During the combat demonstration for visitors, the action was once again intense: several bundeswehr buses took the visitors to the wildflecken military training area, past a checkpoint. The barrier closes behind you for the next few hours. From now on, strict security regulations apply; no one is allowed to enter or leave the country without authorization, because there will be live firing. The group of visitors is mixed. Some of them are local people, but the majority are high-ranking military officers, political representatives and leaders of non-military organizations who were also involved in the exercise.
As soon as they are seated on the tribune, they hear over the loudspeakers the instruction to put on the ear protectors provided for this purpose. Then the manover begins. Insurgents are fought on land and from the air with all available means. Troop helicopters land, assault rifles rattle, tank howitzers drone, grenade mortars thunder. While in one moment mouthwatering fire flashes, in the next the sheer force of the jolt hurls clods of dirt meters through the air. The I. German-dutch corps presents its weapons systems.
Stakes are to secure peace
"I was very impressed by the presentation of the whole apparatus", says brigitte meyerdierks (CSU), mayor of bad bruckenau, as the guns fall silent again. She had not been aware of everything that lies behind a crisis operation. Even before the manover, the guests were given an insight into what happens away from a military operation, what logistical challenges await or how the work in the "operation center" is done expires. Meyerdierks finds it remarkable what is demanded from the soldiers. "It is important that the population is aware that our soldiers are deployed to secure peace", emphasizes it.
"For nato operations, cooperation with governments, civilian actors and the population is important," he says, matthias duchscherer, press officer for the corps, sums up. He is satisfied: "the visitors got a good, albeit condensed, impression of what we have been doing over the past few weeks." All in all, the visitor day on wednesday had gone well. This is also true of the NATO "peregrine sword" mission as a whole, the since sunday, 16. September, until friday, 28. September, takes place. The press officer praises the great understanding on the part of the population. "The soldiers were very well received", says duchscherer. No complaints were reported to the burger phone for the flight operation.
Important economic factor for the region
From the political point of view, the conclusion of the visitors' day, as well as of the complete manover, is positive. Andreas metschke, vice-president of the government of lower franconia, welcomes the rough upheaval in the relatively structurally weak rhon: "we have suffered major stationing losses in the region. Generally we offer good conditions for military and soldiers." With such exercises he sees especially civilian jobs connected.
Alfred Schrenk, mayor of wildflecken, expresses a similar sentiment. "Anyone who has gone to the supermarket in wildflecken in the past few days has seen almost nothing but soldiers", hold it steady. Military operations – even on a smaller scale – are an important economic factor for the region. Motten's mayor jochen vogel, on the other hand, does not expect any major impact on his community's retail trade. According to his own words, he felt that the training was well organized and, like schrenk, he did not hear of any complaints.