United States European Command
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Established: | 1 August 1952 |
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| Commander: | General Bantz J. Craddock, USA |
| Deputy Commander: | General William E. Ward, USA |
| Component of: | United States Department of Defense |
| Subordinate Commands: | United States Army European United States Naval Forces Europe |
The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of responsibility covers 21 million square miles and 92 countries and territories, including Europe, Turkey, Greenland, the former Soviet Union, except the five central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and Africa except for Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
It was thus the lead command for potential operations during the Cold War, and also during the Kosovo War. It also controlled the forces flying from Incirlik Air Base during the Gulf War and Operation Northern Watch. Its commander is dual-hatted and also assumes the role of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) in the NATO hierarchy.
[edit] Composition
The main combat power of EUCOM is formed around the US Seventh Army, US Sixth Fleet and Sixteenth Air Force.
The Seventh Army is based in Germany. It controls one corps of two divisions, although for almost all of the Cold War it had two corps and four divisions under its command.
The Sixth Fleet patrols the Mediterranean and thus covered NATO's southern flank and now provides protection to shipping from possible terrorist attack whilst passing through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal.
The HQ Air Command Europe, the Wing-support command, and the Sixteenth Air Force, USAFE's Warfighting Headquarters, both based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany form U.S. Air Forces Europe (USAFE). They are now much reduced from their Cold War high strengths and provide a pool of airpower closer to many trouble spots than aircraft flying from the United States. Also in Italy is the 173d Airborne Brigade, reformed in the mid-1990s, that took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq by parachuting into the north of the country to assist Kurdish rebels in the region.
The Command's Special Operations component, SOCEUR (Special Operations Command, Europe) has its headquarters at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.
HQ US EUCOM is also headquartered at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.
[edit] Commanders
| Name | Branch | Term began | Term ended | |
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| 1. | General Matthew Ridgway | U.S. Army | May 30, 1952 | July 11, 1953 |
| 2. | General Alfred Gruenther | U.S. Army | July 1, 1953 | November 20, 1956 |
| 3. | General Lauris Norstad | U.S. Air Force | November 20, 1956 | January 1, 1963 |
| 4. | General Lyman Lemnitzer | U.S. Army | January 1, 1963 | July 1, 1969 |
| 5. | General Andrew Goodpaster | U.S. Army | July 1, 1969 | December 15, 1974 |
| 6. | General Alexander Haig | U.S. Army | December 15, 1974 | July 1, 1979 |
| 7. | General Bernard W. Rogers | U.S. Army | July 1, 1979 | June 26, 1987 |
| 8. | General John Galvin | U.S. Army | June 26, 1987 | June 23, 1992 |
| 9. | General John Shalikashvili | U.S. Army | June 23, 1992 | October 22, 1993 |
| 10. | General George Joulwan | U.S. Army | October 22, 1993 | July 11, 1997 |
| 11. | General Wesley Clark | U.S. Army | July 11, 1997 | May 3, 2000 |
| 12. | General Joseph Ralston | U.S. Air Force | May 3, 2000 | January 17, 2003 |
| 13. | General James L. Jones | U.S. Marine Corps | January 17, 2003 | December 4, 2006 |
| 14. | General Bantz J. Craddock | U.S. Army | December 4, 2006 | Current |
Previously, this position held the title "Commander in Chief, United States European Command". However, following an order dated 24 October 2002 by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, all CINCs in the United States military were retitled as "Commanders".
[edit] External link
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| Regional responsibilities | |
| US Northern Command - US Central Command - US European Command - US Pacific Command - US Southern Command | |
| Functional responsibilities | |
| US Special Operations Command - US Joint Forces Command - US Strategic Command - US Transportation Command - US Unified Medical Command | |
