by Nonny » Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:20 am
Hi Becky,<br>Holloman Air Force Base is about 10 miles west of Alamogordo, New Mexico. This is where the German Troops are stationed since 1996. And this was negotiated by Bush (#1) and his Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1996/vo12no13/vo12no13_luftwaffe.htm" target="top">www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1996/vo12no13/vo12no13_luftwaffe.htm</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><br>June 24, 1996<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Luftwaffe Invades New Mexico</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>by John F. McManus <br><br>On May 1st, Secretary of Defense William Perry took part in a ceremony at New Mexico's Holloman Air Force Base marking the official opening of a German military installation there. The facility is the first permanent military installation established in the United States by a foreign nation. <br><br>As a demonstration of the uniqueness of this arrangement, Secretary Perry and New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson were welcomed to the installation by German Defense Minister Volker Ruehe. Where our own officials would ordinarily do the welcoming of dignitaries from a foreign nation at a stateside military base, the German Defense Minister did the greeting on this occasion. <br><br>Of course, half a century earlier the reception would have been very different, with the Luftwaffe paying the price in blood in order to gain "access" to U.S. air space. <br><br>The unit, commanded by Colonel Eckard Sowada of the German Air Force, is already home to 12 European-built Tornado strike fighter planes. Approximately 300 German military personnel are stationed there, along with their families. Germany will add another 30 Tornados, 600 more military personnel, and additional family members by 1999. Germany will pay the U.S. $40 million annually until 1999, and $100 million annually thereafter. <br><br>While it is true that German military personnel have trained in the United States for decades, all have previously served under the command of U.S. officers. German pilots have learned to fly F-104G Starfighters at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and F-4F and F-4E Phantom jets at George Air Force Base in California. <br><br>The newly created facility at Holloman will house aircraft bearing the German Maltese cross. Colonel Sowada will be reporting directly to superiors within his own nation's armed forces, with no American in his chain of command. His immediate boss is General Gerd R. Meyer, who heads the German Armed Forces Command for the United States and Canada from an office in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington. <br><br>While our own officials liken this arrangement to the 40-year presence of U.S. military bases within Germany, they ignore the central question of whether or not the U.S. should continue to station troops in Germany and other faraway lands. Why should the U.S. taxpayers continue to offset the defense budgets of Germany and Japan? Why not station German soldiers on German soil and American soldiers on American soil? The present arrangement makes perfect sense, however, if the development of a new world army is the goal. <br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Pentagon officials sought to sidestep any criticism of the Clinton Administration over the German base at Holloman by pointing out that the agreement was negotiated by President Bush and his Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney. Chief Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon contended: "This should not be portrayed as a German invasion or occupation of U.S. space." At a news briefing, he insisted that "the Germans are tenants at Holloman Air Force Base, which continues to be a U.S. Air Force Base." On the other hand, the Deutshe Presse-Agentur, which does not have to concern itself with playing to an American audience, put a very different spin on the story: "The German and American defence ministers have christened a German military base in the southwestern U.S. desert, the first permanent military installation set up in the United States for a foreign nation."</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <br><br>U.S. spokesmen claim that weather conditions in New Mexico are ideal for pilot training. Also, they note, New Mexico with only 1.5 million people is the same geographic size as Germany with a population of 80 million. All of this means that there is ample space for training missions, even for target ranges. But when pressed by a reporter, Bacon sought to minimize the uniqueness of the arrangement by referring to our nation's long-standing policy of training NATO pilots here. NATO is undoubtedly the overseer of this entire arrangement. <br><br>The creation of an official German base in New Mexico is another step toward the creation of an internationally controlled military force. NATO, a creature of the United Nations, seems earmarked to supply the military arm that the UN has always wanted. While each of the 16 NATO nations wields one-sixteenth of NATO's decision-making authority, Germany and the United States are militarily the alliance's most important members. Having these two NATO powers entangled more tightly will undoubtedly strengthen NATO. <br><br>Secretary Perry and others maintain that having a German base within the U.S. is a sign of great progress. But progress toward what? There is no military threat to this nation that would remotely justify inviting forces from other nations to take up positions within our borders. Even at the height of the Cold War, when our own leaders constantly told us that the Soviet Union was a significant potential adversary, no one suggested that foreign military personnel set up bases here. Now that Germany has been permitted to establish a base within our borders, what's to keep other nations from being invited to do likewise? <br><br>__________________________________<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.holloman.af.mil/media/gaf.html" target="top">www.holloman.af.mil/media/gaf.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>GERMAN AIR FORCE FACILITIES INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>The German Air Force has been training its aircrew members in the United States for more than 40 years. This training took place at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., and then George Air Force Base, Calif., before moving to Holloman Air Force Base in mid 1992.<br><br>German Air Force pilot candidates learn to fly in Texas at U.S. Air Force undergraduate pilot training. Their future backseaters attend undergraduate navigator training at Pensacola, Fla.<br><br>The U.S. Air Force’s 20th Fighter Squadron at Holloman trains German aircrews to fly the F-4F Phantom II. This training is for pilots and weapons systems operators. In addition, the 20th conducts the Fighter Weapons Instructor Course and also trains the instructor pilots needed for this Foreign Military Sales program, both U.S. Air Force and German Air Force. The German government pays the full cost of this program.<br><br>The German Air Force Tactical Training Center activated at Holloman May 1, 1996. With the activation, 300 German military personnel and 12 Tornado aircraft joined Team Holloman. German aircrews come to Holloman for approximately three weeks for advanced tactics training and then return to Germany. The German Air Force also conducts a Fighter Weapons Instructor Course for the Tornado. Aircrews for this course come to Holloman for about six months.<br><br>The Tactical Training Center was redesignated the German Air Force Flying Training Center July 1, 1999 in conjunction with their growing mission. In addition, German Air Force pilots and weapons systems operators are now learning to fly the Tornado at Holloman and instructor aircrews are being trained for the German Air Force. The number of German military personnel will increase to 750 members, plus 120 civilian employees, and the number of Tornados will increase to 42 by April 2001.<br><br>There are numerous reasons the German Air Force trains here. The area offers great flying weather and has suitable air space. Other reasons are the proximity of Holloman to the German Air Force Air Defense School at Ft. Bliss and the centralizing of German aircrew training at a single location. To facilitate this, there is a memorandum of understanding between the two governments.<br><br>The U.S. rates Germany among its strongest allies and one of its partners in NATO. The strength of the alliance with Germany, as well as other European partners, was the cornerstone of victory in the Cold War and is the bedrock of what stability endures over most of Europe today.<br><br>Part of the relationship held with European partners is a shared military strength. It is extremely important for allied armed forces to train together to ensure effectiveness when called upon to serve together. The air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is a good example. Not only did members of the German Air Force fly combat sorties, they also permitted U.S. combat sorties to be launched from Germany.<br><br>Throughout the Cold War, the U.S. maintained a heavy, constant and expensive presence overseas to anchor the continued strength of NATO and stability in Europe. After NATO’s victory in the Cold War, the U.S. people chose not to continue to pay the high costs involved in keeping a peak U.S. presence in Europe, and many forces were brought home. However, as seen in the Balkans today, NATO’s strength still plays a vital role in keeping stability in the region.<br><br>By offering NATO allies the benefits of available space at Holloman as well as the use of the Southwest’s excellent flying weather, the U.S. can help maintain the strength of NATO’s forces without the expense of forward-basing U.S. forces in great numbers overseas.<br><br>For decades, the Germans and other European nations welcomed hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel, and the equipment they employed, into their communities because these nations and their people understood the importance of a strong NATO. <br><br>The leadership and people of New Mexico and Alamogordo have shown their understanding of this vital partnership and strongly support these training programs.<br><br>All expenses involved in the Tornado and F-4 programs, including more than $140 million in construction, are paid by the German government. There are no specific costs to U.S. taxpayers associated with either of these programs. All flying operations are subject to the control of Holloman’s host U.S. Air Force commander and are subject to all applicable Air Force and federal regulations and statutes. All activity in military airspace and ranges is controlled by the appropriate U.S. authority for those areas. In addition, while in the U.S., all German military personnel are subject to the laws of the U.S. Government.<br> <p></p><i></i>
