The German Army spare general works as USAREUR Chief of Staff

The blogster blinked when it* first read in late 2015 that a German general was to become Chief of Staff at the US European Command (USAREUR) in Wiesbaden, Germany.

What was going on?

An interview by the lucky German Brigadier General in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in January 2015 brought some information. The simple fact that a German active soldier was in charge of foreign troops is something NATO has seen before. The difference in this case, the media pointed out, was that the German officer was fully integrated into the US chain of command, with the same duties as a US citizen in the role would have.

Some American voices were highly critical, for example, this niche website slammed the move as "Another Obama First in Destroying our National Security".

German media ran positive articles, talking up the political trust, the wonderful transatlantic relationship, even presenting it as confidence building after the NSA surveillance scandal triggered by the Snowden leaks a year earlier.

The blogster's very first and main question was: how did they solve the legal issues?

Germany did have a sweeping, but not enforced, law that criminalized the preparation of wars of aggression, which theoretically could have covered even the activity described in the 2015 interview. However, the German government changed the law in January 2017 to clarify the problematic situation to only criminalize this domestically. German government knowledge of, for example, US drone operations remain politically sensitive but any legal challenge becomes even less likely than before.

The 2015 interviewee stated: It would only be a problem if I was involved in operations the German government does not want to be involved in. This was followed by some slick legal legwork: But this cannot happen because we, USAREUR, do not control operations. All we do is provide forces fully ready forces to the respective US operational command, for example EUCOM in Stuttgart or CENTCOM in Florida.

An agreement signed in Washington in 2014, specifically regulates how German soldiers can serve in positions like the USAREUR Chief of Staff.

The fun part, though, comes in an interview of 27 April 2017 by the latest German brigadier to take the job at USAREUR. Trying to give the article some current relevance, it asks how German American military cooperation is faring in the times of Donald Trump.

The new Chief of Staff spills the beans on the background of the decision to put a German officer in the at USAREUR in the first place.

It originated not with some high minded measure to enhance trust or confidence.

Instead, it was  a simple money saving personnel measure taken by US military leadership back at the Pentagon in around 2012.

The German general explains: It was mundane. The Pentagon wanted to put a Colonel in the position instead of a general. Since the then USAREUR commander, Lt. General Campbell, really wanted a general in the job instead of a colonel, he asked the German army Chief whether the Germans could envisage a German general in the role of Chief of Staff at USAREUR.

The PR spin came later.

The new Chief, Brigadier General Rohrschneider, also points out in the 2017 interview that the German military has a limited number of generals. So, the German army is relinquishing one of its generals for the role, but the Germans are convinced this is an investment beneficial for both sides.

Or, as the blogster would phrase is: hey, it is a brilliant PR move, and a career minded German colonel happily does the job previously done by a general while the brigadier gets to play real soldier at USAREUR.

* Gender neutral, the blogster is, Yoda says.