This being Sunday, the Quakers are here with a report.
American military and intelligence installations in BritainThe United States Government is committed to
applying military power on a global scale and
by 2007 is expected to account for half of the
world’s military expenditure.4 It maintains a
worldwide network of around 730 military
bases worldwide and agreements with over 90
countries for stationing its forces abroad.5
Most recently, a number of new long-term
bases have been established in Central Asia
and the Middle East following military action in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
As part of this global network, US forces are
accommodated on 35 sites in Britain.
Collectively, these occupy about 10 square
miles. Of these sites, six are one square mile
or larger and four host more than 1000 US
personnel each. All US bases in Britain are
advertised as Royal Air Force facilities. In
addition, two large US bases on British island
territories provide the US with a presence in
strategically significant locations – the South
Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.6
Approximately 16,500 US forces personnel are
attached to US bases on British territory,
compared with about 1,000 personnel of other
nations' forces.7 The largest US facility in
Britain is Lakenheath airbase in Suffolk at 2.8
square miles with a personnel complement of
over 5,000.8 This makes it larger in terms of
size and personnel than the largest British RAF
base, Brize Norton.9
Bases on British territory are significant to the
US in at least four ways. First, the bases have
played important military and intelligencegathering
roles in all recent major US military
engagements, including the wars over
Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. Second, they
are integral to the US long-term strategic
posture represented by nuclear weapons,
strategic missile defences and long-range
bomber and naval forces. Third, they form
part of essential infrastructure for US military
communications, command and control and
munitions storage. Fourth, the US military
presence in Britain links the Government of a
leading European nation more closely to the
strategic interests of the US.