Defense Secretary Robert Gates is met by Gen. Tom Hobbins, the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, after visiting wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Wednesday at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Gates is en route to Brussels for a two day conference with NATO Alliance defense ministers. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Wednesday, marking the first time a Pentagon chief has visited the hospital since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Gates, who took over the job about six months ago, met with patients and staff members before heading to Brussels for a two-day conference of NATO defense ministers. His predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, did not visit the center during his tenure as the longest-serving defense secretary in history.
The medical center is the largest U.S. military hospital outside the United States and has treated thousands of wounded troops from both Afghanistan and Iraq. Dozens of politicians, generals and celebrities over the last six years have stopped at the hospital, often on their way to or from the Middle East.
On Wednesday afternoon, a group of top Air Force commanders greeted Gates after he landed at Ramstein Air Base. He then was taken to visit the hospital, about a 15-minute drive from the air base.
The media was prohibited from covering Gates’ arrival and visit to the hospital. The military did not explain the decision.
Gates told reporters afterward that he met with many patients and staff, and gave out six Purple Hearts to wounded servicemembers. One of the patients he awarded was unconscious.
“Obviously, it was a very moving experience,” he said.
Gates was to go to Brussels late Wednesday, where defense ministers from the 26 alliance nations are meeting Thursday and Friday to discuss missile defense along with the missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, according to NATO’s official Web site. Alliance defense chiefs will have their first meeting with new Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukiov.
An issue likely to come up is the ongoing controversy over the U.S. proposal to place missile defense radars and interceptors in eastern Europe.. Russia has strenuously opposed U.S. plans to put the missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.
This is Gates’ second trip overseas in less than three weeks.
He traveled to Normandy for Memorial Day and visited Afghanistan last week for the second time in his tenure.
