European edition, Tuesday, June 5, 2007
One year, U.S. generals described getting input on war-fighting from civilian leaders in Washington, D.C., as the “6,000 mile screwdriver.”
One year, a retired four-star general excoriated top Defense Department officials in their handling of the war, calling them “childish in their assumptions” and incapable of admitting, let alone correcting, errors.
And one year, just before it was to begin, the German Army boycotted to protest one of the scheduled speakers, a retired colonel who wrote in the New York Post, “The truth is that American tax dollars go to lazy, arrogant, corrupt German employees who work on our bases and over whom we have little control.”
But for the second year in a row, U.S. Army Europe’s Land Combat Expo — once a big, fascinating, and sometimes surprising sort of festival of war — is not happening.
“This year, as with last year, the vast majority of our soldiers are either deployed or preparing to deploy. There will be no Land Combat expo this year,” said a statement from U.S. Army Europe public affairs.
Of course, U.S. Army Europe troops were deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan in previous years, too. In 2005, Maj. Bill Stewart, that year’s expo project manager, said: “We’re an Army at war and we’re taking time to do this with ongoing operations — that’s how important it is to do this. Everyone who comes is going to walk away with some tools to put in their kit bag.”
The difference is, in a word, “transformation,” said Bruce Anderson, a U.S. Army Europe spokesman.
In the past two years, as units have been sent to the U.S. — including an entire division — inactivated, restructured and modularized, many thousands of troops once in Germany are gone.
The expo, held in the autumn at Patrick Henry Village, originated in 2002 and grew in size and scope until its cancellation last year.
In 2003, what was estimated as “hundreds” of soldiers heard speakers such as Maj Gen. Frank Hagenbeck, who had commanded 10th Mountain Division operations in Afghanistan, and retired Sgt. 1st Class Sammy Davis, a Vietnam-era Medal of Honor recipient, discuss their experiences.
By 2005’s expo, which had a $600,000 budget, then-USAREUR commander Gen. B.B. Bell instructed that he expected “maximum participation” from soldiers throughout the theater. For Bell, the expo was not only about professional development, but also, he said, for soldiers “to celebrate and be proud of who they are and what they do.”
That year, the crowd was estimated at 10,000.
But last year, like this year, USAREUR decided not to hold the event “because of deployments, transformation activities, and other missions…,” according to a press release.
Anderson said no decision had been made about next year.
