Garmisch employee serves volunteer time during recent flood event

GARMISCH, Germany - After flooding struck many parts of Bavaria in June 2024, volunteers rallied to support area communities, including U.S. Army Garrison Garmisch's own Robert Huste.

Authorities declared a state of emergency in several cities, including Schrobenhausen in upper Bavaria. In the city and the surrounding villages, streets were partially flooded so badly that many people were trapped in their homes.

Emergency personnel and special vehicles were needed to bring them to safety.

This is where the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) came into play.

Volunteers from Garmisch-Partenkirchen supported the crisis area, including Huste, the acting Operations & Maintenance chief, Directorate of Public Works, Garmisch, who spent several days in the disaster area helping to evacuate people from their homes.

After several days on the job, Huste returned to work the very next day.

"When you see the relieved and grateful looks on the faces of the people you were able to help, you forget the stress and tiredness of several days of not getting much sleep," said Huste.

Companies must release employees for voluntary work if it is in the public interest, and the U.S. Army is no exception. Several employees at the Garmisch garrison volunteer for service such as mountain rescue service, the volunteer fire department, or the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW).

To thank the garrison for the release of Huste from duty during the floods in June, the THW State Commissioner for Bavaria, Dr. Fritz-Helge Voß, awarded the garrison a certificate for releasing Haste for deployment during the floods.

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