They're still good to have as staging areas for infantry, etc. Bombers suck at occupying territory.74novaman wrote:Since we have the ability using carrier based fighters, US based bombers like the B2, etc to hit anywhere we need to within 24 hours, we can simply close up shop on most of our foreign bases.
Lease them and any non-secret facilities on them back to the host country while maintaining the extraterritoriality and a clause in the lease providing for essentially an emergency short-notice eviction. Also maintain a small emergency/security crew to protect any sensitive toys that can't be packed up and taken home, and to handle emergency operations. (i.e. US plane making an emergency landing for repairs, initial prep work for the above-mentioned eviction, canary for judging the host nation's intentions toward us, etc.) That way, it's all still there if we need it, but at a tiny fraction of the cost of a fully staffed base.