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US Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz honors representatives from host nation offices

by Stefan Alford
U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz
July 9, 2020

The commander of the United States Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz, Col. Jason T. Edwards, recently recognized representatives from host nation offices with the prestigious “Keys to the Garrison” award for their sustained leadership, partnership and commitment to community.

Steffen Andres, Lingenfeld Fire Chief, left, and Dr. Fritz Brechtel, Germersheim County Commissioner, pose with Col. Jason Edwards, U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz commander, after Edwards presented Keys to the Garrison to the gentlemen in a small ceremony in late June. Photo by Stefan Alford

Emulating an American tradition where the mayor of a city presents an ornamental key to special honorees, called the key to the city, Edwards presented the heartfelt token of appreciation to the recipients for their outstanding, continuing service in support of the U.S. Army in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz.

The six recipients were:

  • Ralf Lessmeister, Kaiserslautern County Commissioner
  • Dr. Fritz Brechtel, Germersheim County Commissioner
  • Anja Pfeiffer, Union Community Mayor of Weilerbach
  • Marc Gutenberger, Chief of US Construction Program with ABB state agency
  • Steffen Andres, Lingenfeld Fire Chief
  • Stefanie Edwards, Landstuhl Police Liaison Officer
Stefanie Edwards, Landstuhl Police Liaison Officer, poses with Col. Jason Edwards, U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz commander, after Edwards presented her with a Key to the Garrison in a small ceremony in late June. Photo by Keith Pannell

The special recognition is bestowed every two years by the garrison’s outgoing commander to thank host nation partners for their support during the commander’s tenure. The garrison footprint encompasses more than 30 sites and installations, to include Kaiserslautern, Baumholder, Landstuhl, Sembach, Mannheim, Miesau, Gruenstadt and Germersheim. With responsibility and oversight for infrastructure and services, the garrison functions similar to a city — hence the key to the garrison equivalent.

“We’ve developed strong, enduring and trusted relationships with our community partners with whom we interact throughout the year on a variety of programs and issues,” said Edwards. “From administrative and logistical coordination to mutual efforts in the military, law enforcement and emergency response areas, we absolutely could not do it without host nation support — we truly are a team.”

Marc Gutenberger, Chief of U.S. Construction Program with ABB state agency, right, poses with Col. Jason Edwards, U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz commander, after Edwards presented him a Key to the Garrison in a small ceremony in late June.Photo by Keith Pannell

Edwards is the third commander to present the award, but amid the COVID-19 health restrictions, the usual large ceremony at Armstrong’s Club to honor the recipients was replaced by minimally-attended personal visits from Edwards between June 16-30.

Previous “Keys to the Garrison” recipients in 2018 were:

Klaus Stumpf, State Ministry for Armed Forces, Mainz; Bernd Alsfasser, Union Community Mayor, Baumholder; Guenther Jung, City Mayor, Baumholder; Sven Stadtrecher, Heidelberg Polizei; Christian Füllert, County Fire Chief, Winnweiler; Norbert Hoebel, LBB Kaiserslautern Director; Andrea Oliver, City of Kaiserslautern Military Liaison; John Constance, Atlantic Akademie and Wilkommen in Rheinland-Pfalz; and Christine Schneider, German-American and International Women’s Club.

Ralf Lessmeister, Kaiserslautern County Commissioner, middle, and Anja Pfeiffer, Union Community Mayor of Weilerbach, right, pose with Col. Jason Edwards, U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz commander, after Edwards presented Keys to the Garrison to them in a small ceremony in late June.Photo by Keith Pannell

The 2016 awardees were:

Elena Mazzola, State Ministry for Armed Forces, Mainz; Paul Junker, Kaiserslautern county commissioner; Dr. Klaus Weichel, lord mayor of Kaiserslautern; Col. Fiepko Koolman, Bundeswehr Indirect Fire and Artillery Corps; Gudrun Heß-Schmidt, deputy county commissioner of Kaisers-lautern; Peter Lang, Baumholder district mayor; and Oliver Vollmer, Police Headquarters Westpfalz.

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