Deutscher Brigadegeneral neuer Stabschef bei der US Army Europe – Alles darf er nicht sehen

Der deutsche Brigadegeneral Markus Laubenthal hat zwar bereits am 4. August seinen Dienst als erster deutscher Stabschef der US Army Europe angetreten – offiziell willkommen geheißen wurde er am (heutigen) Donnerstag mit einer Patch-Zeremonie: Kommandeur Generalleutnant Donald Campbell persönlich heftete Laubenthal den Patch der US Army Europe an die deutsche Fünffarb-Flecktarnuniform.

Mehr zu dem Ereignis bei der US-Soldatenzeitung Stars&Stripes: German general becomes first non-US USAREUR chief of staff  – dort auch die interessante Information:

Laubenthal’s role in the organization will be much more than symbolic, Campbell said, though U.S. law precludes his successor from seeing some classified information that American officers in the same position would be able to access. (…)
American officials provided a fact sheet addressing some concerns about a foreign officer in such a high-level position in the U.S. Army, among them:

  • Laubenthal won’t have disciplinary authority over U.S. personnel;
  • He will not be able to represent the command outside of the command on his own;
  • He won’t command U.S. forces;
  • He won’t have access to U.S. law-enforcement information, diplomatic communications, information related to U.S. theater security objectives and a range of other information; and
  • He will have access to classified information that has been cleared for disclosure.

(Foto: U.S. Army Europe commander Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell Jr. places the USAREUR patch on Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal’s uniform during a welcome ceremony for Laubenthal on Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany, Aug. 28.  – Photo by Cpl. Ali Cooley)