GTA

[Imon]

for the germans in the forum :

http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil/

German American Volksfest,
1-3 August,
GTA (Grafenwoehr Training Area)

Imon

[mreheater72]

for the germans in the forum :
German American Volksfest,
1-3 August,
GTA (Grafenwoehr Training Area)

Imon

I was already there today at afternoon ! Come on and join, it's really profitable !

So long mreheater72

[German_EPA]

i am on the way....

[fieldtest]

Wish I could join

But from Berlin it´s the opposite part of Germany,maybe next year.

We have our annual "Deutsch-Amerikanisches-Volksfest" these days here but the name is only a reminiscence to old days. Now there aren´t any americans any more. More or less it´s a genuine german volksfest now.

I remember the annual american party/fest at the Tempelhof airport. This was long awaited every year. The soldiers showed their work and their equipment. The best was the big kilo-pack of american ice-cream but they had all the MRE and packed cantine-stuff we have to buy now for much more money. Fresh american barbecue, too, of course...

The second best was the french fest a few weeks later.

But this is long gone, since 1993 we don´t have any foreign army in Berlin.

[Stef]

Hi,
there was no Soviet Fest the other side of the wall, with Kascha and canned sausage like this wolrld-champion food from the Russian ration?

[fieldtest]

Unfortunately not *lol*

But I´ve had some friends on the other side of the wall. As radio amateurs they had some good connections and from time to time there was an inofficial "fest" with some food and radios from Russia (and from Funkwerk Koepenick).
But the russian soldiers in the GDR most of the time weren´t allowed to leave their buildings and official contacts between (east-)germans and russians weren´t allowed at all.
So my knowledge of east-german and soviet lifestyle comes mainly from the contact to the east-german radio amateurs.

[housil]

But the russian soldiers in the GDR most of the time weren´t allowed to leave their buildings...

Officers ranks could leave their military installations - for checking the east Germans garbage dump for any use- or eatable. I´m not kidding!
All others ranks (private, NCO ...) were draft for two years. The conditions in the Rad Army have been so horrible, that many try to escape (desertion) from it. That´s the really reason why the Red Army kept their own soldiers like prisonors. Their are a couple of reports, when Red Army soldiers fled their troops, they did hunted them until they got and shot them! There are also some reports that soldiers fled with a tank straight thru the installations fence and had been hunted until...

... and official contacts between (east-)germans and russians weren´t allowed at all.

Are you sure?!

In the former DDR (East Germany) was a special Society for German-Russian Friendschip.
They start at elemtary school and "forced" the kids to join. They had to "spend" their pocket money for them.
Once a year was an "official week of (east-)german-sowjet friendship"
They did a lot that the Germans have to like their sowjet "friends"

My co-workers - a formers east german police officer (VoPo = Volkspolizist) and a NCO of the East Germany Navy (National Volksmarine ) are still telling me every day stories about them and why they still don´t like em at all...
Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft (also available in english)

[fieldtest]

You are right - I used the wrong expression

These official contacts through the DSF were officially supported. These were organized meetings with a "political intelligence officer" (no idea of the correct translation for the german word "stasi-Offizier") near every three people.
I thought of personal contacts, like inviting a russian soldier friend alone to dinner (like we did with our american friends) - this was not possible.

BTW: nice pic

[mreheater72]

Here some pictures from yesterday:

My nephew with the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal)-roboter (value 250.000 USD ):




Here he is sitting in an Humvee:


So long mreheater72

[Imon]

also from my side:

"Welcome home to Grafenwoehr for the Stryker Brigade soldiers !

The 4000 soldiers have been 15 month in the hell Iraq.
Unfortunately they lost 26 soldiers there.


http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil/



Imon