| Questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Is there a negative attitude amongst the air force/army/navy towards America and the other nations that defeat Germany in the world wars? | No, we don't have a negative attitude towards them. Of course Germany was defeated, but the important thing is that the Nazi Regime was overthrown. That is rather something to be thankful for, the German people suffered a lot under that Regime. We only hate the French. No, just kidding, of course we don't. :) |
| How different is the German Air Force from the U.S. Air Force? | Pretty different. Mind, I'm not an expert in the USAF, but the GAF is considerably smaller. We don't have as many different types of aircraft, and we don't have any carrier-based fighter jets (although I think this would be part of the US Navy, right? Ugh I'm guessing I'm stepping on some toes already!) Our two main aircraft are the Panavia Tornado, which is a swept-wing bomber kind of like the US's F-111, and the Eurofighter, which is a fast interceptor. Other than that, we have a couple of Phantom-IIs left, but they are currently being replaced by Eurofighters as they are getting really outdated (although I personally have a soft spot for them). We have a lot of Transalls, our carrier plane, and a handful of helicopters. But most of the military's helicopters are part of the Army ("Heer"), not the Air Force ("Luftwaffe"). |
| I'm in Germany soon, you up for a beer? | Haha sure ;) where are you gonna be at? I know, Germany is tiny compared to the States, but it's still a 10hr drive from north to south. :) |
| Well, visiting a mate in Ulm, but will be in Europe for 4 months. Where are you? No States here mate, Australia. No where is far from anywhere... | Oh sorry! Australia it is, mate :) I'm in the deep south, write me a inbox message about details. |
| I'm an American (permanently) in Köln, and if you're ever up here I'll buy you a beer, man. Thanks for the AMA! | Thank you :D I might be there next spring, I'll drop you a line! |
| Not a question specific to the air force, but concerning the Bundeswehr: What do you think about the suspension of the general conscription? Are you pro or contra the conscription? Do you learn something useful there even if you don't plan to join the army for a living? | Oh, that's a tough question. On the one side, I think is wasn't to bad that young men were to serve in the military for nine months. Most of them came directly from their families, so they learned how to stand on their own legs for the first time in their lives. Boys got in, young responsible men came back. Also, during those nine monts, most guys made up their mind as what to do with their lifes, e.g. what to study, instead of being really indecisive as what to do right after high school. So with that in mind, I think it was a useful establishment. On the other hand, not all guys were conscripted, only like one out of three. That is just due to the fact that the military just needs so and so many soldiers. So it was just unfair and unjust, some got "pulled", others didn't have to put up with it. If you didn't want to serve "with a weapon", you could always do social services instead, like working in a hospital or at a kindergarden or senior's residence as well for nine months. You got the same money and didn't get any less benefits or disadvantages because of it later in society. So that was a good thing. |
| What is the best thing in the GAF? What is the worst? | I think the best thing about the GAF is the pretty relaxed relationship among the ranks. When people work together as a team, it's not unusual for a low rank (like a PFC) to adress Officers in a casual way. That's different with the Army. The worst thing is probably being possibly separated from your family for quite some time, or being moved to another base where your family isn't as close as before. |
| Is this what you always wanted to do? | No, I had other job options as well. I would lie if I'd say, this is what I always wanted to do since I was little. |
| What made you decide on this, from what I gather it is no longer compulsory service there? | You're right, it's no longer a compulsory service here. I decided on being a soldier, because I wanted to make a difference, as cheesy as that might sound. I strongly believe in the concept of a democracy and also think capitalism is a vital part of a civilized society, and I think the richer industrial states owe it to poorer countries with suppressing regimes that they get a fair share of the cake, too. It's hard to express my feelings in English, though, I hope you know what I mean. I'm not saying we should force democracy upon everyone regardless of culture, but I think we should intervene somewhere if there are massive violations of human rights going on. |
| Is there a sexy uniform? | Yes, we have sexy uniforms. ;) We have the green-patched camouflage "work" uniform and a dark blue gala uniform. |
| Are there still regional stereotypes in germany? | What do you mean by regional stereotypes? Like, the Bavarians with Lederhosen and such? Yes, we still have that. I guess it's the same with Texans and New England people, there ought to be regional differences just because of the distance between them and the regional historical context. |
| That uniform description was just cruel teasing though. | Thank you for your compliment. And about that uniform, anyone in a uniform looks kinda sexy, methinks. There's definitely something about nurses, policemen, firefighters, and soldiers, just because of the uniform. Or stewardesses, for that matter. |
| Given the historical laws in Germany pertaining to the darker past, what gets said about the Luftwaffe? It was a seemingly impenetrable force which runs the risk of having its achievements marginalized by politics. | Personally, I have the feeling that the Luftwaffe of WWII is kind of the only part of that former military (Wehrmacht) that still arouses a little (!) pride in today's Germans. Not because of the gruesome things it certainly did, but rather because the German aircraft back then were a gem in engineering. The Fw-190 or the Bf-109 are still beautiful to look at, just like the Mustang P-51D or the Spitfire. There is still a little bit of adventurous glory in the thought of being a dog-fight pilot in WWII, but I guess that's the same in other nations. I might get bashed for that, but an aircraft is rather elegant in comparison to a tank or a battleship, that might be why. |
| How good is the food in the german air force? | Depends on where you are. But I have yet to encounter really bad food. I like it, they usually have a great variety of things to pick from, and huge ass salad buffets which I like a lot. |
| I don't really like 'ass salads' | Ahaha. Made me crack up^ |
| Do German chow halls/dining facilities/whatever serve alot of sausage? (Interpret that as you wish). | Haha. no. |
| Is it fun to work for the Luftwaffe? I tought about to try to get an helicopter pilot for the Luftwaffe after school, do you know if its hard to get one? And do i get the pilot license there for free? Grüße aus München :) | I like it a lot, but that's just me. If you think about being a helicopter pilot, you need almost perfect eyesight and lot of physical and psychological fitness. A lot of people apply for that, so make sure you are well prepared when you enter the test program. If you pass all the tests and get the job, you get your pilot license for free, yes. But I'm not sure if you can convert the military license to a civil license after your service any more, they talked about changing some things. I know it's a problem with the jet pilots, but obviously not with the transport pilots. You might wanna ask google on that. Good luck with your application! Grüße zurück! |
| Ok thanks, then its nothing for me :( i got glasses. Eine letzte Frage: Kannst du mir sagen wo du arbeitest? Denn ich lebe nicht direkt in München, sondern im Umkreis und direkt über uns fliegen immer die Tornados. Wenn nicht ist auch nicht schlimm ;) | I'll just translate that to English for anyone else to read: One last question, can you tell me where you work? I don't live right in Munich, but close to it, and there are many Tornados flying right above us. If you can't tell me, I don't mind :) - - - I'd rather not tell you where I work, but if you're around Munich, those Tornados probably come from Erding. They don't have their own Fliegerstaffel, but they do some major overhaul on them. |
| What is the general attitude of the German public towards the Air Force? | The general attitude towards the Military is usually indifferent. I get a lot of surprised looks when somebody asks me what I do for a living, and I tell them I'm a soldier. That's because we have a really really small military, not even 280.000 soldiers as opposed to a population of 82 million. It's a really rare job, so to say. I don't get any hate (usually, but there are exceptions), but I also don't get any praise. It's not as a glorified profession as in the USA. |
| Does the attitude of the general public bother you, or do you prefer it this way? Also, shameless (but relevant) plug for a friend of mine: Have you heard of Warum Soldaten? | I think it's a pity that deployed soldiers don't get any attention. I went to high school in the US, and every couple of months, we would send care packets with toothpaste, magazines, books and stuff like that to deployed soldiers we didn't even know personally. I really liked that gesture. Personally, I don't want to get glorified, but I think the soldiers abroad deserve more attention and respect. |
| This reminds me of a French solider writing about being stationed in the US. Link. Mostly because of his passage about those "care packets" you mentioned. Are those things uncommon for you? | Yes. Most civilians (including large parts of my family) don't have any idea where German Military is stationed throughout the world, let alone the reasons we are there. Care packages are something completely unheard of. |
| Do you have ADG's? Airfield Defence Guards, like Australia does? | Yes, something along those lines. We call it Object Security, but I figure that's about what it is. |
| I wonder if the money we put in couldn't be used better. Do we really need an army? They protect us from what, exactly? They do a good job doing whatever they do, though. | I know the war in Afghanistan is something civilians have a hard time understanding. To put a really complicated issue in a few words, think of it this way: If someone would have shot Hitler in 1938, a huge war would have been prevented. That is what the NATO is doing in Afghanistan, preventing the Taliban from getting too much power and preventing them from organizing even more than they already do. The Taliban, in that comparison, are much like the Nazi Regime - just like the Nazi Regime was suppressing their own German people, the Taliban are suppressing the Afghan people. There are a lot of Human Rights violations going on, and those people deserve to be protected. |
| What kind of things would you do to "soup up" an aircraft? | They get stronger engines, other air intake programming (for supersonic flight), and other electronic warfare components. |
| Did you ever regret joining the military? I am 25 and already have a bachelors degree in engineering but cant imagine spending the next 40 to 45 years working 8 to 5 in an office. | No, I never regret it. I like it a lot, but I made sure I didn't get an office job in the first place ;) If you already have a bachelors degree in engineering, don't do it. You already lost your benefits by studying outside the military, so you are basically giving them your degree for free while others study within the military and are being paid while doing so. If your degree isn't too bad, you'll get more money in a civil employment. You might think about adding a master, too. |
| If you already have a bachelors degree in engineering, don't do it. You already lost your benefits by studying outside the military, so you are basically giving them your degree for free while others study within the military and are being paid while doing so. If your degree isn't too bad, you'll get more money in a civil employment. You might think about adding a master, too. I don't get that part. I'm german too and I'll get to Bundeswehr first time in my life in 3 weeks (Stabsoffizier). Got any experience in that? | Stabsunteroffizier, maybe? Yes, you can get in with a higher rank, provided you have higher civil education, Once you have Abitur, you can apply for the Officers' career. Then you would usually get to go to an university not even for free, but under full payment. As the above poster already has an engineer's degree, he wouldn't get any further education and start with his job immediately. He would miss out on the financial "bonus" of studying with the military. |
| I've heard (from an exchange student back in high school) that military service (for 2 years) is compulsory for people coming out of high school or college. Is that true? If so, which is it? Do you have a choice as to which branch (assuming Germany has a separate navy, airforce, and army)? Are there any other options. Also, is it just men or everyone? | Yes, we had a compulsory military service, but only for nine months. Back in 1995 (I think) it was fifteen months. The Compulsory Service got suspended this year, so it's entirely voluntarily now. Yes, we do have a separate Navy, Air Force and Army, they are called Marine, Luftwaffe, and Heer (in that order.) And yes, you did get to pick which branch you wanted in, IF they had open positions, so basically not everyone got in where he wanted. It was just compulsory for men, although women can and do apply to the military as well. You also had the choice weather to serve in the military for nine months or do public service, such as in hospitals and kindergartens. |
| What's your opinion of the war in Afghanistan? | I think it's a just cause. I wrote a little about my opinion above in another comment, I thinks it's important for western (rich) alliances such as the NATO and the UN to intervene in countries where human rights are severely being violated on a daily basis. |
| To follow up, do you think Germany should intervene in similar cases around the world, too - for instance in Syria? | Tough question. Yes I think we should intervene, along with any other European nation, seeing that Syria is right in our front yard. But I know for a fact that the tiny German Military is already stretched beyond it's limits with the conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia and the Mediterrean Sea. Seeing that our government already spend a shitload of money on the financial crisis in Greece and Spain, we cannot enlarge our Military any more to intervene in any more locations then we already are. |
| Would 99 red ballons show up on your radar? | I'm no radar expert, but I hear Eurofighters can pick up things as little as even one green balloon on the radar. |
| How much do you earn a year (a months salary)? Do you think it's worth the effort you put into it? | I don't want to put exact numbers on here, but I earn around 2000 Euros per month. I am content with that, especially because I get free health care on top of that. |
| Is that tax free / after tax income? | That is the amount I get transferred to my bank account each month, with tax income already subtracted from it. |
| Are you able to provide any proof? I would highly recommend that you have some experience (i.e. SaZ/BS), as a FWDL who just finished AGA or got ATN is most certainly incapable of answering any advanced questions. | I might provide proof to the mods, yes, but I haven't quite figured out how to do so, maybe send them a picture of me in uniform. (but that could be anyone, so...?) |
| MkG, buxe2000. | I am an SaZ12. I will try to answer the questions to the best of my knowledge. I might not be able to answer super advanced questions, but I won't make anything up. If I have no clue, I say so. :) |
| How about Feldanzug Grundform holding a sign reading "Reddit AMA - redtattoo - 06 SEP 12" (for proof) in front of your face (for anonymity)? | That is a really good idea. I might just do that. |
| Woah woah, the Germans didn't start any World War (read on before giving me stick for this) - the Germans at the time started it, so i don't see why any now should feel guilty about it. Plus, it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire that started the First World War, but the German Empire was forced to accept the blame at Versailles. The Germans now are goddamn awesome. I've visited Ulm for several years and loved everything about the place, not least the hugely friendly atmosphere. As for a question; how do you find life in the Bundeswehr? I personally have a plan to join the British Army Intelligence Corps after having left university; different nation and system, I know, but how is armed service for yourself? | Thank you for that opinion, I'm glad people have an interest in history! I've talked about live in the Bundeswehr in other comments, please cross-read there to see if your questions have already been answered. If not, feel free to post more specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them! |
| How old are you now, and how old were you when you joined up? Do you recommend it? Any regrets, or is it everything you wanted in a career? What kind of qualifications do you have? | I don't want to put my exact age on here, but let's say I'm around 30ish and joined somewhere in my 20ies. Yes, for those people who have played with the thoughts of being a soldier and are willing to put up with the difficulties that job brings, like being separated from your family a lot, it's a great job. You get to do a lot of sports, the payment isn't bad, and you have a job with a just cause. As to my qualifications, I started in the civil world as a car mechanic, advanced to engine designing and building, joined the Military, and got to attend some classes to catch up on aeroplane technology and engineering. |
| Are the Tornado maintainers looking forward to transitioning to Typhoon or want to stay on with a "classic"? I've talked with F-15 crews and pilots here in the US and most of them are happy with the F-15 and don't really want to move to F-22, is it like that in the Luftwaffe? | Tough question. I really like the Tornado a lot, simply because it's a huge powerful machine, and it's a swept-wing concept which you don't see often nowadays. I'm not sure if I get to transition to the Eurofighter Typhoon, but I guess I should at least try, seeing that the Tornado is being taken out of service in 2024. If I want to stay in the Air Force longer, I'll have to transition as soon as possible. I guess I'll just have to take it as an advantage to learn something new, as the Eurofighter uses a lot of composite materials which I'm not really familiar with yet. Should be interesting! |
| I have to ask...Have any pilots you know ever had a run in with a UFO? | No. Sorry. |
| Do you know what the Luftwaffe will do when the Tornado needs to be replaced? Will it just use the Eurofighter as a single type? | The Eurofighter MR (Multi Role) is supposed to be ready by then. And although I hate to say so, but yes, that's gonna be our only type of aircraft if nothing surprisingly changes. |
| Auf Deutsch, denn ich habe zu wenige Gelegenheit Deutsch zu benutzen! Was für Arbeitsplan hast du? Hast du viel Freizeit? | I'll just answer in English, I hope that's okay for you, so other people can decipher my answer as well. I have as much leisure time as a civil worker, I work every day from 7am to 16pm, friday from 7 to noon. I have the weekends off, except if I'm scheduled for watch, which isn't often. |
| Ich liebe deutschland ! I lived there for about 8 years before moving to the U.S, great country and some really nice people. Any chance you worked on the Eurofighter if not what do you what have you worked on? And what are some features that stand out in the aircraft compared to others? Any crazy stories you have maybe overheard from talking to pilots or others that stand out to you? Thank you for sharing. | I've covered most of your questions in the comments above, please cross-read a little from there if I'm not answering all of your questions entirely. I'm working on the Tornado, but I hope to change to the Eurofighter within the next few years as I think it will be a huge learning experience. The Tornado stands out from the other aircraft as it is one of the very rare swept-wing aircraft today. There are only a few others, and I think it's a fascinating concept. Umm, a crazy story - two of our ex-pilots, back in the day when the Starfighter was still in active service, got suspended from flying and awarded a medal at the same time because they used to under-fly bridges across the autobahn to see who had the bigger balls. Needless to say, that is a horribly dangerous thing to do, hence the suspension from flying for a couple of months, but it's also pretty badass if you ask me. I was told, one of the guys won the bet because he would underfly those bridges on his back. |
| Before I even read anything that's been posted so far, I'd just like to say that, regardless of your nation's sordid past (and don't we all have those), I don't see how anyone who wasn't involved in the war directly could feel spiteful towards you or your countrymen/women. In fact, I clicked your post because I thought, "Odd. What's this AMA gonna be about?" and figured it'd be purely informational for folks who want to compare military life or something. I suppose I am curious though about how the World Wars have influenced today's military life/training/traditions. Is it mostly not acknowledged, or used as a, uh, learning opportunity, or what? I can't think of any specific instance where it would be one or the other, though I suppose the salient point should be that unchecked aggression will not stand, eh? | I'm glad you feel that way. I am actually really surprised no one here has called me Nazi yet, that is really a welcome surprise. Thank you reddit. To answer your question, we use that experience as a learning opportunity, yes. On one hand, it shows how politics can go horribly wrong, and on the other hand, military speaking, we learned a lot of tactical and strategical things to consider from every nation/military involved in WWII. So yes, we do talk about it a lot, and I think that's a really important thing to do to prevent anything like that from ever happening again. |
| Do you guys really have bronies everywhere? Because I've seen some pics over at /int/ | I had to google what a brony is. Sorry, I don't know any bronies in person, but I might be the wrong guy to ask. |
| Do do we get to see the 'red tattoo"? | Maybe :P I actually though of this as kind of proof, but I didn't see how I could prove the GAF thing with it ;) |
| So... When are you guys gonna start the next world war? As a swede it would be nice to know in advance so we have time to prepare our neutrality. | Oh, we'll just wait for the climate change to kick in, as soon as the Gulf Stream is interrupted your country is just gonna freeze in under kilometers of ice. And I'm not even making that up. |
| What is the biggest secret you learned and must not tell anybody? | Teehee. I see what you did there. |
| Have you ever been to New Mexico? | Unfortunately, no. |
| I wish to know this too, plus your rank! | I'm not a pilot. I used to have a civil license, but had to discontinue flying because I couldn't afford it anymore. I work as an master mechanic / engineer in the GAF, I prep said Tornados for deployment, they get "souped up" a little. |
| My rank is somewhere between a Sergeant and a Staff Sergeant. | |
| As a soldier, I get basic combat training as well, it's not "just" a wrenching job. The Air Force secures their own airports/aircraft, that's not something the Army does, so we get combat training as well. | |
| LUFTWAFFLE! | Blue Luftwaffle! ...I'll show myself out. |
| I am in the US Air Force and I wanna say thanks for posting this. This was a genuinely interesting read. | Thank you. If you have interesting anecdotes or surprising differences to share, please do not hesitate to do so! Thank you for your service! |
| The things they did, the engeneering and the flying of these machines is pretty awesome. Even old records of them are amazing to watch. But you still should differ the flying and engeneering from their purpose. | Very true. |
| As a german: I do not think many germans know they still have an air force. | Very true. I get that a lot. |
| People see it pretty much as a waste of money. Also Germans don't really care for veterans, it's fairly often in the news that traumatised Soldiers don't get enough help (eg. therapy, money) | Yes, the Military Budget gets cut every year because of that. Since the military hardly had have any "live action" experience since WWII, soldiers experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after coming back from Afghanistan were a new thing to the government back in 2001. It took them some time to get advice from NATO Partners, like the US, which had made that experience in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq. German soldiers were deployed in Kosovo before Afghanistan, too, but obviously were the conditions in Kosovo not as far as bad as in Afghanistan. I have been to neither, so I can't tell from experience. |
| Statt Mumm in den Knochen hat die deutsche Luftwaffe Mumm im Kuehlschrank. | That's from a movie, right? I know I've heard that before, but I cannot point my finger at it... help, anyone? |
| Mein Herr, Just wanted to let you know I think your country is beautiful. I was there several times and found everyone to be very warm, friendly, genuinely helpful. Thanks to your country for helping a traveler away from home. | Thank you for your kind words, good sir! I'm really glad you like it. |
| This guy likes Pils. Praise the Lord!!! :P. I'd also liked to know how much freetime do you have for family, gf/wife and friends. | I start out every day at 7am, get out at 4pm, have an hour drive back home, then I can spend time with my family like every other middle-class working person else. That might change whenever I'm being stationed farther away from home, and of course every time you have to attend classes and courses all over Germany to catch up on new technology or for special kinds of military training. When German soldiers are being deployed, it's usually for 4-6 months. |
| As a Dutch guy: Thank you for your service to protect people against what is bad. Ps. I'm related to the Messerschmitt's. | Really? That is awesome. My dad's coworker is one of the Messerschmitt's sons! Tell them I said hi :) |
Spain lift the EURO trophy at the last EURO in 2012 when Spain defeated Italy 4-0. EURO 2012 was held in Poland and Ukraine and you could find EURO betting odds comparison on all matches across OddsPortal.com. Latest betting odds are available through the Odds Comparison. You are free experiment with the data yourselves, but if you are looking for a bespoke Excel application that has been desinged specifically to work with Football-Data's files, visit BetGPS for an exceptional data analysis workbook. Like all of Football-Data's files, it's free to ... Oddscomparisons.com enables you to compare odds and find the best betting odds from over 25 bookmakers. Fri 09, October 2020 06:05:24 GMT. ... Copa America England Scotland Italy Spain Germany France Champions League UEFA Europa League European Leagues UEFA Euro 2020 International Friendlies Latin American Leagues UEFA Nations League World Cup ... Follow Soccerphile's weekly English Premiership and World Cup 2018 tips, Euro 2020 odds comparison and astrological predictions. Subscribe to our unique prediction service for English Premiership, Champions League and international match predictions emailed direct to your inbox. Launched in 1999, oddschecker is now the leading odds comparison site, and a betting destination enjoyed by millions of users around the world. We partner only with the best and most trusted brands in the industry, and support real-time price updates, offers and promotions. We give you, the user, the power and control to find the best bet for you.
[index] [2431] [31327] [34548] [11185] [64817] [6926] [35918] [42638] [40712] [43278]