thedrifter
09-02-04, 06:36 AM
08-31-2004
Redeployments Are Part Of Inevitable Strategic Change
By Ralf W. Zimmermann
Two years after retiring from the U.S. Army, my family I visited Germany in July 2001. It had been ten years since Roxanne and I had left, right after Operation Desert Storm in July 1991.
Our European vacation was a tremendous reality check. Ten years can be a long time in rapidly changing world.
During the landing approach into Frankfurt, my wife and I reminisced about what it had been like in Cold War Germany. When we had met several years earlier, she had been a computer sales representative for Zenith computers and helped bring the much-acclaimed office automation to all major headquarters in U.S. Army Europe.
Then, most automation-mad generals and colonels didn’t even know how to turn on their own fancy laptop computers. In Germany, we experienced the Libya raid, Chernobyl, and the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. I vividly remembered the exhilarating adrenaline rushes of early morning NATO alerts and road marches to forward assembly areas and battle positions to stop advancing Soviet armored columns before they reached the Rhine River.
Thankfully, they red hordes never came – the Russkies actually went home in 1990.
As the plane landed, a splendid-looking Frankfurt airport reminded us that things had truly changed over there. We wondered if our self-centered media had missed keeping Americans posted on the winds of political and economic change.
It seemed that most Americans never became aware why we were still maintaining two heavy divisions in Germany ten years after the Russians had vanished. Possibly, American forces had stayed because the Pentagon brass was afraid to lose countless command opportunities in beautiful vacation country.
Of course, there were plenty of political excuses for our excessive troop presence. American ground forces in Germany supported many other missions – so-called out-of-the-region contingencies. Nonetheless, that didn’t require two armored divisions!
Undeniably, Ramstein Air Base maintained its significance for out-of-region missions, especially for the long-range evacuation of combat casualties. It proved vital during the Afghanistan operations and our ongoing War with Iraq. But the armored/mechanized divisions had outlived their usefulness.
Despite all our terrorist-war hype, Europe today is much safer and more integrated than ever. Even the dreaded French share combined military headquarters with their former German enemies! In fact, many NATO Corps are made up of units from numerous European nations.
That’s real progress many Americans still can’t fathom.
Could we Americans be fearful of a new and united Europe devoid of hatred for each other or are we afraid that Europe could become a strategic competitor?
Instead of bemoaning the recent troop withdrawal proposals from Korea and especially Europe, Americans should embrace change and treat our European allies as equals with differing opinions but common cultural roots.
The real question to our leaders and the Pentagon should be why they didn’t shift European-based heavy military assets much earlier. That would have made our military much more agile and responsive for today’s Middle-East trouble spots.
Sure, there is another economic aspect to the pullout. Yes, Germany will suffer job losses during an already weak economy. But America’s military has a strategic purpose and isn’t economic welfare for other nations. And Americans could use a few additional jobs as well. The return of up to 100,000 troops and families will surely benefit American bases and towns.
Sadly, the story of our excess Cold War forces in Germany is another lesson in Pentagon and political heel-dragging. The big brass couldn’t adapt to the strategic changes at hand. Holding tightly to past glories, the Pentagon’s masters kept reliving World War II and Cold War history while the enemy quietly went home.
And it isn’t much different with Korea. With American air support, naval power and strategic weapons, the highly modern South Korean ground forces are more than capable to keep the North in their box.
Looking at a changed world, all rational Americans ought to applaud the upcoming troop shifts and demand that they be accomplished even faster than briefed.
No doubt, the European withdrawal can be accomplished ahead of schedule, marking a new relationship with Europe. Ultimately, our generals will accept that Europeans command their own forces and organizations.
Given our highly ambitious and indefinite commitments in the Middle East, America must embrace historic changes as vital opportunities for the future.
Repositioning and transforming our Cold War arsenal can provide the military the additional resources to sustain current operational commitments, plus a critical strategic reserve, especially if additional troubles arise.
DefenseWatch Senior Military Correspondent Lt. Col. Ralf W. Zimmermann, USA (Ret.) is a decorated Desert Storm veteran and former tank battalion commander. His recent novel, “Brotherhood of Iron,” deals with the German soldier in World War II. It is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net or via his website at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm. © 2004 LandserUSA. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=616&rnd=592.6260132321406
Ellie
Redeployments Are Part Of Inevitable Strategic Change
By Ralf W. Zimmermann
Two years after retiring from the U.S. Army, my family I visited Germany in July 2001. It had been ten years since Roxanne and I had left, right after Operation Desert Storm in July 1991.
Our European vacation was a tremendous reality check. Ten years can be a long time in rapidly changing world.
During the landing approach into Frankfurt, my wife and I reminisced about what it had been like in Cold War Germany. When we had met several years earlier, she had been a computer sales representative for Zenith computers and helped bring the much-acclaimed office automation to all major headquarters in U.S. Army Europe.
Then, most automation-mad generals and colonels didn’t even know how to turn on their own fancy laptop computers. In Germany, we experienced the Libya raid, Chernobyl, and the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. I vividly remembered the exhilarating adrenaline rushes of early morning NATO alerts and road marches to forward assembly areas and battle positions to stop advancing Soviet armored columns before they reached the Rhine River.
Thankfully, they red hordes never came – the Russkies actually went home in 1990.
As the plane landed, a splendid-looking Frankfurt airport reminded us that things had truly changed over there. We wondered if our self-centered media had missed keeping Americans posted on the winds of political and economic change.
It seemed that most Americans never became aware why we were still maintaining two heavy divisions in Germany ten years after the Russians had vanished. Possibly, American forces had stayed because the Pentagon brass was afraid to lose countless command opportunities in beautiful vacation country.
Of course, there were plenty of political excuses for our excessive troop presence. American ground forces in Germany supported many other missions – so-called out-of-the-region contingencies. Nonetheless, that didn’t require two armored divisions!
Undeniably, Ramstein Air Base maintained its significance for out-of-region missions, especially for the long-range evacuation of combat casualties. It proved vital during the Afghanistan operations and our ongoing War with Iraq. But the armored/mechanized divisions had outlived their usefulness.
Despite all our terrorist-war hype, Europe today is much safer and more integrated than ever. Even the dreaded French share combined military headquarters with their former German enemies! In fact, many NATO Corps are made up of units from numerous European nations.
That’s real progress many Americans still can’t fathom.
Could we Americans be fearful of a new and united Europe devoid of hatred for each other or are we afraid that Europe could become a strategic competitor?
Instead of bemoaning the recent troop withdrawal proposals from Korea and especially Europe, Americans should embrace change and treat our European allies as equals with differing opinions but common cultural roots.
The real question to our leaders and the Pentagon should be why they didn’t shift European-based heavy military assets much earlier. That would have made our military much more agile and responsive for today’s Middle-East trouble spots.
Sure, there is another economic aspect to the pullout. Yes, Germany will suffer job losses during an already weak economy. But America’s military has a strategic purpose and isn’t economic welfare for other nations. And Americans could use a few additional jobs as well. The return of up to 100,000 troops and families will surely benefit American bases and towns.
Sadly, the story of our excess Cold War forces in Germany is another lesson in Pentagon and political heel-dragging. The big brass couldn’t adapt to the strategic changes at hand. Holding tightly to past glories, the Pentagon’s masters kept reliving World War II and Cold War history while the enemy quietly went home.
And it isn’t much different with Korea. With American air support, naval power and strategic weapons, the highly modern South Korean ground forces are more than capable to keep the North in their box.
Looking at a changed world, all rational Americans ought to applaud the upcoming troop shifts and demand that they be accomplished even faster than briefed.
No doubt, the European withdrawal can be accomplished ahead of schedule, marking a new relationship with Europe. Ultimately, our generals will accept that Europeans command their own forces and organizations.
Given our highly ambitious and indefinite commitments in the Middle East, America must embrace historic changes as vital opportunities for the future.
Repositioning and transforming our Cold War arsenal can provide the military the additional resources to sustain current operational commitments, plus a critical strategic reserve, especially if additional troubles arise.
DefenseWatch Senior Military Correspondent Lt. Col. Ralf W. Zimmermann, USA (Ret.) is a decorated Desert Storm veteran and former tank battalion commander. His recent novel, “Brotherhood of Iron,” deals with the German soldier in World War II. It is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net or via his website at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm. © 2004 LandserUSA. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=616&rnd=592.6260132321406
Ellie