RHEINLAND-PFALZ PROPOSES JOINT TRAINING FACILITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 005846

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2014
TAGS: PGOV MASS PREL GM
SUBJECT: RHEINLAND-PFALZ PROPOSES JOINT TRAINING FACILITY
AT BAUMHOLDER TO KEEP U.S. PRESENCE

REF: A) FRANKFURT 1495 B) BERLIN 1867 (NOTAL)

Classified By: Consul General Peter Bodde, reasons 1.5(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Rheinland-Pfalz (R-P) state government
has proposed converting Baumholder (a 29,158 acre army
training facility supporting around 13,000 U.S. soldiers and
family members) into a multi-purpose facility for
humanitarian intervention and civil defense training. This
"Joint Training Area" would be available to Germany, the
U.S., NATO, the EU, and others. Rheinland-Pfalz is awaiting
a German federal endorsement of the plan. This proposal
supplements Germany's existing efforts at Grafenwoehr to
train third-country forces from outside the region (theater).
R-P's initiative is the latest expression of its commitment
to finding workable compromises for major military
installations in Rheinland-Pfalz in light of possible cuts
from USG Global Force Posture Review. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) At the request of the R-P government, the Consul
General, accompanied by the Foreign Liaison Officer (FLO) for
Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland as well as a representative from
the European Command (EUCOM),met with Rheinland-Pfalz State
Secretary Karl-Peter Bruch on June 14 to discuss force

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posture review. Bruch had asked for the meeting as a
follow-up to May 28 consultations in Berlin (ref B). Bruch
began by discussing the stationing concept presented by U.S.
Army Europe (USAREUR) Commanding General B.B. Bell at the May
28 consultations. Bruch acknowledged that he realized Bell's
presentation was still pre-decisional, but observed that the
plan made no mention of the Baumholder training facility,
currently supporting around 13,000 U.S. soldiers and family
members.


3. (C) Bruch unveiled a R-P government proposal to convert
Baumholder into a multi-purpose Joint Training Area (JTA) for
use in joint and combined crisis response, humanitarian
intervention, and civil defense training. He noted that the
facility would be available for use by U.S., German, EU,
NATO, and third-country troops. Bruch said that they were
awaiting final approval from the military and the German
government, but hoped to have the concept finalized by
September and included in the German military's base planning
for the next fiscal year.


4. (C) Bruch said that Department of Defense Deputy
Assistant Secretary for NATO and European Affairs Ian
Brzezinski explained in March that any facility proposed by
Rheinland-Pfalz would have to be available for both German
and American use to be successful. Bruch noted that the
proposed training and exercise area would be designed for use
by a variety of civil and military organizations, but hopes
that the new facility could encourage a decision to retain a
significant U.S. military presence to remain in Baumholder.


5. (SBU) CG, USFLO, and EUCOM representatives were generally
in a listening mode. Nevertheless, while acknowledging the
potential uses of the proposed training and exercise facility
for German and European troops, EUCOM and USFLO
representatives remarked that the U.S. military already uses
Grafenwoehr (a U.S. army base in Bavaria) to perform similar
training exercises for Non-Commissioned Officers from Poland
and other Eastern European NATO partner states, and asked
what the proposed facility could provide above and beyond
Grafenwoehr's capabilities. Bruch asserted that Baumholder
could provide low-tech training to a variety of security
forces and crisis responders and has the advantage of
proximity to the existing U.S. infrastructure in the
Ramstein/Kaiserslautern area. State Secretary Bruch has
already written to Department of Defense Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Installations and Environment Ray DuBois to

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request a meeting on the Baumholder proposal and he has also
signaled his intent to continue to raise the issue
aggressively with the German government and German military.

COMMENT
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6. (C) The proposed JTA at Baumholder is the latest in a
series of efforts by the state to minimize the impact of
troop withdrawals associated with U.S. force posture review.
R-P has the largest number of resident U.S. troops of any
German state (approximately 24,700),and its smaller economy
(dependent on American forces) would be hardest hit by a
reduced U.S. military presence. Since the R-P government
understands that they will retain major facilities such as
Ramstein and Landstuehl, their attention is now focused on
medium-sized installations like Baumholder. Although R-P has
a popular and active Minister-President in Kurt Beck (SPD),a
financially stretched German military is moving forward with
plans to close more than 100 existing Bundeswehr facilities
across Germany. Continued belt-tightening in Berlin means
that securing funding for R-P's Baumholder proposal will be
difficult. END COMMENT.

BODDE