30 years after the “Special Forces” left Bad Tölz, you can watch American soldiers practice here again.
Paratroopers jumped over Warngau and Greiling.
Bad Tölz / Warngau - The US Army is attracting attention these days with airborne training in Greiling and Warngau.
What you see in the sky looks weightless: a dozen parachutists float in an elegant curve through the air, approach the ground at a sharp angle until they all touch down within an area less than the size of a football field.
What is being rehearsed here is anything but easy.
“It takes years to achieve this level of efficiency,” says Sean Foertsch (50) on the floor.
He is a "press officer" in the American military and provides information on the exercise that the Army is visiting in the Oberland.
Paratroopers are stationed in Stuttgart - helicopters look almost like in the Vietnam War
There are experienced paratroopers who practice here for use in crisis areas.
The 20 men are stationed near Stuttgart.
"They all wear an altimeter on their bodies and open the parachute themselves at the right height," explains Foertsch.
When the soldiers roll slightly over the ground on landing, the officer explains almost apologetically: "They are wearing equipment that weighs almost as much as they do themselves."
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The men jumped over Warngau from 1200 meters.
© Arndt Pröhl
In the past few days, the men mostly exercised from the Greilinger airfield.
Yesterday they chose the airfield in Warngau because the clouds weren't that low here.
On the program was a jump from a height of 1200 meters.
At the Warngau airfield, the heavily packed soldiers climbed into the belly of a large helicopter. The “CH 47 Chinook” is a twin-engine transport helicopter with two large rotors.
In principle, the model still looks the same as it did during the Vietnam War.
It was first built in the early 1960s and, in current versions, is still used today to transport troops, vehicles, guns and material.
At the edge of the airfield, a number of onlookers, cyclists and drivers stop, many of them pull out their cameras.
A member of the motorized aviation club also drops by.
“It's very interesting for us pilots,” he says.
Nobody asked the association that everything had been arranged through the authorities.
The soldiers had shown themselves to be very approachable.
"Yesterday, children trained here on the soccer field next door, and they were allowed to look inside the helicopter."
US Army closely associated with Bad Tölz - the journey home to Stuttgart takes 20 to 30 minutes
The local citizens would be friendly to them, says Foertsch.
He attributes this to the region's old ties with the US Army.
For decades, their “Special Forces” were based in the Flint barracks in Bad Tölz.
"Bad Tölz has a place in our hearts."
Foertsch tells of his friendship with the Saxon woodcarver Sebastian Demmel, who made many coats of arms and figures for the “Special Forces” - until today.
A “patch” was specially designed for the exercise, a badge on the sleeve.
Embroidered on it: Bad Tölz, a parachutist and a black, red and gold stripe.
Everything against a green background - an allusion to the special unit of the "Green Berets" of the Flint Barracks.
After the practice jumps, the soldiers start their journey home to Stuttgart every evening.
Their way home is shorter than for many commuters: 20 to 30 minutes by helicopter.
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(ANDREAS STEPPAN)