Overseas bases operate as insulated self-contained American towns

Evidence

Foreign soil or not, places like Ramstein tend to resemble insulated, self-contained small American towns that allow their inhabitants to hardly ever leave the base. These Little Americas have become both a symbol of American life and an exaggerated version of it. In many ways they resemble gated communities, with sprawling grounds, shopping malls, fast food, golf, and a car-based lifestyle. (Service members get their cars shipped overseas free of charge, and gasoline is heavily subsidized.) These “simulacrums of suburbia,” as the architecture professor and former Air Force officer Mark Gillem calls them, subtly and not so subtly shape life around them, presenting the host nation with their particular vision of American culture and transforming local economies to reflect the consumption habits of U.S. troops. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 112

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces Gillem’s useful concept of bases as ‘simulacrums of suburbia’ shaping host nations.
• XREF: Connects to the Little America concept and to how bases distort host economies. — connects to: Base residents describe their communities as idyllic small American towns — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 433; Base residents enjoy crime-free communities they compare to American cities — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 434; US overseas bases vary sharply from suburban-style complexes to utilitarian single-soldier campuses — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 757
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 112