European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 06, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday May 6, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 9 Over Here West German it. Col. Manfred Dieckmann tells . Officers from a Nurnberg area artillery battalion Europe needs a continued i presence. Ellie Bathen w. German officer says . Presence still vital by Vince Crawley Nurnberg Bureau Birndorf West Germany americans Are absolutely vital to nato a West German lieu tenant colonel told some of his i counterparts. And East germans he said will never serve in the West German army. It. Col. Manfred Dieckmann who spent most of thelast six months running a reception Camp for East Ger Man refugees spoke last week to about 45 american officers from a Nurnberg area artillery battalion. After talking tactics he explained in Soldier term some of the political questions raised by the collapse of the East German communists. So asked one american officer what is the need for the american forces to be in this country anymore it s absolutely vital Dieckmann said. It s no the question of if you should stay it s Only the ques Tion of How the strength should be. And if the threats decreasing your strengths can also go Europe needs american soldiers for their Symbol ism As Well As their guns. We need nato Solidarity he said. Therefore we need a Symbol. And what is a better Symbol than a sufficient amount of conventional forces although both Germany Are now running to Ward each other very quickly he said he does t think soviet Leader Mikhail s. Gorbachev has much Hance of persuading the new unified Germany to pull out of nato. There is no question. We belong to Western Europe from the political Point of View from the eco nomic Point of View from a historical Point of View Dieckmann told the americans. We already did a Good Job in nato. We Are successful. They the russians Are a disaster from our Point of View. We have no reason to change our Atti tude. The Only problem is How to convince the soviet government that we Are not aggressive. And i think i we germans Are part of nato then everybody can control us everybody can look at our however he said the current nato Structure a layer cake of troops and equipment focused on the East West Border won t make much tactical sense once the two countries unite. Armies will have to be rear ranged. He said that one of the biggest headaches facing the West German army is trying to figure out what to do with the East German army. Or what s left of it. East German soldiers who served longer than three years. Will not come in my army. And absolutely no officers Dieckmann insisted. So what Dowe do with the East German army he guessed that the East German forces might temporarily serve As a territorial army inside the Border of present Day East Germany. They would then be phased out. Another problem unsolved concerns the fact that half the West German army is made up of conscripts. If we still continue to be a conscript army we cannot be a conscript army in West Germany and have in East Germany nothing Dieckmann said. Then All our Young citizens will move to the however the West germans Don t need the Mili tary manpower of the East germans. Dieckmann s generals like their american counterparts Are wrestling with worldwide military budget cuts. My army is 500,000 soldiers. We Are going Down to 400,000," Dieckmann said. So it does t make any sense to him to Start enlisting former communists. The East German army is in a reduction of sorts too. Since last summer defections and awol have reduced its numbers by one third from 150,000 to 100,000. It s not an army anymore Dieckmann said. It s very difficult to serve in this army. They have no aim anymore. No motivation. For what for whom mistrust. Everybody mistrust everybody. Because you have to understand every officer had to be a member of. The communist party. And with one election you do not change your Dieckmann said that he asked his conscripts would you like to have a commander from the East German army can you guess the answer absolutely no. Absolutely no. They train to hate us. Why should they Bour commanders " learning to run a refugee Camp by Vince Crawley Nurnberg Bureau Birndorf West Germany an East German army deserter showed up at it. Col. Manfred Dieckmann s refugee Camp in Weiden West Germany and asked when can i have a hot Shower now Dieckmann replied. When the East German refugee insisted unable to fathom the fact that hot and cold running water were plentiful. Now Dieckmann repeated. And for How Long How Long do you want Dieckmann commands the 105th Panzer arty in a 420-Man unit posted Halfway Between Grafe Wohr and the czechoslovakian Border. The battalion is a sister unit of the .6th in 1st Field arty stationed outside of Nurnberg. Dieckmann met thursday with his american counterparts and told them among other things How to run a refugee Camp a task at which he s be come quite adept recently. Because he was in a Good location and had four empty Barracks Dieck Mann said he was put in charge of one of three East German transit Camps in Bavaria last september. This was about two months before the Berlin Wall opened it was a time when so Many East germans were escaping from their country that their numbers were compared with the biblical exodus. All told 350,000 came West in 1989, quite a bit More than the num Ber of people Moses led out of estimated 170,000 More moved from East Germany to West Germany in the first three months of this year. More than 53,000 of them processed through Dieckmann s battalion in Wei Den. Public opinion among the civilians of Weiden was initially very Good. It was Only 500 refugees a Day coming and going he said. But As the week swore on motivation went Weiden a City of 40,000 residents soon found itself overrun with Eastern ers. Initially you could take everybody into your arms because they were really refugees Dieckmann said. Some swam across Rivers. And they were wet and poor and Happy. But later on they came by car with suitcases. They went into our big supermarkets and took this and that and forgot to pay. But he added i think if you sent 50,000 West germans or 50,000 americans through one Camp you would have All parts of Over Christmas the East German government opened Many of its prisons Dieckmann said and the Camp took on the atmosphere of a gangster movie. From september to february the time that the army Post doubled As transient Camp the mess Hall served 4.5 tons of beef 4.5 tons of pork 125 roast pigs 30 tons of bread 150,000 break fast Rolls 5,500 Gallons of Coffee and 310 Gallons of milk. Total Tab $300,000. The majority Are Young people West Germany refugee Camp in Weiden is map Dieckmann said of those who passed through his Camp. The average age was 27 years. So that s the future of their
