Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Army

ANSBACH, Germany – Col. Aaron Southard, U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach commander, hosted the garrison’s annual Spring Social on Feb. 6, 2026, to update the installation’s host-nation community and mission partners on milestones from the last year and upcoming goals.

“Events like these are important to us,” Southard said. “Because they remind us of something we never take for granted. We are guests in your communities. We are your partners in this region and friends in the shared future.”

Topics highlighted during the event included:

Safety and Emergency Response

In 2025, the Garrison Fire Department handled 666 incidents, aiding in 24 of them in the surrounding communities. A Mutual Aid Agreement is being updated to allow local fire departments to use the U.S. Army’s Installation Management Command – Europe Regional Fire Training Center. This joint training ensures a better-coordinated response during emergencies.

Economic Impact and Local Investment

The U.S. garrison community contributed significantly to the local economy in 2025, spending approximately 30 million euros overall, with 23 million euros directly benefiting Ansbach and Illesheim businesses. In September 2025, the garrison also began a $330 million modernization project at Barton Barracks. Looking ahead to 2026, projects include a $13 million elementary school, and the community anticipates the arrival of 940 additional servicemembers and their families.

Health Care and the Next Generation

The partnership extends to health care, with German medical facilities helping to welcome 66 new babies into the Army family in 2025. Local clinics, such as Ansbach Klinikum, treated 1,053 TRICARE patients, handling 844 outpatient visits and 209 hospital stays.

The event intended not only to list the garrison’s accomplishments but also to reinforce the values of communication and friendship.

“When the U.S. Army needs us, we are here, or when we need help, we train together,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Jörg Seybold of the German 1st Company, Transport Helicopter Regiment 30, who has partnered with Americans in the Ansbach area for over 15 years. “This is very important to stay together in the world. For the soldiers, all the families, all the kids, to make the world a little bit better of a place.”

The social, along with events like the upcoming 250th Independence Day Celebration, showcases the long-standing relationships the USAG Ansbach community has with its host-nation partners.

“Two hundred and fifty years of the United States is a great thing,” said Lord Mayor of Ansbach Thomas Deffner. “It’s a great nation, and we have 80 years of partnership. That’s fantastic for Europe, for the United States of America, and especially for Germany.”

Southard finished his remarks with a message on behalf of the soldiers, families and civilian employees of U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach.

“Thank you for your cooperation and thank you for the friendship that continues to define the relationship between our Army community and the people of Franconia,” he said. “Our partnership is not just ceremonial. It’s lived every day on the roadways, in the clinics, the shops, the restaurants, the classrooms, and across kitchen tables where German and American families share meals, stories and life together. Thank you.”

Source: United States Army

USAG BAVARIA – HOHENFELS, Germany – Students of Hohenfels Elementary School took the stage Feb. 10, 2026 at the Post Theater as part of the school’s annual spelling bee.

The students represented six classes from the third, fourth and fifth grades and stood before their classmates and others, who cheered them on, as they repeated each word and spelled them out.

The moderator read each word, differentiated certain words from any possible hominem, provided definitions as needed, and, when asked, gave the spellers examples of the word used in a sentence.

There to ensure neither the student misheard nor the student was misheard, a panel of judges took part in the event. These judges included Angela Lane, the deputy garrison manager for USAG Bavaria – Hohenfels; Michael Lane, active volunteer in the community and Lane’s spouse; and Kris Dohl, administrative officer for the Department of Defense Education Activity at Hohenfels.

Within the first round, two players misspelled their words (jumbo, nacho), and the crowd cheered on each speller until the moderator asked the audience to hold their applause for the completion of each round.

Robert Deverick, HES principal, helped oversee the studentry and cheered on the competitors.

“The spelling bee is one of those time-honored traditions in schools that gives kids a motivating factor to try harder and do better,” he said. “There are a couple of high fives and thumbs-up from all of the contestants cheering each other on. So it was fantastic.”

Another speller dropped out in the second round, another two in the third. Boycott, widget, dawdle, cricket, penguin and bestow proved too difficult so that the field of competition dwindled to just four.

The four remaining spelled out carnival, kangaroo, calzone and garment correctly. Then the following round three competitors misspelled ingredient, manifesto, jubilant, while one player spelled galaxy correctly.

Isabella Holden, fourth grade, played one solo round, spelling gelato correctly and becoming the spelling bee champion.

The bee, however, had not concluded.

Because three spellers dropped out in one round, those spellers would have to play further to determine second and third places. The first two tiebreaker rounds passed with no letter out of place, with words like aromatherapy, balderdash, cattail, guardian, inclusion and pellet. Then in the third round, Jaxon Dreger misspelled prejudice, leaving fourth graders Mary-Margaret Schnorf and Charlotte Blaha. Blaha spelled goliath and Schnorf misspelled riviera.

The final standing was:

• 1st: Isabella Holden
• 2nd: Charlotte Blaha
• 3rd: Mary-Margaret Schnorf.

The Hohenfels Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization organized the spelling bee this year, ensuring the event ran smoothly.

For more photos from this event, visit the link here.