German surgeon general visits AF, Army members

by Airman 1st Class Trevor Rhynes
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs


The German air force surgeon general (Brig. Gen.) Jörg Binneweis visited various medical assets June 13 on Ramstein.

Binneweis and members of his official party visited  Airmen and Soldiers at the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility, the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

“I have the opportunity to talk with my American counterparts about the flight surgeon duty and the command here at Ramstein,” Binneweis said. “I wanted to learn about how the aeromedical evacuation process works for wounded warriors who come from the Middle East and how they are handled.”

Having a distinguished visitor such as Binneweis gives members of Team Ramstein the opportunity to demonstrate their mission.

“We’re thrilled to have him here, we touched on various agencies who have diverse missions,” said Col. Jay Neubauer, U.S. Air Forces in Europe command surgeon. “We highlighted our aeromedical evacuation process and wounded warrior care, which are mutual items of interest.”

For Binneweis, this tour offers him the chance to discuss hot topics with another medical community.

“You can tell our communities have a good relationship because of our interaction at the medical conference held here in the spring,” he said. “At this conference, we discuss the latest issues and how to solve them or propose different ideas.”

Neubauer hopes hosting this tour builds ties with other medical groups.

“This visit should lead to kindling a better relationship between the medical community in the German air force and the medical forces in Europe,” Neubauer said. “This opportunity leads to further networking between the medical community in the German air force and the (American) medical forces in Europe.”