Photo By Corinna Baltos | Six German Air Force officers graduated from the Tactical Control Officers course at...... read more read more
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Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on the German military at Fort Bliss.
FORT BLISS, Texas – Nearly every American knows that there has been an American military presence in Germany for the past 70 years, but most don’t know that Germany has had a military presence in the United States for almost as long.
For nearly 60 years, Fort Bliss has played host to thousands of members of the German armed forces. It is home to the German Air Force Air Defense Center, where Luftwaffe airmen train their missile and air defense crews.
“German air force personnel come here to learn their weapon-system related tactical and technical training,” said German air force 1st Lt. Marco Hauff, a spokesman for the GAFADCG. The training the Germans go through is similar to the Air Defense Artillery Officer Basic Course and the PATRIOT Fire Control Enhanced Operator and Maintainer Course American Soldiers attend. Like their American counterparts, the German officers and airmen learn the tactics, techniques and procedures needed to employ air defense systems.
While it may seem odd to many American Soldiers to have an initial training school in a foreign country and on a foreign military installation, for the Luftwaffe it makes sense.
“German Air Defense Soldiers have always trained here,” said Hauff. “On Nov. 9, 1957, the Luftwaffe established the German air force liaison staff here to establish the basis for the training of German Soldiers at the U.S. Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Guided Missile School here.” The school is now known as the German Air Force Air Defense Center.
The GAFADC has two major tasks. The first is to provide training on the PATRIOT weapon system, which is the primary ground-based air defense weapon system used by the Bundesweher or Federal Defense Force. Second, they are responsible for the pre-deployment training of the German surface to air missile units that are protecting Turkey.
The GAFADC is here because both countries have used and continue to use, the same weapons systems and because when the Luftwaffe was re-established after World War II, there was no place for West Germany to adequately train their ADA personnel. They have remained here because the United States has the open spaces needed to train with the weapons system and because the immersion of the German Soldiers into U.S. military doctrine and practices pays dividends for both countries.
“The knowledge of the systems is here, and as partner nations we should work together,” said German air force Capt. Steven Tietze, one of the Tactical Control Officer instructors at the GAFADC. “The best thing about having the course here, as opposed to in Germany, is that you can focus on your training,” he said. “The weather and the training areas around Fort Bliss allow us to train throughout the year. Also, El Paso in the summer is much better then Germany in the winter.” The TCO course is equivalent to the U.S. Air Defense Artillery Officer Course.
For many of the students and instructors the training they receive is enhanced by the fact that they are in a foreign country.
“It’s special that we get to train in the United States,” said German air force 2nd Lt. Sven Gapski, a student attending the Tactical Control Officers course. “We get to live within the American community with our families and experience a different culture. Most of our fellow Soldiers don’t get that opportunity.”
Even though the U.S. Air Defense Artillery School has moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the GAFADC will remain at Fort Bliss for the time being. To maintain the training partnership, the Luftwaffe recently graduated two German officers from the U.S. Air Defense Artillery Officer Course. In January, the two students from Fort Sill will come to the GAFADC to learn the German specifications of the PATRIOT weapons system.
Gapski and five of his fellow officers graduated from the TCO course on Dec. 11, and will return to Germany with their families to begin their careers in a German PATRIOT unit.
“I will remember the really blue sky here,” said Gapski, who was the honor graduate. “I am sad I am leaving, but I will be back.”
| Date Taken: | 01.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 01.05.2016 17:05 |
| Story ID: | 185656 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 598 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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