Herald Union, February 26, 2015

Page 1

Inside

All dolled up

Prayer break

American Girl get-together is stage for girls and dolls of all age. See page 10.

Community pauses to attend to spiritual fitness needs. See page 3.

DoDDS royals

Winter sports culminate with the crowning of Warrior champs. See pages 16-17.

erald Union H Vol. XXII, No. 10

Wiesbaden: Your home in Germany

Feb. 26, 2015

Davenport’s departure

USAREUR bids farewell to top enlisted advisor Story and photo by Sgt. Daniel Cole U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs Office

Command Sgt. Maj. David S. Davenport, U.S. Army Europe’s senior enlisted advisor, said his parting words during his farewell ceremony Feb. 12 after three years of leading Army Europe Soldiers. “I have been the luckiest man in all the Army to have had the privilege of serving and playing the position called ‘command sergeant major’ on a team of professionals known as United States Army Europe,” said Davenport. Davenport will go on to lead Soldiers at the Training and Doctrine Command headquartered at Fort Eustis, Va. The command recruits and trains Soldiers, supports unit training, develops Soldier and civilian leaders and develops Army doctrine. During the ceremony, Davenport highlighted

some of USAREUR’s accomplishments during his tenure. More specifically, he explained that these achievements could not have happened without the hard work of junior enlisted service members and the noncommissioned officers that guided them. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, USAREUR commander, also addressed the hard work Davenport contributed while serving in Europe and the legacy he leaves. “You are leaving behind a great legacy and these men in the front row can attest to that,” said Hodges, speaking about the sergeants major from Army Europe’s partner and ally nations who attended the ceremony. Davenport was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by Hodges and congratulated by attendees, concluding the ceremony. Davenport’s replacement has not yet been announced. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, USAREUR commander, presents Command Sgt. Maj. David Davenport the Distinguished Service Medal during a farewell ceremony Feb. 12.

Photo by Anemone Rueger

When fools rush in

A weekend of Fasching events kicked off with the storming of the local town hall in Mainz-Kastel/Kostheim Feb. 14 as action was underway promptly at 11:11 a.m. U.S. community officials reinforced the town hall’s defense until the fools took over. See more photos from the Fasching parades in Wiesbaden and Mainz on page 14.

Engineers return from mission in Liberia By Vince Little

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Affairs Office

After turning over the last of 10 Ebola treatment centers in January, U.S. military task force members have begun withdrawing from West Africa as new cases of the disease tail off to virtually zero in Liberia. The Department of Defense recently announced that nearly all troops and civilians supporting Operation United Assistance will be back at their home stations by the end of April. That includes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District’s Forward Engineer Support Team-Advanced, which

remains an integral part of theaterclosure planning and consolidation with the mission drawing to an end. Liberia is not a war zone, but it is still a rugged environment. By all accounts, however, it has been a deployment unlike any other for the FEST. “It really does feel like early Iraq to me,” said Maj. Michelle Dittloff, FEST commander. “The living conditions are quite similar to the earliest [forward operating bases]. Nobody is shooting at us, but it’s very remote and austere. “In Iraq and Afghanistan, I think everybody knew we were going to be there for a while. Our job here

was to get in, do the mission and get back out.” Since its formation in 2008, Europe District’s FEST-A has deployed to Afghanistan and Jordan. The team also participated in exercises in Uganda, Niger, Germany, Italy, Alaska and California. Barclay Training Center, the task force’s base camp in the capital of Monrovia, has been the team’s home since it departed Wiesbaden, Germany, in October. The USACE engineer team is part of a DoD contingent that delivered critical lifesaving resources, See Engineers return on page 4


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