Moving US F-16s from Germany will ripple far outside the Black Sea region
By: Valerie Insinna and Aaron Mehta  
WASHINGTON — When Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced July 29 the movement of almost 12,000 troops out of Germany, the impact on the U.S. Air Force was seemingly minor.
One F-16 squadron, the 480th Fighter Squadron, would transfer from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany to Aviano Air Base in Italy, which already hosts two F-16 squadrons. Meanwhile, KC-135 tankers from the 100th Air Refueling Wing and CV-22 Ospreys operated by the 352nd Special Operations Wing would remain at RAF Mildenhall, England, instead of transferring to Spangdahlem.
At the time, Esper said the shift of F-16s to Italy would “(move) them closer to the Black Sea region and (make those forces) better capable of conducting dynamic force employments and rotational deployments to NATO’s southeastern flank.â€
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-air-power/2020/08/13/moving-us-f-16s-from-germany-will-ripple-far-outside-the-black-sea-region/
