US overseas bases fall into three tiers, from Little Americas to lily pads

Evidence

The hundreds of U.S. bases spread around Germany and the rest of the world can be broadly divided into three groups. Most troops and family members overseas are stationed at giant city-sized garrisons often referred to as “Little Americas”—places like Ramstein, Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, and Camp Humphreys in South Korea. Smaller than those are medium-sized bases like the Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, which retain amenities such as fitness facilities but rarely host family members, eliminating the need for schools and child care. And the smallest of all are the bases officially known as “cooperative security locations,” more commonly referred to as “lily pads,” after the flora that enable a frog to jump across a pond. Often secretive in nature, lily pads tend to have few if any U.S. troops, sometimes relying instead on private contractors. They frequently house drones, surveillance aircraft, or pre-positioned weaponry for the use of troops deploying from elsewhere. Generally, they are located in parts of the world that have previously seen relatively little U.S. military presence, giving U.S. forces access to new parts of the globe. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 107

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the three-tier taxonomy (Little Americas, medium bases, lily pads) and the origin of the lily pad name.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 107
• XREF: connects to: US overseas bases vary sharply from suburban-style complexes to utilitarian single-soldier campuses — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 757; Losses of major bases drove the U.S. to build smaller lily pads worldwide — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 153; U.S. bases abroad are walled enclaves of plenty amid surrounding poverty (+2 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: US overseas bases vary sharply from suburban-style complexes to utilitarian single-soldier campuses — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 757; Losses of major bases drove the U.S. to build smaller lily pads worldwide — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 153; U.S. bases abroad are walled enclaves of plenty amid surrounding poverty (+2 more)