Pew: U.S. Active-Duty Military Stationed Overseas Is At a 60-Year Low

ashley.rae | August 23, 2017
DONATE
Font Size

Amid reports that the United States would send approximately 4,000 additional troops to assist in the war in Afghanistan, the Pew Research Center reveals that the number of active-duty military troops stationed abroad is currently at the lowest it's been in 60 years.

According to Pew, out of the 1.3 million total active-duty U.S. military personnel in 2016, only 15 percent were deployed abroad. Pew notes that number is “the smallest number and share of active-duty members overseas since at least 1957, the earliest year with comparable data, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of information from the Defense Manpower Data Center, a statistical arm of the Department of Defense.”

U.S. military overseas presence is at a 60-year-low

Of the active-duty military stationed abroad, most were located in Asia and Europe. Japan is reported to have 38,818 active-duty personnel, while Germany has 34,602, South Korea has 24,189, and Italy has 12,088. Afghanistan was listed in the top five, with 9,023 active-duty personnel.

Most U.S. troops overseas are in Europe or Asia

Pew’s data shows that 70 percent of active-duty military deployed abroad were in Asian and European countries, while 13 percent were in the Middle East and North Africa, where the U.S. government is currently waging its war on terror.

Thank you for supporting MRCTV! As a tax-deductible, charitable organization, we rely on the support of our readers to keep us running! Keep MRCTV going with your gift here!

donate