Kabli said that the US presence in Europe is a military of about 80,000 people, a historic lowlands, and that number should be maintained.
Top US generals in Europe advise that the country maintains current military levels across the continent.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses told a European colleague that the US should not be assumed to last forever as it works to focus more attention on fighting China in the Indo-Pacific.
To that end, Kabli said the US military currently has a troop of around 80,000 people in Europe, exceeding 100,000 following the full-scale invasion of Russia’s Ukraine in 2022, suggesting that the level of the military be further reduced.
“It’s my advice to maintain that strength attitude as we do now,” Kaburi said.
“I have consistently recommended us throughout that period to maintain our surge in force forward.
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The presence of US military in Europe is already in the historic lowlands of post-World War II.
At the same time, the number of US troops deployed in Asia began to be tickled as the US was trying to continue its extremes to stop a potential conflict with communist China.
As such, the country’s European allies have begun to express concern that the United States is moving away from its commitment to the NATO alliance and its historic Cold War role as a European advocate from Russian invasion.
These concerns only deepen after a string of comments made by Trump last month, and he suggested that the US would not defend its treaty allies if they were too little to defend.
When asked if there was a plan to move the troops away from the east flank of NATO, Kaburi said that the troops move around frequently but would remain almost the same force position until otherwise instructed.
“The main place we have power now, that’s where they are and that’s where I plan to keep them,” he said.
Republican and Democrats proposed at the hearing that it would be a mistake to completely remove the troops from Europe, but what will ultimately become the US presence in Europe will be decided by Hegses and Trump in the coming months and years.
Katherine Thompson, who currently serves as assistant secretary of defense for international security, told lawmakers at the hearing that a global force posture review was underway, and the results were based on “Trump’s stated interests.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
