445 AW hosts Luftwaffe officers

  • Published
  • By Capt. Elizabeth Caraway
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  A lot has changed in the seven decades since the end of World War II; the United States and Germany are now allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, serving deployments and working missions together. They are also learning more about the way each does day-to-day business in the Air Force Reserve.

Since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 1985, more than 300 German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, officers have participated in the Reserve Foreign Officer Exchange Program with the United States.

Two German officers, Lt. Col. Stefan Bitterle, Luftwaffe public affairs officer, and Maj. Malte Hinz, Luftwaffe internal security officer, arrived here June 6 for two weeks of learning how the Air Force Reserve does business and sharing more about their military.

All the exchange German officers first traveled to Washington D.C. for historic tours and briefings from Pentagon officials. From there, the 25 Luftwaffe members were sent on to U.S. bases across the country on a mission.

"We are here to learn about the U.S. Air Force Reserve system and use what we've learned to make suggestions to our superiors on ways to improve our own," said Hinz.

Unlike the U.S. system, reservists in Germany have no set number of required days. If they deploy, their deployments last up to six months, are entirely voluntary and can be broken up and served in increments. Pay is rarely competitive, with reservists often losing money during their time in uniform. Still, neither officer has any plans of leaving service, expressing a sentiment with which most U.S. Airmen identify.

"The Luftwaffe gives me an opportunity to give back to my country and preserve it for future generations," said Bitterle.
Hinz explained that the Luftwaffe has faced multiple challenges during the last few years.

"It used to be that all German males had to participate in the military or in civil service," he said. "The draft was lifted. That policy was done away with in 2011. Since then, we've had a difficult time filling out our ranks."

Germany spent just over 6 percent of taxes on its armed forces last year. The budgetary shortfalls have created challenges, requiring the Luftwaffe to partly outsource air transport to commercial aircraft--an expensive endeavor.

Both Hinz and Bitterle spoke favorably of the European Air Transport Command (EATC), a six-nation organization that stood up in 2010 to share military air transport.

"The EATC is a successful example of optimizing our existing resources," explained Bitterle. "By sharing more than 160 aircraft among six countries, we minimize spending, increase our interoperability, and minimize our physical, in-country military footprint."

The EATC provides an avenue for member nations to submit AT requests that are considered based on asset and crew availability. Members recognize that political and legal ramifications may prevent mission support, so countries have veto power.

"It's really a harmonization process," said Hinz. "The EATC has to balance the resources against each country's missions and politics."

The German officers expressed enthusiasm over the A-400M Atlas, the newest aircraft in Germany's inventory. To date, 174 of these aircraft have been sold to seven NATO allies and Malaysia. The four-engine turboprop was praised for its multi-role design. Its cargo hold can carry resources too large for a C-130, it can operate on unpaved short fields, and it is tanker and receiver capable.

"With the A-400M, we can overcome the payload and range challenges of other aircraft," said Bitterle.

The nine C-17s of the 445th Airlift Wing also garnered their respect.

"The C-17 is an awesome aircraft," said Bitterle. "When I was deployed to Afghanistan, I flew in it from Bagram Air Base to Spangdahlem Air Base and was very impressed."

The aircraft weren't the only part of the 445th to gain the officers' attention.

"Everyone is so genuinely happy to be here," observed Hinz. "It's a really wonderful environment to be in, filled with respect."

The German exchange officers are presenting to their superiors on their observations in Bonn later this month and said they are eager to share what they've learned about a "successful Reserve system," Hinz concluded.