Hello from Hohenfels, Germany

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Hello Everybody! Well, we made it Germany! We have been busy catching up on sleep, getting settled in our new barracks, and finding our way around.

The country side is beautiful from what we have seen. Lots of forests with trees and hills/mountains surround us.

We landed in Nurnberg, Germany and had a one hour bus ride to Hohenfels.
Hohenfels is one of the biggest Combat and Manuever Training Areas for NATO and US soldiers outside of the US. We stay in an area called Albertshof which houses our Task Force of 1400 soldiers.
We affectionately call it "Hogan's Hero's" camp, but it was once used as a concentration camp during the war. We don't know which buildings are original, but the large showers scare us a little as the shower area and shower heads look a little like a gas chamber!

I am sad we may not be able to travel off post during our time here and will be on "lockdown" soon as we start a Mission Readiness Exercise. This is the last bit of training we need to validate and get to Kosovo! We will have 24 hour operations for approx. 15 days which involves the majority of the Task Force.

This is the third time in a week I have been trying to finish this blog entry, but that is good because I have been outside the wire and traveled to Munich (Munchen in German) twice! It was great to get away a bit and see the country side. In just a few days time it seems like the leaves started to change and I think I captured some fall colors in the pictures althought they do not do the scenery justice. The travel on the autobon was quite interesting since there is no speed limit! We had cars pass us going at least 180-200km/hr and we thought we were going fast! We even tied up in a traffic jam and started driving on the shoulder to try and get a soldier to the airport in time for a flight. Unfortunatley, we did not make it on time, but took advantage of being away from Army food and ate at the Hofbrau House at the airport. I had some to die-for potatoe salad and Reinburg sausage. I seriously did some damage on that plate!

Dallas is working nights at the Joint Operations Center (JOC) that tracks all the "war play" we do here. Now he'll back on US time to communicate with you all, but it will be the middle of the night here! I work in the Administrative/Logisitic Operation Center (ALOC) that supplies everything from the beds, to meals, ammunition, vehicles, and equipment. I get to be on days, so don't know when I'll see Dallas.
Sounds like I may go to Kosovo as early as next week while the main body won't leave until the end of the month. We are all excited regardless to know that soon we won't be living out of a duffle bag and communication with our family and friends will be better soon! We signed up for a year long service with Skype to be able to call any cell phone or landline from our computer so hopefully we can catch some of you that way since video call on skype isn't always the best.

Running out of room so gotta go. Will follow-up in a day or so. Love and Miss you all!!

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Comments

[Joetta]

Hey There!
Nice pictures! I like the Ausfhart(Assfart)! LOL!

[shar]

Awesome Pictures
Awesome Pictures!!! It brings back memories when I was in Hohenfels with the 141. The countryside looks gorgous this time of the year. Too bad you can't bring back one of those vineyards home with you. If you get a chance to leave post go to Parsburg, I believe that's the name of the town right outside of Hohenfels. They have a little resteraunt and the food is to die for. Happy Belated Birthday Dallas!!! Nice crown!!!! It looks good on you!

[Tammi Jo]

Happy belated Birthday, Dallas!
Hey, great blog! Happy belated Birthday Dallas! I see you at least got some birthday cake there....and I loved the crown! Hey Sis, remember my favorite wine? It's from Germany....Piesporter Michelsburg Spatlese. I'm sure my grapes were at that vineyard you took pictures of, haha! Too bad you can't visit the wineries there. Miss you guys, stay healthy and safe....love ya!