration and Other Retirement Spending
for Military Abroad

57. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
NON-BUDGETARY COSTS
TO THE U.S.ECONOMY
• Income Foregone by Spouses, Dependents Not Working
Overseas
• Military Personnel Salaries, Rent Spent Abroad & Other
―Spillover Costs‖ Not Benefitting the U.S. Economy

58. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
TRADE-OFFS/
OPPORTUNITY COSTS
• Military Spending Creates Fewer Jobs per $1 billion than
Education, Health Care, Energy Efficiency

59. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

60. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
TRADE-OFFS/
OPPORTUNITY COSTS
• Military Spending Creates Fewer Jobs per $1 billion than
Education, Health Care, Energy Efficiency
• Military Spending Don‘t Boost Long-run Productivity Like
Infrastructure and Other Investments
• For Trade-Offs: National Priorities Project
http://costofwar.com/tradeoffs/state/US/program/12/trad
eoff/0
http://nationalpriorities.org/en/interactive-data/trade-
offs/

61. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
WHAT ARE THE OTHER COSTS?

62. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
OTHER COSTS
• Displacement and Dispossession
• Environmental
• Health
• Local Economic (e.g., Damage to Economies, ―Burden
Sharing‖ Payments, Lawsuits)
• Political (e.g., Democracy, Sovereignty, Human Rights)
• Crimes

63. THE US GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
OTHER COSTS
• Exploitation and Gender Violence (e.g., Exploitative Sex
Work Industries, Trafficking, Violence against Women)
• Labor Exploitation (Bases as places of labor)
• Rising Hostility and Anti-Americanism
• Military Personnel and Family Members (e.g., Family
Separation, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Divorce,
Sexual Assault, Suicide)
• War and Its Human Toll (e.g., Death, Injury, Displacement)

64. SOME RESEARCH PRINCIPLES
AND KEY RESOURCES
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

65. SOME RESEARCH PRINCIPLES
• Be Accurate
• Talk to Locals, Visit Bases and Base Communities
• Work Collaboratively
• Listen Carefully to Everyone; Ignore No One
• Where Are the Women?
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

66. SOME RESEARCH PRINCIPLES
• Be an Investigative Journalist
(Don‘t give up until you get the answers.)
• Ask the Military Questions
(Yours are legitimate & deserve answers.)
• Call
(Don‘t be shy. Get your questions answered.)
• Knock on Doors
(Go in person to get questions answered.)
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

67. KEY RESEARCH RESOURCES
• Government Sources
• Research Tools
• Websites
• Key Books and Articles
• Maps
• Films and Photography
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

68. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• Government Accountability Office (GAO)
• Congressional Research Service (CRS)
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
• Congressional Committees (esp. House and Senate Armed
Services Committees)
• Department of Defense Appropriations and Authorization Bills (esp.,
Military Construction)
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

69. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• ―Base Structure Reports‖
DOD, published annually online ~ Oct.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

70. Base Structure Report 2012
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

71. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• ―Base Structure Reports‖
DOD, published annually online ~ Oct.
• ―Overseas Cost Summary‖
Department of Defense, ―Operations and Maintenance Overview
Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Estimates,‖ Washington, DC, February
2013, p. 199-202. [Mandated annually by Congress]
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

72. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

73. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• ―Base Structure Reports‖
DOD, published annually online ~ Oct.
• ―Overseas Cost Summary‖
Department of Defense, ―Operations and Maintenance Overview
Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Estimates,‖ Washington, DC, February
2013, p. 199-202. [Mandated annually by Congress]
• DOD, ―Operations and Maintenance Overview Fiscal
Year 2013 Budget Estimates.‖ [Annual]
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

74. ―Operations and Maintenance Overview Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Estimates‖
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

75. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• ―Base Structure Reports‖
DOD, published annually online ~ Oct.
• ―Overseas Cost Summary‖
Department of Defense, ―Operations and Maintenance Overview
Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Estimates,‖ Washington, DC, February
2013, p. 199-202. [Mandated annually by Congress]
• DOD, ―Operations and Maintenance Overview Fiscal
Year 2013 Budget Estimates,‖ February 2012. [Annual]
• ―The Green Book‖ [Annual]
DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller),
―National Defense Budget Estimates for FY 2013,‖ March 2012.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

76. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

77. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• DOD, ―Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by Regional Area
and by Country (309A),‖ report, Washington, DC, 31 December
2011. [Updated sporadically.]
• DOD, Office of the Secretary of Defense, ―Fiscal Year (FY) 2013
President‘s Budget, Contingency Operations (Base Budget),‖
February 2012. [Annual]
• Combatant Commands‘ Budgets: E.g., ―Fiscal Year 2013 Budget
Estimates, United States Special Operations Command
(USSOCOM),‖ February 2012. [Annual]
• Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan,
―Transforming Wartime Contracting: Controlling Costs, Reducing
Risks,‖ final report, August 2011. www.wartimecontracting.gov
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

78. GOVERNMENT SOURCES
• Amy Belasco, ―The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War
on Terror Operations Since 9/11,‖ Congressional Research Service,
March 29, 2011, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf
• Department of State, ―Congressional Budget Justification: Foreign
Assistance Summary Tables Fiscal Year 2013,‖ 2012. [Annual]
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

79. RESEARCH TOOLS
• DOD Websites: www.defense.gov
• DOD Contracts: www.defense.gov/contracts
Federal Business Opportunities: https://www.fbo.gov/
• DOD Publications: E.g., Diálogo, Engineering in Europe
• Base Websites: E.g., www.ramstein.af.mil
• Base Public Affairs Offices
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

80. RESEARCH TOOLS
• Google Alerts: E.g., ―military bases,‖ ―[base name]‖
• Google Images, Flickr: Search by base name
• YouTube: Search by base name
• Military Conferences: E.g., Association of the United
States Army (AUSA), Marine Military Expos
• National Security Archive:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

81. RESEARCH TOOLS
• Digital National Security Archive:
http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/marketing/index.jsp
• MuckRock: https://www.muckrock.com/
• Listservs: E.g., Center for Public Environmental
Oversight (http://www.cpeo.org)
• Wikileaks: E.g., search by base, country, city name
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

82. RESEARCH TOOLS
• Offices of Members of Congress: Ask questions, they
can do research if prompted
• Databases for Military and Government Documents: e.g.,
EBSCO Military and Government; Government Printing
Office Monthly Catalog
• Library of Congress: www.loc.gov
• National Archives and Armed Services‘ Archives
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

83. RESEARCH TOOLS
• Stars and Stripes independent military newspaper:
Search by base, country name http://www.stripes.com/
• Public Opinion Survey Research: E.g., Rasmussen
Reports, Gallop
• Experiential Learning:
– Solidarity Tours
– Ethnographic Research
– Oral History Interviewing
– Just Visiting Base Communities
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

84. WEBSITES
• Global Security: www.globalsecurity.org
• Contract Data: http://www.usaspending.gov/
Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation:
https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/
Federal Business Opportunities: https://www.fbo.gov/
• http://militarybases.com
• National Priorities Project: http://costofwar.com/
http://nationalpriorities.org/
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

85. WEBSITES
• Costs of War Project: www.costsofwar.org
• Militarism Watch, Fellowship of Reconciliation:
http://forusa.org/groups/services/militarism-watch
• Women for Genuine Security:
http://www.genuinesecurity.org
• American Friends Service Committee: http://afsc.org
http://afsc.org/search/node/military%20bases
http://afsc.org/project/withdrawing-us-troops
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

86. PRIMERS
• Transnational Institute, ―Outposts of Empire: The Case
against Foreign Military Bases,‖ Amsterdam, March 2007.
• American Friends Service Committee, ―Ten Reasons Why
U.S. Military Bases Must Go,‖
http://www.dmzhawaii.org/wp-
content/uploads/2008/12/10reasons-en.pdf
• Wilbert van der Zeijden, ―Foreign Military Bases and the
Campaign to Close Them: A Beginner‘s Guide,‖
http://www.tni.org/primer/foreign-military-bases-and-global-
campaign-close-them
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

87. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• George Weller, Bases Overseas: An American Trusteeship in
Power (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1944).
• George Marion, Bases and Empire: A Chart of American
Overseas Expansion (New York: Fairplay Publishers, 1948).
• Merlo J. Pusey, The U.S.A. Astride the Globe (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1971).
• United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Foreign
Relations, Subcommittee on United States Security
Agreements and Commitments Abroad, ―United States
Security Agreements and Commitments Abroad: Report to the
Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,‖ 91st
Congress, Vols. I-II,David Vine, American University
1971.
vine@american.edu

88. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• Roland A. Paul, American Military Commitments Abroad (New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1973).
• Robert E. Harkavy, Bases Abroad: The Global Foreign
Military Presence (Oxford: Oxford University Press/SIPRI,
1989).
• Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making
Feminist Sense of International Politics (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1989).
• James R. Blaker, United States Overseas Basing: An
Anatomy of the Dilemma (New York: Praeger, 1990).
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

89. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• Joseph Gerson and Bruce Birchard, eds., The Sun Never
Sets: Confronting the Network of Foreign U.S. Military Bases,
(Boston: South End Press, 1991).
• Dan Cragg, Guide to Military Installations, 4th ed.
(Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1994).
• Monthly Review editors, ―U.S. Military Bases and Empire,"
Monthly Review, March 2002,
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0302editr.htm.
• Zoltan Grossman, ―War and New U.S. Military Bases,‖
Counterpunch February 2-4, 2002,
http://www.counterpunch.org/2002/02/02/war-and-new-us-
military-bases/ David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

90. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism,
Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (New York: Metropolitan
Books, 2004).
• Robert E. Harkavy, Strategic Basing and the Great Powers,
1200-2000 (London: Routledge, 2007).
• Mark Gillem, American Town: Building the Outposts of Empire
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007).
• Kent E. Calder, Embattled Garrisons: Comparative Base
Politics and American Globalism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 2007).
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

91. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• David S. Sorenson, Military Base Closure: A Reference
Handbook (Westport, CT: Praeger Security, 2007).
• Tom Engelhardt, ―Baseless Considerations,‖ Tom
Dispatch.com, November 5, 2007,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174858
• Various authors, Mother Jones, ―Mission Creep,‖ August
2008, http://www.motherjones.com/special-
reports/2008/08/mission-creep
• Alexander Cooley, Base Politics: Democratic Change and the
Politics of U.S. Military Installations Overseas (Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press, 2008).
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

92. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• Catherine Lutz, ed., The Bases of Empire: The Global
Struggle against U.S. Military Posts (New York: New York
University Press, 2009).
• Maria Höhn and Seungsook Moon, Over There: Living with
the U.S. Military Empire from World War Two to the Present
(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010).
• Andrew Yeo, Activists, Alliances, and Anti-U.S. Base Protests
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
• Nick Turse, ―The Pentagon's Planet of Bases,‖
TomDispatch.com, January 9, 2011,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175338/
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

93. KEY BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• John Lindsay-Poland, ―Pentagon Building Bases in Central
America and Colombia,‖ Fellowship of Reconciliation, January
27, 2011, http://forusa.org/blogs/john-lindsay-
poland/pentagon-building-bases-central-america-
colombia/8445
• Nick Turse, ―Afghanistan‘s Base Bonanza: Total Tops Iraq at
That War‘s Height,‖ TomDispatch.com, 4 September 2012,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175588/
• Others by Nick Turse and Tom Engelhardt at
TomDispatch.com.
• Articles by Walter Pincus, Washington Post columnist.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

94. MAPS
(a small sample)
• Transnational Institute, ―See the World‘s Foreign Military
Bases from Outer Space,‖ Google Earth file:
http://www.tni.org/article/see-world%E2%80%99s-
foreign-military-bases-outer-space
• Fellowship of Reconciliation, ―Annotated Map of Military
Construction in Latin America‖
• Zoltan Grossman, ―New U.S. Military Bases: Side Effects
or Causes of War‖ (powerpoint)
• Military Bases in the Continental United States:
http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/documents/basesmilitarymap
.htm David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

95. FILMS
(a small sample)
• Standing Army
• Living Along the Fenceline
• Restrepo
• Fort Bliss
• Camp Victory Afghanistan
• Stealing a Nation
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

96. ANTI-BASE MOVEMENTS
(a small sample)
• Close the Base (Okinawa): http://closethebase.org/
• No Base Stories Korea:
http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/
• Save Jeju: www.savejeju.org/ and www.savejejunow.org
• We Are Guahan (Guam): http://weareguahan.com/
• Coalición Colombia No Bases:
http://colombianobases.org/nobases/
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

97. ANTI-BASE MOVEMENTS
(a small sample)
• No Dal Molin (Vicenza, Italy): www.nodalmolin.it/
• Chagos Refugees Group (Diego Garcia):
http://www.chagosrefugeesgroup.net/
• UK Chagos Support Association (Diego Garcia):
http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/
• No Bases Network (out of date):
http://nobasesglobalnetwork.blogspot.com/
• School of the Americas Watch: www.soaw.org
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

98. PUTTING KNOWLEDGE TO USE
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

99. “ONE PAGERS”
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

100. NEEDS
UPDATING

101. NEEDS
UPDATING

102. TALKING POINTS
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

103. NEEDS
UPDATING
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

104. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

105. COSTS OF WAR
PROJECT
Watson Institute for International Studies
Brown University
costsofwar.org
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

106. costsofwar.org
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

107. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
HISTORY &
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

108. A VERY BRIEF HISTORY
OF BASES ABROAD
• Army Forts on Indian Lands Enable Western Conquest
• Small collection of overseas bases pre-WWII
• Global base network emerges from WWII
- Largest in human history
• Post-Cold War Reductions
- 60% of foreign bases close
- ~300,000 troops to CONUS
- But, a significant base and troop posture remains that
remains largest in human history

109. CHANGES IN THE GLOBAL
BASE NETWORK
• Shift begins around 2000
• Planned closure of 1/3 Cold War-era bases
• Shift bases south and east from Western Europe
• Focus on creating smaller, more flexible bases
• Global Defense Posture Review (2004)

110. GLOBAL DEFENSE
POSTURE REVIEW (GDPR)
• Shift bases south and east from Western Europe
• Focus on creating smaller, more flexible bases
• Consolidate forces at smaller number of MOBs
• New base nomenclature (below)

111. NEW BASE
NOMENCLATURE
• Main Operating Bases (MOB)
• Forward Operating Sites (FOS)
• Cooperative Security Locations (CSL),
- aka ―Lily Pad‖ Bases

112. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

113. CHANGES IN THE
GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• Outcome 1: Significant reductions, especially in
- Germany and Europe
- Some consolidation in Japan and South Korea
- But continued new construction in Italy and Germany

114. CHANGES IN THE
GLOBAL BASE NETWORK
• Outcome 2: Significant expansion related to
- The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
- The global war on terror
- Proliferation of lily pads and other small bases
increasing breadth of the base network

115. WESTERN EUROPE
• Base closures; Army consolidating to 8 ―enduring
installations‖ in Germany, Italy, Benelux
• 2 Brigade Combat Teams withdrawn 2013-14
• Major new construction: Vicenza, Ramstein, Wiesbaden,
Landstuhl(?)
• New bases: Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania
• Attempted: Czech Republic

116. US ARMY

117. EAST ASIA
(“ASIA PIVOT”)
• South Korea: Consolidating at fewer expanding bases, away
from the DMZ, south of Seoul
•Okinawa: 8,000 Marines moving; not waiting for Futenma
replacement
• Guam: Build-up downsized (4,700); others moving to
Australia, Hawai‘i
• New bases created or (discussed): Darwin, (Cocos, Perth,
Brisbane, Australia); Singapore; (Philippines); (Thailand)

118. -Washington Post

119. - From Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpos
t.com/world/national-
security/a-new-us-military-
strategy-old-bases-near-
the-south-china-
sea/2012/06/22/gJQAZwf5
vV_graphic.html

120. • Jim Watson/AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, receives a photo album of his visit to
Vietnam from Gen. Vu Chien Thang upon his departure at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi,
Vietnam Tuesday, June 5, 2012.
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-seeks-return-to-se-asian-
bases/2012/06/22/gJQAKP83vV_story.html

121. CENTRAL ASIA
• Post-9/11 bases: Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
(closed); reported facilities in Tajikistan, Georgia
•Afghan withdrawal: NATO agreements with Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan; Russia(?)
• India? Attempting closer military ties
• Afghanistan? Bases after 2014???

122. PERSIAN GULF/
MIDDLE EAST
• Withdrawal (mostly) from Iraq and 505 bases
• Large base infrastructure remains: Qatar, Bahrain, UAE,
Oman, Kuwait, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia

123. David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

124. USS Ponce
aka ―the mothership‖
forward afloat base
US Navy photo # 110310-N-3154P-087: MEDITERRANEAN SEA (March 10, 2011) by MC3 Scott
Pittman.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

125. AFRICA
• AFRICOM (still headquartered in Germany)
• Major bases: Djibouti, Diego Garcia
• Other bases: Central African Republic, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, South Sudan,
Uganda
• Bases planned/investigated/reported: Algeria,
Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, São Tomé
and Príncipe
• 3,000+ soldier brigade begins rotations 2013

126. AFRICA
Diego
Garcia
- From Washington Post
David Vine, American University
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-african-
vine@american.edu
network/2012/06/13/gJQAmozvaV_graphic.html

127. -Washington Post

128. - Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.c
om/world/national-
security/us-drone-base-in-
ethiopia-is-
operational/2011/10/27/gIQA
znKwMM_story.html

129. • U.S. Africa Command/Major Eric Hilliard - The Seychelles, where the U.S. had temporarily
stationed MQ-9s under the operational authority of U.S. Africa Command, now houses a base
where a small fleet of ―hunter-killer‖ drones resumed operations this month.
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-bases-in-africa-
arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_story.html

130. Mysterious fatal crash offers rare
look at U.S. commando presence
in Mali
By Craig Whitlock, Published: July 8, 2012
In pre-dawn darkness, a -Toyota Land Cruiser skidded off a bridge in
North Africa in the spring, plunging into the Niger River. When rescuers
arrived, they found the bodies of three U.S. Army commandos —
alongside three dead women.
David Vine, American University
vine@american.edu

131. LATIN AMERICA
• Removal: Panama (1999), Ecuador (2009)
• Bases: GTMO, Colombia (7 new attempted after 2009),
Honduras, El Salvador, Aruba & Curaçao, Paraguay(?),
Peru(?), Chile(?), Argentina(?)
• Expanding: GTMO, Honduras
• Funding: local military/police bases in Belize, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Panama, Peru
• 4th Fleet Reactivation

132. LATIN AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA

133. BRAC:
DOMESTIC BASES
• 2015?