Dempsey: AFRICOM headquarters to stay in Germany

Gen. Martin Dempsey put to rest Monday any talk that U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) headquarters could move out of Germany and onto the continent, at least for the near future.

Dempsey, speaking at a town hall in Stuttgart, Germany, where AFRICOM is located, said the command should stay where it is, Stars and Stripes reported.

“The answer I can give you with confidence today is, yes,” Dempsey said.

“We think for operational reasons — unless there is a huge (cost) disparity —operational reasons should dominate” the location debate, he said.

AFRICOM was established in October 2008, and there has been plenty of talk from lawmakers and others to move its location to Africa or the United States. U.S. officials have been hesitant to try to move the command onto Africa soil due to concerns from countries there.

In 2011, U.S. Africa Command Chief Gen. Carter Ham said that shrinking Pentagon budgets would cause him to advise him against moving its headquarters from Germany to anywhere else.

“The money piece is perhaps more relevant,” Ham said last year. “Right now, in this environment, it’d really have to be a compelling reason to go back to the secretary and say, ‘We oughta spend a bunch of money to do this.’ ”

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