2009 EDITION 03 Editorial Dear readers, integrate our activities for our The Observer This edition will hit the streets common customer – you. right after the Holiday Season, so Serving the military, civilians and family members of ALCC HQ HD at first a Happy New Year to all Give us your feedback to our audience. make our product better. Send Lt. Gen. Roland Kather Commander your ideas and comments to: Lt. Col. Thomas Dippel In last edition’s editorial we [email protected] DEU A, Public Affairs Officer talked about using this magazine Editor as a platform for the three main 1Sgt. Major Morreels elements of a Force Command Techn. Multimedia HQ, the HQ Staff, the DJSE 1 Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Dippel Published three times each year, The Observer is an authorized, and the DJSE 2. With the immi- DEU A unofficial publication. nent deployment of a significant ALCC (Force Command Its aim is to inform headquarters amount of our HQ’s DJSE person- Designated) personnel and their family members. Opinions expressed in this publication nel to HQ ISAF in Afghanistan HQ Heidelberg are those of the authors and do not and the requirement to sustain Public Affairs Office reflect official policy. that effort over a period of two Suggestions for articles, comments and years, it became very clear to all contributions are welcome and should be directed to the editor. in Public Affairs that we will use The editor reserves the right to edit this magazine also as a means for submissions. a fourth main, if not essential ele- Public Affairs Office ment of the HQ: those who will Postfach 102620 D-69016 Heidelberg have to stay behind – the spouses (Bldg 8, Campbell Barracks) and families of our deployed peo- Phone: 06221.398.5316 Fax: 06221.398.5774 ple. For supporting those, the HQ Email: [email protected] has re-activated a success story Printed by: from previous ISAF deployments ABT Print und Medien GmbH – the Family Support Centre, and Bruchsaler Straße 5 69469 Weinheim I recommend the short introduc- Phone: 0 62 01/18 90-0 tory article in this edition to you. www.abt-medien.de Virtually living next door to them, Visit our web site at www.nato.int/lahd we will stay in close contact with them in order to co-ordinate and Contents Commander´s Message .............................. 3 DJSE 1 Deploys on Maiden Exercise .......... 14 Command Sergeant Major´s Message ........ 4 Crawl, walk, run – three steps to ISAF ...... 16 The Family Support Centre ......................... 5 OCC E & F ............................................... 18 Family Fest 2009 ........................................ 6 X-Mas Address/NCSA Sector Heidelberg .. 22 60th Anniversary NATO .............................. 8 Appreciations & Commendations ............. 23 Day of German Unity ............................... 11 Remembrance Day ................................... 24 Oktoberfest 2009 .................................... 12 2 www.nato.int/lahd Commander’s Message Happy New Year and Welcome to the current situation in Afghanistan the winter edition of the OBSERVER have paid off. The team is ready. magazine. The transition from the Now the HQ will take into consid- old to the New Year is often used eration the needs of spouses and to take stock of what has been families, too, since such a sustained achieved in the past and which period of deployment will pose nu- challenges lie ahead of us. I am not merous challenges to them. For their about to change this tradition. As sake, I take pride in the re-activation opposed to the traditional order, of the multinational Family Support however, I deem it necessary to Centre. If we have learned any- Let me conclude my review of begin in reverse order with the most thing from previous deployments, 2009 with two issues regarding the important test lying ahead of all of it is this: Community matters! As Alliance. On 1 October, the HQ us – military and civilian members our soldiers and civilians deploy to had the great honour to conduct a of the HQ and families alike – the Afghanistan as a multinational team ceremonial parade to celebrate the upcoming ISAF deployment. – let’s form a multinational team of 60th Anniversary of NATO. And on families at home as well. New Year’s Eve, the NRF-13 standby When we were tasked by SHAPE period ended for our HQ without in mid-summer to prepare and So, are we ready to deploy? Yes, incident – indeed the best thing that deploy our DJSEs to become the we are! And we will show it by can happen to NATO’s dedicated nucleus of the restructured 4-star In- bidding farewell to the fi rst rotation “fi re brigade”. ternational Security Assistance Force with a parade on 27 January. (ISAF) HQ in Kabul, Afghanistan, As for the year 2010, there is and to sustain that effort for a pe- In the meantime, our second hardly any indication that the HQ riod of two years, it was clear from DJSE – DJSE1 – has stood up and might become less engaged than in the very beginning that any ISAF proved its high level of professional- the previous year. The second ISAF preparation effort would have to in- ism during exercise ARRCADE FU- rotation from DJSE 2 must be trained clude the families of all Heidelberg SION. The way ahead for them will with the same professionalism as personnel. Once again – for the be to continue to build their capac- the fi rst in preparation of its deploy- third time for our HQ with regard ity in order to reach full operational ment to Afghanistan in late July, and to ISAF – you and your families are capability in 2010 and take the ISAF DJSE 1 will have to follow DJSE 2’s challenged with a prolonged period mission from DJSE 2 in January footsteps in proving the operational of separation from your loved ones. 2011. relevance of the DJSE concept in Holistic ISAF preparation and proper the NATO community, while the HQ care of the soldiers and their fami- Talking about community: The Staff continues to act as a pivotal lies is therefore a top priority for us. Family Fest on 10 September, the enabler for both the ISAF and the reception at Schwetzingen Castle on DJSE activities of the HQ. During DJSE 2’s fi rst rotation 1 October and the annual Okto- ISAF Mission Rehearsal Training in berfest on 9 October each attracted Looking ahead towards the up- Stavanger, Norway, I was able to large audiences, all served as early coming challenges, I would like to note that all the months of thorough enablers for community team-build- remind you again that community training to develop an in-depth ing in anticipation of the upcoming matters. Therefore, I am deeply knowledge of Afghan culture and deployments. convinced: Together we can! Shaping the future together! The Observer 2009 ED.03 3 Command Sergeant Major´s Message Another one gone by As we prepare to wave goodbye looking forward to the safe return to those leaving for Afghanistan of our friends and comrades in in January, we have to wonder July or at the end of 2010. where the time has gone. Maybe this has something to do with Remember that every job whether how busy we’ve been working, deployed or in the residual Head- sometimes in two or three jobs, quarters is important and that to make sure that we cover all your contribution to the Mission the angles to ensure that we meet is very much appreciated by the the COM’s intent and that we Command Group that counts on train and provide the best train- you to get the next Rotation to ing to those deploying. There’s ISAF ready with the best possible one thing that I know though, the training and for you all to serve Offi cers and Non Commissioned as mentors for the Newcomers. offi cers were up to the task again ALCC Command Sergeant Major during this very special year. We I urge you all to make full use of Camil, Samson (CAN) in fact, had to go through a major “YOUR” Family Support Centre transformation of the HQ, multi- that was set up to serve and sup- ple physical moves to refl ect the port you at all times, not only new organisation, the re assigna- during the times of crisis. tion of personal within the new structure, and as if it was not I would like to particularly thank enough, we had to re aligned the Non Commissioned Offi cers our training to face the challeng- for their outstanding contribution ing task to deploy more then 100 to their Headquarters, again a job people to ISAF for four rotations well done. during the next two years. Need- less to say that it has been a Finally, I wish you all the best for challenging year with many suc- this New Year and especially a cesses. lot a quality time with your loved ones. With the start of this New Year, it is time to refl ect on the past and Camil Samson make resolutions for the future. I CWO, CAN Army think we have had a very suc- cessful year but I also think the future will be even more chal- lenging. I sincerely hope that for the family of the deployed mem- bers that the time for the next six months (or one year for others) will seem to go by as fast as the year 2009 has. We are already 4 www.nato.int/lahd The Family Support Centre From left to right: Mr Josef Nawrat, Mrs Insa Ponomarev, Mrs Claudia Pradel and Cdt Eric De Vilder, the Chief of the FSC Dear spouses, partners and ians: an Administrative Assistant make the necessary calls.