US gives 21 small military facilities back to European countries; will save $60 million a year

WASHINGTON – The Defense Department is giving 21 small, excess military facilities back to six European nations and will save about $60 million a year.

The sites include housing, a golf course, a hotel and a skeet shooting range.

The moves do not involve a reduction in U.S. forces in Europe. They mostly affect unneeded property in Germany and Italy, along with a handful of sites in the U.K., Belgium, Greece and Denmark.

The golf course, skeet range, General Abrams Hotel and a number of other facilities are at three U.S. installations in Germany.

The Pentagon has been cutting the number U.S. troops in Europe. Currently there are 67,000 U.S. troops across Europe, including about 30,000 each for the Army and Air Force and about 7,000 Navy and Marine Corps forces.