Inside
Boxing
Toppers
Reader feedback
Team Wiesbaden cleans up in Bamberg, readies for U.S. Forces Europe Championship. See page 19.
Wiesbaden brings back golden statues from annual community theater festival. See page 8.
“Football. I played it in high school and pretty much all of my life,” said V Corps’ Sgt. 1st Class Kerry Rawls about his favorite sport. See page 2 for more feedback.
erald Union H Wiesbaden: Your home in Germany
Vol. XV, No. 15
May 9, 2013
Town Hall
Army chief of staff addresses challenges, answers queries during U.S. Army Europe visit By Karl Weisel
U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Public Affairs Office
Back home in Wiesbaden
Photo by Karl Weisel
The V Corps command team, led by Lt. Gen. James Terry and Command Sgt. Maj. William Johnson, disembarks from a U.S. Air Force C-17 on the Clay Kaserne airfield after returning from a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan. The homecoming, one of many V Corps’ homecomings in the past weeks, was followed by an uncasing ceremony of the V Corps’ colors. See page 6 for more homecoming photos.
Best Warriors:
Wiesbaden Soldiers demonstrate how it’s done at annual competition
By Wendy Brown
U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Public Affairs Office
Photo by G. Patrick Harris
Sgt. Edward Smigelski competes at the Best Warrior Competition.
Two U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Soldiers who competed in the 2013 Best Warrior Competition in Baumholder April 15-18 didn’t know the meaning of the word “quit.” Sgt. Edward Smigelski came in second overall and was fewer than 50 points from the first-place winner, and Pfc. Raven Holstick excelled on the physical training test portion of the event, achieving a score of 272 out of a possible 300 points.
Training, staying regionally engaged, developing leaders and maintaining a quality volunteer Army were priorities stressed by Gen. Raymond T. Odierno during a Town Hall event in Wiesbaden April 30. Thousands of Soldiers, civilians and family members had a chance to hear the 38th chief of staff of the U.S. Army share his vision and address their issues of concern during the forum in the Wiesbaden Fitness Center and via social media.
“The U.S. Army Europe continues to play an important role,” Odierno said, addressing the vital support USAREUR provides to Africa Command and its partnership role in Europe. “This remains a key piece of all that we want to do in the future, and you all play a very important role in that as we continue to move forward.” Odierno, who once served as the chief of staff of V Corps, thanked the many V Corps’ Soldiers present for their “incredibly successful year in Afghanistan. … I’m very See Town Hall on page 3
“These Soldiers represented this community extremely well,” said USAG Wiesbaden Command Sgt. Maj. Sa’eed Mustafa. “I can’t be prouder. I didn’t see any quit in these Soldiers.” “This type of event always reminds us that we always have to be ready to deploy in support of our nation’s goals,” Mustafa said. Smigelski, 27, from Cleveland, Ohio, said he competed in a Best Warrior Competition once before at Fort Bliss, and he plans to compete again next year. “It’s an experience in and of See Best Warriors on page 5
Watch out for summer road scams By Robert Szostek U.S. Army Europe Office of the Provost Marshal Public Affairs Office
People can run into bad luck while they are on the road and become legitimate candidates for
charity. Unfortunately, others are simply up to no good, warn officials at the U.S. Army Europe Office of the Provost Marshal. “With the onset of summer we again expect to see cases of swindlers
trying to defraud Americans traveling around Europe,” said Joseph Day, USAREUR OPM law enforcement chief. Officials said one type of common scam involves someone in a vehicle flag-
ging down other vehicles to get money by falsely claiming to need help. This kind of approach often happens close to a barracks gate, at a See Road scams on page 4
Photo by Karl Weisel
Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff, fields questions during a Wiesbaden Town Hall.