European military force

[gurkha1]

Seems like Jean Claude Junker is convinced that the US is winding down US forces across Europe,this has given him more impetus to start the formation of the new Euro force.
Reports saying if US pulls out of NATO it would leave Europe in a vulnerable position so a rapid defence mechanism is required.
Trump has said in the last few conventions he would withdraw all US forces from the UK and start the close down of Europe wide bases but he will continue with building the shared bases in Poland for the F35.
Aviano is also now on the hit list,56th rescue sq. now heading else where but not announced as yet, Italy is planning the closure of Aviano and returning to a civil airport.
Over the last few days LKN staff are saying possible 2018 for the start of the closure.
Bad news in general for Europe and UK !!

[city42]

where did you get this from

[city42]

They cant base aircraft in poland because of the treat with russia

[gurkha1]

Poland is one of the US favoured countries to base aircraft, we have a relative based at LKN on civil staff and they have been told the base is on the DOD closure lists and Croughton.Let's hope the POTUS has a change of mind towards NATO he is focussed on protecting his own shores.

[city42]

But he want to be a friend of russia so he not going to go against a treat agreed with them . I use to work at MOD abbeywood in Bristol where every NATO country has personal i visit back there on Friday where i did ask to USAFE staff they said there is no plans to close lakenheath and work will be starting there soon on works for the F35s

[rh226]

I thought Croughton was being built up - and that Alconbury and Molesworth were going there when they close.

However, what Trump is permitted to do, as distinct from what he is saying, is a totally different matter.

[Amp]

I am sure that if Mr Trump said the moon is really a giant balloon built by Boeing it would be widely reported and many people would believe it. It doesn't make it a fact, but it will sell newspapers, get airtime and result in gossip and rumours. The same happens on forum sites such as this. We will have numerous military aviation related stories to debate for several months, hopefully picking out the reality and the aircraft movement threads will not become too onerous! :-)

[markranger]

He will not be sworn in until the 20th January so I would like to think that decisions like that have not been made already.
Regarding Nato, All he has said is that others within NATO need to contribute more ,At least 2% GDP,I take that as a threat that why should it always be USA providing all the hardware,
Also this all has to pass through Congress which if true could easily block it,( look at the A10 retirement for instance),
F35 work is already well underway at Lakenheath,
Not saying it could not happen but would be surprised if within 1 day he has pinged and E-mail across to Lakenheath telling them its closing.

Mark.

[MRTT]

Finding this information very hard to believe, as Mark said- he's not in office yet so I very much doubt decisions like that have been taken.

[filmman]

If Trump is to cut taxes and spend a fortune on USA transport infrastructure he has to either print money, borrow it or take it from elsewhere. Spending American dollars on defending foreigners who won't pull their weight is increasingly unpopular. Because of fracking the USA is no longer dependent on foreign oil. So Europeans shouldn't assume that the USA will continue to be so generous, would we. We might need Lakenheath to base Typhoons if the USA pulls out. Putin might need Trump because China begins to be a real super power. The bottom line is things don' stay the same, "rights" depend on the giver and we are ultimately responsible for ourselves.

[bizfreeq]

We might need Lakenheath to base Typhoons if the USA pulls out''

Please explain why? I can't see any reason why we would need another Typhoon base just because the US moves out, they don't provide any air defence for this country.

[gurkha1]

Trump is hell bent on saving money for the US,we must accept that the UK has paid off the wartime debt and the US has always said don't take them for granted. I was in Poland a few weeks ago with work, the base where the f35 is to go is taking shape, new US style buildings ( cream and brown) going up,the treaty that was drawn up yrs ago seems to be flexible hence the missile defences in Poland, I was at LKN a few days ago and the spotters there are saying the base is to close possible 2018 / 19,Uk needs to beef up what we have like take the Typhoons out of storage at Shawbury and put into service.
The thing that is baffling is that Lajes AB is shutting where are US aircraft going to re-fuel on route.

[Thunder]

What's the name of this base in Poland?

[MRTT]

Lajes is a Portugeuse Military base, not sure how it's related to this?

[luke28]

Trump is hell bent on saving money for the US,we must accept that the UK has paid off the wartime debt and the US has always said don't take them for granted. I was in Poland a few weeks ago with work, the base where the f35 is to go is taking shape, new US style buildings ( cream and brown) going up,the treaty that was drawn up yrs ago seems to be flexible hence the missile defences in Poland, I was at LKN a few days ago and the spotters there are saying the base is to close possible 2018 / 19,Uk needs to beef up what we have like take the Typhoons out of storage at Shawbury and put into service.
The thing that is baffling is that Lajes AB is shutting where are US aircraft going to re-fuel on route.

I've met some brilliant people outside Lakenheath, I've also met a large amount of absolute idiots who haven't got a clue.

[paddyboy]

In all my trips to the 'Heath, I have yet to meet a serious 'spotter' who thinks, or has heard from outside or inside the fence, that the base is under current threat

Things can change, with a new administration, of course, but that does sound a bit too sudden and a bit too radical to me

[Agent K]

Trump is hell bent on saving money for the US,we must accept that the UK has paid off the wartime debt and the US has always said don't take them for granted. I was in Poland a few weeks ago with work, the base where the f35 is to go is taking shape, new US style buildings ( cream and brown) going up,the treaty that was drawn up yrs ago seems to be flexible hence the missile defences in Poland, I was at LKN a few days ago and the spotters there are saying the base is to close possible 2018 / 19,Uk needs to beef up what we have like take the Typhoons out of storage at Shawbury and put into service.
The thing that is baffling is that Lajes AB is shutting where are US aircraft going to re-fuel on route.

Let's face it spotters are going to be the first to be informed about US Military strategic policy....

I met one once who said the moon landings weren't real. Must be true then...

[TankBuster]

Mr Trump will receive various briefings on the USA's overseas military commitments over the coming weeks & no doubt he will find out lots of things that he didn't know about prior to being elected as president.

He may well already have provisional plans drawn up for a re-structure of US military assets, but after being fully briefed about current commitments he may well find that its going to be in his countries best interests to keep some things as they are, so I certainly don't think that he'll be snapping his fingers & ordering all of the US military assets back home straight away!
Any talk of Lakenheath closing at the moment can be nothing more than rumours, after all DT's already backtracked on scrapping Obama care, so I think he'll probably back track on a lot of his election propaganda once he realises that change doesn't come easy & it doesn't come overnight.

As controversial as he is, Mr Farage is also close by DT's side so I wonder if he'll encourage Mr Trump to maintain a USAF presence in the UK???

TankBuster

[Dazza37]

Is this thread for real? A spotter said this, my mate said that, my uncle's brother's auntie said something else, what complete and utter crap! I thought for a moment I'd been asleep for several months and woken up on April 1st...

-Dazza

[page_verify]

What TankBuster said seems to be the only solid piece of opinion on this thread! The only possible relationship any of those rumours might have with the truth is that some units at RAF Lakenheath may become smaller when they no longer have to support RAF Mildenhall - they're not two independent bases so it makes sense that Lakenheath can save some costs. For those interested in what's happening at RAF Lakenheath, it looks as though Google Maps has had large amounts of its UK satellite imagery refreshed in the last few months.