Illegally crossing the Border....

As you know, Iran recently nabbed three American hikers who (they say) had strayed across their border.  So … let’s review the rules:

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.

If you cross the Iranian border illegally your are detained indefinitely.

If you cross the Afghan border illegally you will be shot.

If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you will be jailed. 

If you cross the Chinese border illegally you may never be heard from again.

If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you will be called a spy and your fate is sealed.

If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into a political prison to rot.

If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get:

• A job.
• A driver’s license
• A Social Security card
• Welfare
• Food Stamps
• Credit Cards
• Subsidized Rent
• Subsidized home loans
• Free education
• Free health care
• Your very own lobbyist
• Billions of dollars worth of public documents printed in your language
• The right to carry your country’s flag while you protest that you don’t get enough respect.

As they say ….. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT !

USAREUR units identified to leave Europe due to budget cuts.

I saw this on Star and Stripes. 

     I spent a lot of time in Germany and I considered it the highlight of my Army time.  I spent 5 years in the U.S. Army in Europe and learned the customs, and language.  I keep hoping to go back and see some of my old haunts and check them out.

      His picture shows the 1987 breakdown of the Army units in Germany.  I spent a lot of time in the border camps along the border watching the Vopo's and the Grenzers.  For a young soldier it was sobering duty and made an impression.

Stars and Stripes|by Steven Beardsley

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany -- Two Army heavy brigades based in Germany will return to the United States as part of the new defense posture in Europe, the Department of Defense confirmed Thursday.
The move will send the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade, based out of Grafenwöhr and Schweinfurt, and the Baumholder-based 170th Infantry Brigade, back to the States.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy, will remain as the only Army brigades permanently based in Europe.
The announcement came during a preview of new Defense Department budget projections before the president releases the full federal budget request for fiscal 2013 on Feb. 13.

Defense officials say the military will compensate for the loss by rotating into Europe more U.S.-based units for short-term training and exercises.
Both Grafenwöhr and Baumholder are designated “enduring communities” in Europe, although Schweinfurt is not. Previous plans called for the 172nd to pull its subordinate units out of Schweinfurt and consolidate in Grafenwöhr, which was making room for the rest of the brigade.
Earlier this month, U.S. Army Europe commanding general Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told reporters in Grafenwöhr that the post, the Army’s largest in Europe, would likely host the same force numbers in the future.
“This is one of the installations where we want to maintain the number of Soldiers we have regardless of the units,” Hertling said.
Yet the expectation that one, or possibly both, brigades might leave Grafenwöhr has generated hand-wringing in neighboring German communities, where economies depend heavily on the garrison

Border Pics

As those that have been reading my blog for a while know that I was in the U.S Army, and served all of my 6 years overseas( excepting basic and AIT)   We had a discussion with the building of the wall on Berlin the barricades that separated West Germany from East Germany.  Here was the post I did last week.    This was the post I did back in March.  I talked about my time in Germany during the fall of the wall.  I have a bunch of pictures I had taken during my time patrolling the border.  I was border qualified to operate inside the 1K zone.  I had just the border basic stuff.  2nd ACR who was responsible for the 1 K zone in VII Corp area of Germany was very strict, we had drills, rollouts, alerts, ete all the time in the little border garrisons.  I remember spending a lot of time at the border post called"Hof"   There was another one, but for the life of me I cannot remember.   I was with 1st Inf div (fwd) in Geoppingen at Cooke Barracks.   If you liked soldering, it was a good duty station.  We spent a lot of time in exotic places like Hohenfels, WildFlecken and the rotations for border duty.  Well I got my scanner working so I figured I would post a few pics.   Once I figure out a way to set up a separate link on my blog to a folder or something I will upload more.

          This pic was taken toward a town, I have forgotten the name, but the border was a "wet border"  you can see the wall inside the border.  Most of the town was deserted, the Vopo's didn't want to take a chance of anybody leaving the workers paradise.  Those that did live there had family living in the interior and their family would pay the price if they escaped to the west.

That was the actual border with the border markings on it.

There was one of the Guard Towers, we didn't wave or acknowledge them.  According to rumint(rumor intelligence) if you waved at them, they would take your picture, adjust a few things and mail the pic to the Commander SACEUR or something like that.  It wouldn't be good.    I will add more pics once I finish tweaking my scanners settings.