Militaries All Over the World

Being stationed in Germany affords the opportunity to meet and train with your military counterparts from many different nations. It wasn't unusual for our unit to conduct a joint FTX (field training exercise) with a Signal unit from another NATO country. Usually it was with British forces, since there were a number of British bases in Germany. Mostly in the north. Seems as though, after World War II, the Brits took up northern Germany and the Americans settled in southern Germany :-)

It was kind of neat, getting to interact with officers and soldiers from sister units from various countries, all while remaining in the same country of Germany. We all had the military (and, more specifically, the Signal Corps) in common, but we all came from vastly different cultures about the military.

For example, I learned that British officers live much the same way American enlisted soldiers do-- in dormitory-style buildings with shared bathrooms. By contrast, American officers live in the lap of luxury with our own apartments. I remember once arriving on the site of a joint exercise in Krefeld  around lunch time. Our host said he'd wake up one of the soldiers to fix us something to eat. Imagine my shock when he went-- not into a building, not into a tent, but... underneath a 5-ton truck! The soldiers actually draped bedskirt-like coverings all around the truck and slept underneath it!

And while there has always been a clear social divide between American officers and American enlisted, that divide is even sharper and more stringently obeyed between British officers and British enlisted. I remember when we all came back from the field in the middle of an exercise to rest and relax over the weekend. The whole group of us Americans went out to eat, and, of course, I ate with my platoon's soldiers. Who else was I going to hang out with? When we ran into a group of British soldiers at a pub later that night, they were downright amazed that I was actually socializing with my own soldiers... and with them!

The German view of the military is a complete 180 to the American view. In the US, being in the military is something that is respected and honored. In Germany, you join only because everyone is obligated to do either military or civil service after high school. Hardly anyone actually enlists to make a career out of it, and those that do? Are generally looked down upon, as if they can't do anything with their lives, so the military was their only option.

I also remember one time when we did an exercise with a German Signal unit. It was on one of the few German bases actually occupied by German troops (rather than American or British), so even though we camped out in our tents, we were able to visit the neighboring buildings to shower and eat. Since there are no women in the Germany military (or at least, there weren't when I was there-- things might have changed now?), we drew more than a fair share of odd stares when a group of us women would troop to the showers together.

All in all, it was quite enlightening to learn about the military culture of other nations. And despite our differences, our common goal of keeping peace in a non-peaceful world really reminded us that, deep down, we are all truly the same: human beings.

I'm posting every day in October as part of the 31-Day Writing Challenge. Click here to read more about it and to see the rest of my posts this month!