FEBRUARY 12, 2025 – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke about DOD’s force posturing priorities on the European and African continents while meeting with members of the media during a visit to U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany.
When asked whether visiting Africom on his first overseas trip as defense secretary should be taken as a sign that U.S. strategic aims in Africa are changing, Hegseth pointed to the threat posed by China in that region.
He said China’s intentions are pernicious, not just in their part of the world but also on the African continent.
“And America’s posture there, along with allies and partners, is going to matter [in regard to] contesting that space. So, it certainly remains a priority,” he continued.
In addition to continually monitoring China’s presence in Africa, Hegseth said force posturing in Africom’s area of responsibility is countering the ongoing terror threat in that region.
As an example of this, he pointed to the Feb. 1, 2025, airstrikes against ISIS targets in Somalia that Africom coordinated in conjunction with the Federal Government of Somalia.
Hegseth said the operation was an example of DOD returning tactical decision-making authority to senior military commanders.
“That’s a reflection … of pushing authority down [and] untying the hands of warfighters,” he said. “[Such decisions] should be made at the four-star level or at the Secretary of Defense level more quickly based on the ability to degrade the enemy,” he added.
Regarding troop posturing in the European area of responsibility, Hegseth — who visited U.S. European Command earlier in the day — said there are currently no plans to shift forces from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region to deal with the emerging threat from China. He added that force posturing across the world will be reviewed.
The secretary said peacefully ending the war in Ukraine and ensuring European NATO countries raise their defense spending to sufficient levels would need to occur before the U.S. would consider any significant re-posturing of forces.
Hegseth clarified that any future re-posturing of U.S. forces in Europe should not be viewed as an abandonment of America’s allies.
“We would be remiss in not reviewing force posture everywhere, but it would be the wrong planning assumption to say, ‘America is abandoning [Europe]’ or ‘America is leaving.’ No, America is smart to observe, plan, prioritize and project power to deter conflict,” Hegseth said.
“Being strong — peace through strength — is how you deter that,” he continued.
Hegseth is scheduled to travel to Brussels next to attend the NATO Defense Ministerial and the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting.
At his first NATO ministerial with allied counterparts, Hegseth is set to engage with NATO allies and partners to discuss the aforementioned need to boost allied defense spending, increase European leadership and expand defense industrial base capacity on both sides of the Atlantic.
At the UDCG, Hegseth plans to reiterate President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to a diplomatic and expedient end to the war in Ukraine and highlight the need for increased European leadership on security assistance to that country.
“The urgency of this moment requires friends talking to friends about capabilities, … leadership, … stepping up, … burden sharing and the incentives to say the European continent deserves to be free from any aggression, but it ought [to] be those in the neighborhood investing the most in that … individual and collective defense,” he said.
By Matthew Olay, DOD News