Tom Zola - Plan B: A GERMAN WAR STORY

My name is Hartmut Schober, I was a soldier at a time when a wall divided the German capital and the so-called Iron Curtain divided Europe into two blocs, facing each other lurking and bristling with weapons. As a soldier of the German Bundeswehr, I experienced the end of this historic era called the Cold War, which to the good fortune of all of us dissolved peacefully instead of leading to an armed conflict. One such conflict would undoubtedly have turned the whole of Europe - and Germany in particular - into a field of rubble.

I am delighted that I have been given the opportunity to tell my story - with the kind support of Tom Zola, who helped me with my literary debut. We are both united in the desire to make military service understandable to those who have not served, and to show what it is like and what it was like. The Bundeswehr can always count on public interest when the next scandal is trumpeted by the media; but the everyday life of the ordinary soldier, the normal insanity of the German soldiers daily business, is beyond general recognition. I myself was a conscript and am still active as a reservist today. A career as a "lifer" unfortunately was denied to me, as you will read later on. Thus I cannot provide you with live combat stories, neither in Afghanistan, nor in Kosovo, nor with the Navy. But I am able to give the reader insights into the final phase of the Cold War and what it was like to do military service during this time. Even though the following story may cause some readers to doubt the authenticity of some individual incidents, I can assure you that all of them occurred just that way. From today's point of view, the training practices described may seem inappropriate, at times even cruel, but during those days they were part of the everyday life of the troops. After all, we "fought" the Cold War, the threat from the East was real and omnipresent, and it affected the attitude and behavior of the then-West German soldiers. Even though politicians nowadays like to claim otherwise, in my humble opinion we soldiers of the German Armed Forces saw ourselves standing in the tradition of the Wehrmacht in terms of enthusiasm, honor, comradeship, and fighting spirit; and we were always and constantly confronted with the gigantic armies of the Warsaw Pact. George Washington is credited with saying: "To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace."

A motto I can make friends with.

Of course not all soldiers had the same experiences back then, at the end of the 80s, but I think that many of my contemporaries will see themselves in my story. Readers from future generations may disbelieve and frown at the hard life of the German soldiers at that time, just as those older than me may smile and shake their heads about my kid-glove military training in contrast to their own in the 70s, 60s or earlier. I guess this is the way things go.

The Bundeswehr, in any case, was and is a universe of its own, and my story shows only one of many facets. Out of conviction I can say that I enjoyed being a soldier, even though I was very, very close to despair more than once.

The speech of my first Spiess on my very first day of military service always comes to my mind: "Men, the next few weeks won't be easy! But always remember, tough times go by, tough guys don't. Any gardener can confirm: Only the hard come into the garden!" which is just a silly German adage saying you have to be tough to get somewhere. Many may dismiss that as a hollow, stupid saying, but somehow it helped.

In order to avoid boring anyone, in my narrative I exclude lengthy descriptions of drill command training and other things known to anyone who has completed military service or served or is serving as a temporary or professional soldier. I'll confine myself to the highlights. This can cause a distorted picture of military training in uninformed readers, which I will not leave unmentioned. It is my intention to share my experiences with others, so that they may realize, too, that reality can surpass fantasy when it comes to the unbelievable. However, I have changed personal names and some placenames.