USAG Ansbach Summer Fun Program

Ansbach, Germany (5 September 2024) - Every summer, U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Ansbach transforms into a vibrant canvas of laughter, energy and creativity while hosting over 200 German children for a Summer Fun Program during the month of August.

Every year, while the German children are on their summer school break, USAG Ansbach and 12th Combat Aviation Brigade (12th CAB) get together to host a fun and activity-rich summer program. During this year's program, the garrison and 12th CAB hosted children from 11 different surrounding communities within Ansbach and Illesheim eager to dive into the "American way of life."

These day-long events are crucial for the garrison's and 12th CAB's outreach programs to build and spread trust and understanding for the missions and visions to their local neighbors and surrounding communities. The motivation behind the program is for the children, and their parents, to bring home good, informative, and fun memories from their time at the garrison.

A key part of the events are volunteer Soldiers who share their stories of being an U.S. Soldier in a foreign country and the importance of the U.S. Army's mission.

The events typically start off with children rushing towards the helicopter displays. 12th CAB pilots of the CH-47F Chinook and AH-64E Apache greet and brief the guests about their mission and tasks and answer every question from young and old alike. Children and adults also can go inside the helicopters and get an up-close look at the instruments and devices of the aircraft.

Next on the agenda is a quick lunch break at the Katterbach "Wings of Victory" dining facility where many of the Soldiers eat their meals. After the lunch break, Soldiers are paired with groups of children to make bowling teams, the teams then compete against each other at the garrison bowling alley. After the friendly bowling competition, the children visit the Katterbach or Storck Fire Department.

The firefighters show the children around their fire house and demonstrate how to use the fire equipment and their Panther airfield firefighting vehicle. The fire department also sets up a water game for the children, where the kids spray water at small fire truck toys in "lanes" trying to be the first across a finish line, before moving on to the last stop, Rocket Park playground on Katterbach Kaserne.

The programs hosted on Storck Barracks currently have the challenge of no useable playground on that installation, so the staff at the Recreation Center step up and contribute a tremendous part of entertaining the kids with different creative activities such as arts & crafts, cornhole or table tennis.

The summer fun program is a creative and positive approach to reach both a younger and older audience to give them a better understanding of the background and mission of their local U.S. Army installation, USAG Ansbach.

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The U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach military community is a power projection platform located in the Franconian region of Bavaria and is spread across six sites and nine kasernes dispersed around the city of Ansbach and the village of Illesheim. Today, Ansbach is home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, the community's largest tenant unit, as well as the 7th Engineer Brigade, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment. The garrison takes pride in supporting more than 13,000 Soldiers, civilians, family members, and retirees working and living in the Ansbach area.

For more news from U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, visit: https://www.army.mil/FranconianNews or https://www.facebook.com/usagansbachcommunity/

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