German-U.S. Forces in Europe Consultation Meeting held in Wiesbaden

Photo By Angela Kershner | Participants in the 2019 German-American Forces in Europe consultations pose for a group photo next to a piece of the Berlin Wall on display outside the Hessischer Landtag in Wiesbaden on Nov. 8, one day prior to the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germany is host to the largest U.S. force presence in Europe and these consultations are just one way U.S. Army Europe works to strengthen our relationships throughout the local, state and federal levels.  

WIESBADEN, HESSEN, GERMANY

11.22.2019

Story by Angela Kershner 

U.S. Army Europe and Africa     

German local, state and federal government leaders gathered in Wiesbaden Nov. 7-8 for the 2019 German-U.S. Forces in Europe Consultation Meeting hosted by U.S. Army Europe.

Held under various names with a variety of formats since 2006, the consultation meeting has evolved into a combination of presentations and briefings, exploring a variety of topics that intersect German-American interests.
“The consultations aim to thank our German hosts, inform them, reassure and ask for their continued support and understanding,” said Master of Ceremonies Mike Anderson, director of government relations for U.S. Army Europe.

Participants included U.S. Army Europe leadership from both the headquarters in Wiesbaden and numerous subordinate commands located throughout Germany; representatives from U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, and U.S. European Command; German military leadership from NATO, the Federal Ministry of Defense, and a number of Bundeswehr Land Commands and State Ministry of the Interior offices.

Keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Markus Laubenthal, Director-General for Forces Policy with the German Federal Ministry of Defense, stressed the importance of using opportunities like these consultations to exchange ideas and views in order to address our common challenges, not just on the German-American level, but together as allies in NATO as well. Laubenthal was the first multinational officer to serve as U.S. Army Europe’s Chief of Staff from 2014 to 2017 and is well-versed in the importance of collaboration.
“The new emphasis on collective defense has taken shape,” Laubenthal said. “Increasing NATO’s ability to successfully deter and defend is our highest priority.”

Since 2017, U.S. Army Europe has continued to fill the Chief of Staff position with German officers. Maj. Gen. Kai Rohrschneider followed Lt. Gen. Laubenthal as Chief of Staff from 2017-2018 and now serves as the chief of staff for NATO’s Joint Support and Enabling Command. Both Maj. Gen. Rohrschneider and current chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Hartmut Renk, attended.

“There is much we can learn from each other—building interoperability for people, for process and policy, and also for technology,” ,” said Laubenthal. “We are guided by both interests and values, that’s why our partnership provides trust and reliability in an unreliable world.”

U.S. Army Europe Deputy Chief of Staff and G3-Operations Brig. Gen. Sean Bernabe delivered an operational overview of U.S. Army Europe, largely focused on planning and activities associated with next year’s DEFENDER-Europe 20. With more than 20,000 U.S. Soldiers arriving from the United States for the exercise, both Germany and U.S. Army Europe are actively and strategically communicating the importance of the multitude of exercises, its details, and the “why” of the exercises to German officials, citizens and media.
A multinational panel focused on Germany’s role as a logistical hub. Panelists included Lt. Gen. Jürgen Weigt, vice chief of the Bundeswehr’s Joint Support and Enabling Service in Bonn; Lt. Gen. Jürgen Knappe, commander of NATO’s new Joint Support and Enabling Command, located in Ulm; and Maj. Gen. Christopher Mohan, commander of U.S. Army Europe’s 21st Theater Sustainment Command.

“This is just one step in the journey we are on together,” said Mohan. “These consultations are essential to an ongoing dialogue, providing a cornerstone on which we continue building our interoperability, strengthening our relationship, and moving together into the future, continuously expanding the ways we collaborate with our allies—through NATO’s new Joint Support and Enabling Command, for example.”

Brig. Gen. Christopher Norrie, commanding general of 7th Army Training Command, discussed the noise created by his units and training command, and the efforts being made to minimize and abate that noise—including adjusting training in order to be “good neighbors.”

Lt. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, U.S. Army Europe’s commanding general, thanked participants for their attendance and ongoing commitment to a strong relationship between Germany and the U.S. Army. “There is not another country in the world that has a relationship with the U.S. Army like Germany does,” said Cavoli. “This relationship is fundamental to our collective security. It has been a relationship on which we have based Western security for 75 years.”

• Date Taken: 11.22.2019
• Date Posted: 11.22.2019 10:45
• Story ID: 352934
• Location: WIESBADEN, HESSEN, DE