Global U.S. Troop Deployment, 1950-2003

The proposed global redeployment of U.S. troops coupled with the open question of how long U.S. forces will stay in Iraq highlight the need for objective data on force deployments, objectives, and results. Surprisingly, no comprehensive time series data on U.S. troop deployments by year and country seem to exist in a single dataset. This report remedies that need by introducing a comprehensive troop deployment dataset for 1950–2003.[1] The Troops dataset is available here: www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/troopsdb.cfm.
Highlights

• On average, 22 percent of all U.S. servicemen were stationed on foreign soil during 1950–2000.In 2003, 27 percent were deployed, which is roughly the average of the 1950s. The low point in percentage terms was 13.7 percent in 1995, while the high points were 31 percent in 1951 (approximated) and 1968.
• There were a total of 118.8 million billets during 1950–2000.There have been an average of 2.33 million military personnel on active duty per year from 1950–2000. That is, during those 51 years, there were 118.82 million billets (with "billet" defined as one serviceman for one year). Of that total, 27.3 million billets were overseas assignments.
• In 2003, 387,920 troops were stationed on foreign soil.This figure is out of a total of 1,434,377 personnel. Deployments have ranged from a high of 1,082,777 troops in 1968 to a low of 206,002 in 1999.
• Since 1950, 54 countries have hosted at least 1,000 American troops.Troop deployments are widespread every year. During the past 50 years, 54 different countries have hosted 1,000 or more U.S. troops at one point. During the typical year, 20 countries hosted 1,000 (or more) U.S. soldiers. An additional 11.8 countries hosted 100 to 999 American troops. During the 1990s, troops were concentrated in fewer countries. In 2003, 14 countries hosted 1,000 or more American troops, the same number of countries as in 2000.
• Foreign deployments have been concentrated in Europe and Asia.The number of U.S. troops in Europe and Asia dwarfs the scant troops stationed in the other three regions: Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas (excluding the United States). During the second half of the 20th century, 52 percent of deployed troops were in Europe and 41 percent in Asia. More than one-third of troop deployments during 1950–2000 were to Germany alone, which hosted over 10,000,000 U.S. military personnel.
  Read more: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/10/global-us-troop-deployment-1950-2003
  
  US Troops Abroad:
  
  Afghanistan           102,000
  Germany                  53,526
  Japan                        36,708
  South Korea             31,839
  Data from DOD