U.S. Army to Hire Private Guards for Bases in Germany

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military will hire private security guards to protect American military bases in Germany as the German army withdraws troops sent to guard the bases after the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. Army officials said Friday.

The Army has requested $100 million for hiring contract guards in an emergency measure submitted to Congress last week, budget documents show.

The German army deployed 800 soldiers after Sept. 11 and then sent another 2,600 in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opposed the war on Iraq, but pledged that German troops would help secure the dozens of U.S. military installations in Germany.

U.S. officials did not say why Germany was withdrawing its guards.