Page 28 - The Cormorant Issue 14

RSE 1 Berlin – Das Zutrauen
By Lt Col P A Johnson REME
The Aim of Regional Security Exercise (RSE) 1 is to understand how countries evaluate their current and future geo-strategic concerns; how nations consider their role in the world and within their particular region; what shapes a nation’s interaction within the international system; and how a nation’s interpretation of the world influences their approach to security and defence. The RSE 1 is a key part of the International Security Systems Stage and is composed of visits to a selection of countries of relevance to the UK. ACSC 14 students visited one of the following coun- tries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy or Poland. The RSE visits built on earlier stages within ACSC 14, particularly those conducted during the Conflict and the Interna- tional System and Defence Policy and Strategic Programming. Through a comparative examination across the countries visited in the course of the RSEs, students developed the ability to ana- lyse how strategic choices are made in different states and socie- ties; consider what responses or actions might arise from various types of stimuli; and to describe how military power, together with diplomatic and economic power, contributes to achieving speci- fied outcomes. An understanding of these factors is fundamental to developing an understanding of what strategy is, what strate- gic objectives are, and how these objectives can be expressed.
In the run up to our trip to Berlin our team leader, Lt Col Gunther Wiedekind, had promised us insightful briefings, culture, beer, currywurst, beautiful women and more beer. Sadly that did not pan out, since there was not a sausage in sight. As for the rest... what can one say but, “Ich bin ein Berliner!”
Following the inexplicably mammoth trek from Watchfield to Berlin, the group checked into the Holiday Inn Prenzlauer Berg. Moments later old syndicates had rallied to the sound of the drinking horn and set off to sample the delights of East Berlin’s finest eateries. Discretely fast forwarding to the following morn-
East meets West: Reunification and the Reichstag
Parading in Potsdam
ing, everyone emerged into the hotel lobby at the allotted hour and set off to the Reichstag.
This proved to be a fascinating visit, not least because of the architectural heritage tied-up in the building, but also thanks to our excellent guides. They managed to blend a comprehensive, yet digestible explanation of the German Executive and Legisla- ture with history and art lectures. My abiding memories will be of the Soviet soldiers’ graffiti from May 1945 daubing the walls and of the enormous Reich’s Eagle, also known as the ‘Fat Hen’, hanging in the debating chamber. Ironically, hidden on the reverse of the Eagle is Norman Foster’s design, which incorporates an enigmatic smile, but no talons, to show the world that, ‘Germany has a softer side.’ Maybe they don’t want the rest of us to know?
Later that morning we moved to the Berlin offices of the German MOD (Bundesministerium der Verteidigung.) Our briefing was uncontroversial, but somewhat surprising for its lack of difference to the UK MOD’s position, including the difficulties of delivering the Comprehensive Approach. Lunch, in what had euphemisti- cally been described as the MOD staff canteen, was followed by a sobering visit to the Bendler Block adjacent to the MOD. This houses the memorial to the German Resistance, headed by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and was the site of his execution in July 1944 following the failed assassina- tion attempt on Hitler. Gunther Wiedekind provided a moving explanation of how von Stauffenberg’s actions and those of his co-conspirators continue to shape the German military psyche and the need to balance military obedience with conscience.
Our first full day in Berlin was rounded off with a remarkable visit to the Ministry of State Security (Stasi) prison at Hohenschön- hausen. Set-up as an internment camp by the Soviets at the end of the war, it gradually transformed into a tool of political perse- cution by the GDR and continued to operate as the Stasi’s main remand prison right until 1990. While the underground cells were awful enough, the most unsettling aspect of the place was the sheer normality of the more modern remand block and its inter- rogation rooms. Once again, the story was brought to life by some excellent guides. A final startling fact was offered before we left, that none of the guards or interrogators had ever been pros- ecuted, with many still living locally and who would occasionally pop in to disrupt the ‘propaganda’ being spread by the museum.
Day Three saw us venturing further afield to Potsdam and the Bundeswehr Operations Command (Einsatzführungskommando der Bundeswehr). Broadly comparable to PJHQ – albeit set in a rather lovely forest, rather than being perched on the edge of suburbia – it describes its role as translating political guidelines into military action. As well as ensuring personnel and materiel readiness, it acts as a safeguard to make certain that operations are governed by appropriate political and legal mandates. Once
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