"If the US army deployed in Europe today..." Topic

Q. What type of camo would they use?
Q. Do they still/Would they use Bradleys?

I'm just thinking of a future Force on Force game using some US marines I have that need painting.

Cheers in advance guys!

Just to note, the US Army currently has 3 brigade combat teams in Europe and a cavalry regiment (equivalent to a brigade combat team at this point), plus supporting units (though 170th and 172nd Infantry Brigades are likely to be inactivated this year), so the US Army is already deployed in Europe. When the planned inactivations go through, 2 brigade combat teams at a time will rotate through Europe deployments.

The US Army still uses Bradleys (M2A3 IFVs and M3A3 CFVs) and if intended to be used in Europe, they would no doubt still use the 3-color (green-brown-black) NATO scheme that's been in use since the 1990s. The deployment of USAREUR units to Afghanistan and Iraq has meant that a lot of their vehicles are currently in the desert tan from what I've seen though.

Dont hold me to this, but Im pretty sure Multicam scores well in woodland settings during testing. If that is correct, Id assume Multicam would be the camo.

Remember the Marine Corps doesn't use Bradleys though….

Dont hold me to this, but Im pretty sure Multicam scores well in woodland settings during testing. If that is correct, Id assume Multicam would be the camo.

I figured with the comment about Bradleys that the question was about vehicle schemes, but I also assume that the ACU pattern will definitely be gradually phased out entirely. Currently, however, Army troops in Europe are still wearing it.

Well, considering the PITA to get a Brigade OCONUS, don't look for a REFORGER anytime soon…

170 and 172 Brigade are to be converted to HBCT, but the word is they, or two other BCTs will be pulled out of EUCOM.

Eric

170 and 172 Brigade are to be converted to HBCT, but the word is they, or two other BCTs will be pulled out of EUCOM.

The only other BCT or equivalent units are the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. I think there's a good chance that the 170th and 172nd Infantry Brigades are going to be the ones inactivated.

As to getting a Brigade OCONUS, I can't speak on the difficulties involved, but this is the stated plan from DoD.

USMC elements were tasked to deploy to Norway I believe. They conducted a number of exercises there if I remember correctly.

More: link

The Marines did get to visit Germany during the Cold War and had multiple exercises in Northern Germany. Have a pic somewhere of an O Dark 30 crossing of the Kiel Canal by Marines.

However you would find more Marines in Norway since when I was in this was the primary focus of the NATO floats.

Well, getting them OCONUS is part of my job.

The part I know about the 170 and 172 BCT, is that they get "converted" to HBCT. So maybe they "inactivate" and get a new flag and number. It's not like that's never happened before.

As far as Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, I don't recall any in West Germany, but I do know they visited Norway.

Unfortunately, all the CW era Marines I know were on Okinawa or on the West Coast.

Eric

The part I know about the 170 and 172 BCT, is that they get "converted" to HBCT. So maybe they "inactivate" and get a new flag and number. It's not like that's never happened before.

Like I said, all I know is what they say the plan is:

"On 12 January 2012, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that as part of a new, 10-year defense strategy announced by President Barack Obama earlier in the month, which emphasized air-sea doctrine to better allow the United States to confront more than one threat at a time, the Army would withdraw 2 brigade combat teams from Europe, while retaining a strong presence in the region via rotational units." (Emphasis added)

Yes, I remember the USMC deploying to Norway for NATO exercises. And IIRC, that region was the USMC's planned deployment A/O in the event of war. And as already mentioned, the USMC does not use Bradleys … The closest thing to a Bradley the USMC uses are LAVs …

Yep, USMC was tasked with AO Iceland and Norway.

Between 1980s and 1990s, the bulk of the ground defense mission of the Iceland Defense Force was the responsibility of the US Army, though no doubt the USMC would have reinforced the position.

"Multicam scores well in woodland settings during testing"

LOL Yea as stand out targets LOL……

I have to say that comparing DPM with Multicam in your typical dark, dank north european wood, it sticks out like a sore thumb even if the wearers are stationary in cover. Better than than pale US digital camo though which I've only ever really seen work in smoke or thick fog:)

I dunno, the Brits bought all their new organizational equipment in Multicam, and have a more-brown-multicam uniform (desert) and a more-green-multicam (woodlands) uniform. As far as I know, the more-green replaced one of the browns with a green, and the more-brown was the opposite.

Sarcastically, Multicam is related to the old German 'blurred-edge' and 'pea dot' patterns, so it would seem to work pretty well in parts of Europe!

Now that I think about it … Wow, only 4 BCT size units in Europe, that is really tiny compared to the past. Of course, the "sitiation" has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War …

The idea with the rotational deployments is to actually increase the total number of troops in Europe at any given time. The Europe-based brigades are often deployed elsewhere (all have been deployed to Afghanistan at one point or another), so if you rotate brigades to Germany as the deployment, then there are always at least 2 full brigades there.

Yes, I thought that too, US Forces in Europe are closer to the "current hot spots" than CONUS …

For anyone who's interested: PDF link

As expected, the 170th and 172nd Infantry Brigades are slated for inactivation, along with V Corps, and other "enabler" units to be decided later. The USAF's 81st Fighter Squadron and 603rd Air Control Squadron are also to be inactivated.