Visit to Europe from National VFW Junior Vice Commander
Submitted 23 Marchl 2011
The Department of Europe was honored to play host to National VFW Junior Vice Commander John Hamilton from 18 to 26 October 2010. His agenda included visits to NATO Headquarters in Belgium and US military commands in Germany. In Belgium, he was briefed in detail on the role and mission of NATO with senior officials of the U.S. Mission to NATO.
Junior Vice Hamilton felt all of the meetings and discussions were very frank and open. He was very impressed with the level of diplomatic skills our senior military personnel must possess in order to keep the NATO Coalition together. His stops in Germany included Stuttgart, Ramstein, Landstuhl and US Army Headquarters Europe. These visits included the opportunity to observe how forces are trained before deployments to the theatre of operations and observing troops firing their weapons using simulation which is reportedly much cheaper just as effective.
The visit was rounded out with a stop at the Fisher House at Landstuhl following a visit to injured Soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Junior Vice Hamilton afterwards praised the Department of Europe team for a successful visit, and in particular the efforts made by Department Junior Vice Commander Tony Classe for coordinating many details.
