War Hub Germany

US Command in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim

The United States is consolidating its activities for arming and training the Ukrainian armed forces into a central structure, by establishing a new command headquartered in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. The command would include approximately 300 soldiers and be headed by a US general. The structure will draw on experiences gained by the US armed forces in their train-and-assist efforts for the Iraqi and Afghan military. The command’s establishment is being particularly promoted by US Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, commander of the United States European Command (EUCOM) headquartered in Stuttgart-Vaihingen. US military officials assume that the Ukraine war will persist for a long time and support for Kiev should therefore be channeled in an orderly manner.[1] Cavoli is pushing for the command to be established in Wiesbaden, where the headquarters of the US Army Europe and Africa are located and assist particularly in arming and training Ukraine’s ground forces. The final decision on the establishment of the command is expected soon. Germany’s role as a hub for the military activities of Eastern and Southeastern European NATO members could thus be bolstered.

Consolidating Structures

The International Donor Coordination Center, which has been coordinating support for the Ukrainian military had already been located in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim since the beginning of August. It evolved from a planning unit, that had already been formed shortly after the war began, to logistically organize difficult deliveries of combat material to the Ukrainian war zone. At the time, the leading role was assumed by members of the 10^th Special Forces Group of the US military stationed in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, which, in the runup to the war, had been training Ukrainian units in Western Ukraine. In the meantime, delegates from militaries from more than two dozen countries – even Ukraine is represented by a general – are working in the International Donor Coordination Center, which is likely to merge, in one form or another, into the new command. The new command will also have ties to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a loose-knit coalition of around 40 countries involved in Ukraine’s arms buildup and training, which first assembled for that purpose on April 26 at the Ramstein US military Airbase.[2] It is unknown, how this command will interact with the EU’s training mission for Ukraine.[3]

The Resistance Operating Concept (ROC)

Germany is not only progressively developing into a hub for western military activities in the Ukraine war, it was also instrumental for the development of a strategy that is apparently regularly being applied by the Ukrainian side – the Resistance Operating Concept (ROC). According to reports, the realization that the Georgian forces were no match for Russian troops in the Caucasian War in 2008 was the main premise for developing the ROC. This led countries such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, in particular, as well as US forces, intensively cooperating with them, to consider developing alternatives to futile conventional methods of defense, where smaller countries have no chance against a Russian attack. It was reported that beginning in 2013, the US Special Operations Command (SOCEUR), headquartered in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, had been tasked with initiating the development of a corresponding strategy, which was named ROC.[4] In 2020, a comprehensive account was published, authored by Otto C. Fiala, a Colonel of the US Army, who had participated in ROC’s development.[5]

Stay Behind

The ROC is specifically aimed at not engaging a conventional superior enemy force in open battle, but rather to use asymmetrical means against it. This is to be applied, particularly, when the homeland is already under occupation. All available means should be activated, not just those of the armed forces, but methods of resistance that can also be implemented by civilians. Sometimes, one speaks of “total defense,” used to systematically wear down the occupying power. The models for SOCEUR’s orientation are, for example, the methods of the French Résistance against the Nazi occupiers, the resistance in the Philippines against the Japanese occupiers during World War II, or the operations used by the Baltic anti-communist underground forces in the Soviet Union during World War II.[6] Also mentioned, for example, are “stay behind” concepts such as “Gladio” or other strategies developed by smaller countries, such as Switzerland, to at least partially compensate for their clearly foreseeable conventional military inferiority in face of an occupier, by using alternative forms of resistance.

Special Forces Operations

In Ukraine, ROC technics were put into practice, primarily in the beginning of the war – for example, the dissemination of instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails, with which particularly civilians were supposed to engage the occupiers. This was supplemented by systematically equipping the Ukrainian military with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles – some of which having already been delivered before the war began – which had in fact seriously weakened Russian forces. Kevin D. Stringer, a US colonel, who, like Fiala, had played a leading role in the elaboration of the ROC, was quoted in late August to have said in relationship to explosions that had just previously occurred, causing significant damage also to Russian military airfields in Crimea, that one can recognize US ROC which includes operations by special forces behind enemy lines.[7] Elaborated by SOCEUR in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, ROC had been promoted and disseminated in Europe by US Special Forces already before the Ukraine war. Ukrainian troops were among those units trained by the US military. It is unknown whether and to what extent the most recent attack – on the Crimean bridge – is connected to ROC techniques.

[1] Eric Schmitt: Pentagon Plans to Set Up a New Command to Arm Ukraine, Officials Say. nytimes.com 29.09.2022.

[2] See also Waffenstellerkonferenz in Ramstein.

[3] See also Between Peace and War.

[4] Oren Liebermann: How Ukraine is using resistance warfare developed by the US to fight back against Russia. edition.cnn.com 27.08.2022.

[5], [6] Otto C. Fiala: Resistance Operating Concept (ROC). Foreword by Major General Kirk Smith, Brigadier General Anders Löfberg. Florida 2020.

[7] Oren Liebermann: How Ukraine is using resistance warfare developed by the US to fight back against Russia. edition.cnn.com 27.08.2022.