Photo By Ardian Nrecaj | Around 200 U.S. Army Soldiers and 60 German soldiers with Multinational Battle...... read more read more
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CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Around 200 U.S. Army Soldiers and 60 German soldiers with Multinational Battle Group-East received badges they achieved in the last four months during an awards ceremony at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, May 13.
U.S. Soldiers were presented with an Edelweiß badge, German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (GAFB) and Schützenschnur award, and German soldiers received marksmanship badges and Airborne wings.
German army Lt. Col. Matthias Puschnig, the German army liaison officer with MNBG-E, was the one who coordinated and helped organize the participation of U.S. troops into these events, and presented them with badges during the ceremony.
“We had three German badges,” said Puschnig. “One was the Edelweiß being presented for a mountain hike; most of it was on fierce conditions up there.”
The second badge was the GAFB.
“The GAFB is awarded to soldiers who prove they know soldier skills on an expert level, like marching, shooting and combat life savers skills,” said Puschnig.
“The third was the Schützenschnur award presented for excellent shooters, and this one has a tradition of more than 120 years,” continued Puschnig.
U.S. Army Sgt. Samuel Hunter, liaison officer for Forward Command Post with MNBG-E, native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, won gold badges on all three competitions.
“The hardest for me was Edelweiß,” said Hunter. “Climbing up Mt. Duke was the most physically challenging one. I had a backpack and weapon climbing up a mountain with a lot of loose rocks and different climates; it was tough.”
Hunter emphasized that he would absolutely do it again.
“It was a great experience to get to know some of German soldiers, get to know what they do in their army,” said Hunter.
Puschnig explained that to earn these badges you really have to try hard.
“The commitment [of U.S. Soldiers] was strong and everybody showed proficiency,” said Puschnig.
U.S. Army Colonel Clint Baker, commander of Multinational Battle Group-East, explained one of the tasks he received from the U.S. Army Europe commander.
“One of our focuses is enabling the alliance, so the training that Lt. Col. Puschnig did has really been essential to building relationships, proficiency, interoperability and all of those things we try to do with our allies,” said Baker.
“He is a real professional,” added Baker. “They have really worked hard to be good allies, build relationships and make all of us a better team.”
Puschnig really enjoyed his time working in Kosovo.
“My time here [in Kosovo] was the greatest time I had since the days of my active duty; I am a reservist so this was the greatest time I had in last 20 years with the military,” added Puschnig.
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2015 09:59 |
| Story ID: | 163936 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Hometown: | CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, US |
| Web Views: | 4,200 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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