"Who would have thought it?" said the commander of Flotilla 2, Flotilla Admiral Sven Beck. A swearing-in ceremony at the Rathausmarkt!

The Wilhelmshaven naval base command is establishing a reserve company with around 280 posts. On 13 November, one day after the founding day of the Bundeswehr and on the day the new military service was announced, 94 recruits from the "Wilhelmshaven training and protection company" on the town hall square in the city of Jade. The market was lined with hundreds of visitors, Lord Mayor Feist emphasised his pride that the citizens of the largest Bundeswehr base stand firmly by their soldiers. Sailor Kistenmacher gave the speech for the recruits. At the end, the commander of Operational Flotilla 2 presented all recruits with a coin.

We are still looking for reservists of all ranks!

In the afternoon, the next rare event took place: the Wilhelmshaven Naval Music Corps under the direction of frigate captain Matthias Prock marched in again together with a platoon from the guard battalion. The frigates of the

Class 125 were awarded by the Head of Operations at the Naval Command, Rear Admiral Jens NemeyerThe troop flags were ceremoniously raised. Guest speakers were State Secretary Thomas Blenke, Baden-Württemberg, State Secretary Dr Dirk Günnewig, North Rhine-Westphalia, State Secretary Klaus Zimmermann, Saxony-Anhalt and Carsten Göller, Rhineland-Palatinate. The awarding of the troop flag to the units is a consequence of the adaptation of the multi-crew concept.

In a surprising deviation from protocol, Rear Admiral Nemeyer awarded the commander of the 4th Frigate Squadron with the title "Commander of the 4th Frigate Squadron", Frigate Captain Volker KübschThe German Armed Forces Cross of Honour in Gold in a special version for particularly outstanding achievements, especially for outstanding individual acts of military performance of duty, at risk to life and limb, due to his outstanding leadership performance as commander of the frigate Hessen in the ASPIDES operation:

At the end of the day, the commander of the naval base command and site elder, frigate captain Rolf Hoppe, invited guests to a festive event in the Gorch Fock House to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Bundeswehr. The keynote speaker was Professor Michael Epkenhans.

That was a day. Without rain. And anyone who still claims that there was nothing going on in Wilhelmshaven is wrong. The events at the town hall market were attended by hundreds of citizens!

Text: hsc