Ramstein is also a vital military medical hub. Troops wounded in the Middle East are unlikely to survive a transfer to the Homeland. More dead Americans. Sometimes the Americans think of NATO wrongly. Its essentially a supplement to their own defence budget. If Russia really kicks off, it will be Russia versus America, with Europe in between. There would be no doubt Europe will help defend America, and NATO members would be, de facto, an extension of US forces. With NATO membership, America doesn't have to worry about how much of its defence budget it needs to allocate to confront a British, French, German etc threat.
