WIESBADEN, Germany - David Craig, a math and physics teacher at Wiesbaden High School, was glad to tour Clay Kaserne for several reasons. The foremost was that he got to see a Blackhawk helicopter up close.
He and his students were building helicopter models to study how they work, and seeing the helicopter up close would help him explain their dynamics better.
Craig was one of more than 65 educators from local Department of Defense Dependents Schools and German schools who toured the post Sept. 20. This was the seventh year U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden has hosted the Teachers' Orientation on the post.
The tour started at the Tony Bass Fitness Center with a short introduction about the post that answered questions such as why the garrison's population is increasing. U.S. Army posts in Heidelberg and Mannheim are closing, explained Col. David Carstens, garrison commander, and the moves are expected to save the government $112 million annually.
Tom Blakely of the Transformation Stationing Management Office, gave a short presentation about changes to the garrison that will take place over the next few years. The Hainerberg Housing area will become a closed post, he said, and the garrison is building a new elementary school and middle school in 2014. The garrison plans to build a new high school in the 2014-2016 timeframe, he added.
From the fitness center, the tour broke into groups that made their way to the Engagement Skills Trainer to use the weapons simulator, the flight line and the new General John Shalikashvili Mission Command Center. While the educators walked to the various points, they had a chance to talk to one another.
Roman Twardy, a music teacher at the Oranien Schule, and Scott McGlyn, a music teacher at Wiesbaden High School, discussed the possibility of bringing their students together for a concert. The concert would be part of the Leonardo project, which is an initiative to forge partnerships between German and American schools.
Twardy said he was interested in taking the tour because he lives in Delkenheim, which is near the airfield, and because he wanted to meet contacts for the Leonardo project.
The tour was extremely interesting, Twardy said, partially because he had never seen a military installation that close up.
McGlyn said he just started working in Wiesbaden this year, and was glad to have the opportunity to tour Clay Kaserne and the airfield.
He used to teach at an Air Force base in Okinawa and never went to the flight line, McGlyn said.
Karsten Schindler, a music and physical education teacher at the Helene Lange Schule in Wiesbaden, said he did not know what to expect from the tour, but was pleasantly surprised.
"I never thought U.S. Army people could be so nice, so warm hearted and have a colonel with a sense of humor. It's quite different than what I thought before," Schindler said.