RSS strengthens allied partnership with VIP visit

Photo By 1st Lt. Connor Coombes | U.S. Army Soldier Lt. Col. Kevin Harris, commander, Regimental Support Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment presents Patrick Hoellerer, son of Hahnbach Deputy Mayor Eva Hoellerer with a certificate in recognition of his visit at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 22, 2019. The event fulfilled a promise made by RSS leadership to Eva Hoellerer and symbolically strengthened the enduring relationship between the squadron and its partner community in Germany.  

VILSECK, BY, GERMANY

05.29.2019

Story by 1st Lt. Connor Coombes 

2d Cavalry Regiment

The Regimental Support Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment, hosted a German civilian visitor on Rose Barracks, Germany, May 22, 2019. The visitor, Patrick Hoellerer, is the son of the Hahnbach Deputy Mayor Eva Hoellerer.

U.S. Army Soldier Lt. Col. Kevin Harris, commander, RSS, 2CR, hosted Patrick Hoellerer to fulfill a promise made by a previous squadron commander to facilitate a visit. The event held a special significance to RSS, as Hahnbach is the squadron’s partner community in Germany.

Patrick had previously visited the installation with his mother, Eva Hoellerer, in response to an invitation for a Thanksgiving luncheon, but this time around, he received the opportunity to closely observe Soldiers conducting training.

An escort picked up Patrick at his home and transported him to the RSS motor pool; there, he was received by medics from the Evacuation Platoon, Charlie Troop, RSS, 2CR. 2nd Lt. Justin Olson, platoon leader, provided Patrick Hoellerer with a helmet, and the medics demonstrated casualty evacuation procedures in a M1133 Medical Evacuation Vehicle. The medics walked him through the steps to load a medical casualty onto a litter and, then, bring the litter onto the vehicle expediently.

To conclude the morning portion of the day’s activities, Patrick toured the inside and outside of the MEV with the medics.

“I’m glad we could accommodate him, and I hope he took something away from the training we held today,” said Olson after the event.

Following the morning training and a break for lunch, Patrick arrived at the tower for Range 118, Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, where the squadron conducted convoy escort team gunnery. Under supervision by escorts, he briefly observed a live-fire engagement from the control room.

At the staging area next to the tower, Patrick donned a helmet once again and climbed into the gunner’s seat of two High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles where Pfc. Ian Macon and Pfc. Chance Ernest, both gunners, explained function checks and clearing procedures for the .50 caliber and M240 weapon systems.

“2CR provides amazing opportunities to meet and teach a diverse group of people about the kind of work you do every day, and it was a pleasure to host a local national very important person,” said Macon, who also helped escort Patrick around the vehicle staging area.

Macon, then, showed Patrick inside a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, and he described, in a general context, the typical daily schedule of maintenance for a vehicle operator.

At the close of the day’s events, Patrick met Harris, who presented him with a certificate in recognition of his visit and the squadron’s partnership with the city of Hahnbach. Both men noted the symbolic value the visit held for the partnership between the RSS and Hahnbach, and more broadly, between the United States and its coalition partners in Europe.

“I had an amazing time today getting to see a little more of what Soldiers do, and I’m very grateful to the Regimental Support Squadron for the opportunity to come and visit the base,” said Patrick.

• Date Taken: 05.29.2019
• Date Posted: 05.30.2019 21:03
• Story ID: 324248
• Location: VILSECK, BY, DE