US Military in Stuttgart

Since shortly after the end of World War II, there has been a US military presence in Stuttgart. At the height of the Cold War over 45,000 Americans were stationed across over 40 installations in and around the city.^[123] Today about 10,000 Americans are stationed on 4 installations representing all branches of service within the Department of Defense, unlike the mostly Army presence of the Occupation and Cold War.
In March 1946 the US Army established a unit of the US Constabulary and a Headquarters at Kurmärker Kaserne (later renamed Patch Barracks) in Stuttgart. These units of soldiers retrained in patrol and policing provided the law and order in the American zone of occupied Germany until the civilian German police forces could be re-established.^[124] In 1948 the Headquarters for all Constabulary forces was moved to Stuttgart.^[125] In 2008 a memorial to the US Constabulary was installed and dedicated at Patch Barracks.^[126] The US Constabulary headquarters was disbanded in 1950 and most of the force was merged into the newly organized 7th Army. As the Cold War developed US Army VII Corps was re-formed in July 1950 and assigned to Hellenen Kaserne (renamed Kelley Barracks in 1951) where the headquarters was to remain throughout the Cold War.
In 1990 VII Corps was deployed directly from Germany to Saudi Arabia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm to include many of the VII Corps troops stationed in and around Stuttgart. After returning from the Middle East, the bulk of VII Corps units were reassigned to the United States or deactivated. The VII Corps Headquarters returned to Germany for a short period to close out operations and was deactivated later in the United States. The withdrawal of VII Corps caused a large reduction in the US military presence in the city and region and led to the closure of the majority of US installations in and around Stuttgart which resulted in the layoff of many local civilians who had been career employees of the US Army.^[127]
Since 1967, Patch Barracks in Stuttgart has been home to the US EUCOM. In 2007 AFRICOM was established as a cell within EUCOM and in 2008 established as the US Unified Combatant Command responsible for most of Africa headquartered at Kelley Barracks.^[128] Due to these 2 major headquarters, Stuttgart has been identified as one of the few "enduring communities" where the United States forces will continue to operate in Germany.^[129] The remaining U.S. bases around Stuttgart are organized into US Army Garrison Stuttgart and include Patch Barracks, Robinson Barracks, Panzer Kaserne and Kelley Barracks.^[130] From the end of World War II until the early 1990s these installations excepting Patch were almost exclusively Army, but have become increasingly "Purple"—as in joint service—since the end of the Cold War as they are host to United States Department of Defense Unified Commands and supporting activities.^[131]