Photo By David Poe | German Air Force Lt. Col. Thomas Herter addresses his airmen before relinquishes...... read more read more
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German Air Force Lt. Col. Martin Herter relinquished command of the German Air Force Air Defense Center at Fort Bliss to German Air Force Lt. Col. Ingo Scharschmidt during a change of command ceremony at the Old Fort Bliss Replica July 19.
The Fort Bliss-trained air defense officer served a year as commander as the German Air Defense training community continues to work between Fort Bliss and the GAFADC Training Detachment at the Army Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Herter, who was certified as a Patriot missile system tactical control officer at Fort Bliss in 1997 and more recently served as the center’s deputy commander before taking the helm, said in his remarks that the 50-plus year history between American and German Air Defenders have served the allied defense partners.
“It’s great thing to see in what professional manner the U.S. Army trains their and our students,” said Herter, who met his wife Anja while stationed in El Paso. “In my opinion, it’s perfect, giving soldiers the opportunity to see how different nations think, learn, train, and, maybe as a result – fight. Interoperability isn’t only important in the technical perspective, it’s important from the unit perspective.”
Scharschmidt joins the GAFADC from German Air Force Forces Command at Cologne, Germany, where he served as an air defense section chief. Like his predecessor, he has ties to Fort Bliss as he attended officer training at the former German Air Force Air Defense school, where he qualified as a HAWK missile system tactical control officer, and also served as a GAFADC department director from 2010 to 2013. He has also served as commander of German Air Force’s 5th Squadron PATRIOT SAM Group 26 at Husum, Germany, and as PATRIOT SAM Group 24’s executive officer at Bad Sülze, Germany.
German Air Force Col. Arnt Kuebart, the commander of Air and Missile Defense Wing 1, also in Husum, served as the senior official for the ceremony.
German Air Defense airmen have been training at Fort Bliss since 1956, with the former GAFADS opening in 1966. More than 50,000 German Air Defense officers and NCOs have trained at Fort Bliss.
In the 1980s, 2,000 German Air Force personnel taught at the former GAFADS. Today, just 100 German civilian and military personnel train 300-400 German troops on advanced air defense systems, while they get their basic air defense training at Fort Sill.
With a lot of split business Fort Bliss and Fort Sill, which is almost a 10-hour drive, Herter said he was glad his extended time away from his wife was coming to an end as they transfer back to Europe, yet hopes the German-American air defense partnership lives on with the success it has had for more than half a century.
“Commuting to Fort Sill has been a challenge,” he said. “The German Air Force brings almost every air defense soldier who will be working with the PATRIOT system to Fort Sill, at the world’s biggest and best center for air defense training, the careers of our young soldiers start there. It’s important to develop an understanding of how we react and interact. It will be a big help in critical situations when you know your ‘battle buddy’ or your neighboring unit.”
| Date Taken: | 07.19.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2018 16:03 |
| Story ID: | 285826 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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