Introduction Thomas W. Maulucci, Jr; Part I. Strategy and Politics: 1. Guarantors of peace and freedom: the US forces in Germany, 1945-90 Hans-Joachim Harder; 2. Deterrence and defense: the stationing of US troops in Germany and the implementation of forward strategy in Europe, 1950-67 Bruno Thosse; 3. The war that was never fought: the US army, the Bundeswehr, and the NATO central front Dennis Showalter; 4. Why they did not go home: the GIs and the battle over their presence in the 1960s and 1970s Hubert Zimmermann; Part II. Military Communities: 5. United States army military communities in Germany Thomas Leuerer; 6. German-American relations at the local level: Heidelberg, 1948-55 Theodor Scharnholz; 7. American military families in West Germany: social, cultural, and foreign relations, 1946-65 Donna Alvah; Part III. Tensions between Neighbors: 8. Insolent occupiers, aggressive protectors: policing GI delinquency in early 1950s Germany Gerhard Fürmetz; 9. Protection from the protector: court-martial cases and the lawlessness of occupation in American-controlled Berlin, 1945-8 Jennifer V. Evans; Part IV. The German Armed Forces and the American Model: 10. The godfathers of Innere Führung? The American military model and the creation of the Bundeswehr Klaus Naumann; 11. From Befehlsausgabe to 'briefing': the Americanization of the Luftwaffe Wolfgang Schmidt; Part V. The 1970s and 1980s: 12. 'Army in anguish': the United States army, Europe in the early 1970s Alexander Vazansky; 13. The US military and dissenters in the ranks: Germany 1970-5 Howard J. De Nike; 14. The US armed forces and the development of anti-NATO protests in West Germany, 1980-9 Anni Baker; 15. GIs under seige: the German peace movement confronts the US military Lou Martin; Appendix: population statistics on the US armed forces in Germany, 1945-2000 Dewey Browder.