ARMY IS AMONG BIGGEST EMPLOYERS IN BAVARIA
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes,
Stars and Stripes, DC
Feb 25 2007
GRAFENWOHR, Germany – The U.S. Army is the third-largest employer
in Bavaria when troops from other parts of Europe come to train at
Grafenwohr and Hohenfels, according to data released by the Joint
Multinational Training Command.
At "surge capacity" – with up to 18,000 troops training at Grafenwohr’s
JMTC and Hohenfels’ Joint Multinational Readiness Center – the
U.S. Army in Bavaria employs more than 33,000 people including
U.S. military and civilians as well as local nationals, the data shows.
That would make the Army the third-largest employer in Bavaria after
car maker BMW and mobile phone company Siemens. When no outside
units are training in Bavaria JMTC is the ninth-largest employer in
the state.
And the Army’s impact in Grafenwohr will only grow over the next few
years due to a $1 billion base-expansion project – Efficient Basing
Grafenwohr, or EBG – which by itself employs more than 3,300 Germans.
The expansion will see an additional 3,000 permanent troops and 4,000
family members move here over the next few years.
Green uniforms are a regular feature at lunch time in the Ararat
kebab stand just off post near Grafenwohr’s Gate 1. Ararat owner Armen
Oganesian, an Armenian, said Americans account for about one-half of
his customers.
Locals say the Army is by far the most important industry in the
Oberpfalz region that surrounds the U.S. bases at Grafenwohr, Vilseck
and Hohenfels and takes in the larger nearby towns of Regensburg,
Amberg and Weiden.
"[The U.S. military] is a priority. This region doesn’t have big
industrial firms like Siemens. The biggest advantage for the region is
the U.S. forces," said Grafenwohr software designer Gerhard Pfenning.
To help U.S. soldiers and local businesses stay in touch, Pfenning
recently started a Web site – – that includes
yellow-pages listings for American-friendly local businesses.
Pfenning said he makes some profit from advertisements sold on the
Web site but that he started it as a hobby and to help Americans new
to the region.
"I was born here and know the good places to see. There are a lot of
Americans coming, and I thought they need a lot of information about
German culture and where to find things," he said.
Another Grafenwohr local, Tobius Schemnner, 26, agreed on the
importance of the U.S. forces to the local economy. Schemnner, whose
parents both work on post at Grafenwohr, is surveying U.S. soldiers
and civilians who work on post about their off-post spending habits.
Schemnner said he wants to find out where Americans shop – on post,
off post or on the Internet – so he can write a thesis as part of
his economic geography studies at the nearby University of Bayreuth.
Joseph Karl, public affairs chief for the Oberpfalz Administrative
District, said the construction industry in Bavaria is benefiting
from the military buildup at Grafenwohr.
The local industries that benefit the most from the U.S. presence
include car sales, tourism, restaurants and food, he said.
Rainer Pappenheim, a press officer for the Bavarian Staatskanzlie
(Chancellery), said official German figures show the U.S. Army employs
5,800 Germans in Bavaria (slightly less than the 6,049 quoted by the
Army as working at Grafenwohr, Vilseck, Hohenfels and EBG).
"There are of course more jobs in the Bavarian economy, which depend on
the U.S. Army’s activities – for example, in construction companies,
contractors, shops and services – but we are not able to quantify
this," Pappenheim added.
The Army’s most significant impacts are in the construction sector,
catering industry and shopping centers, but the impact is also not
quantifiable, he said.
About 20,000 Americans live off post in Bavaria – more than the number
of U.S. soldiers stationed here. And there are many U.S. civilian
employees and retirees who live in the region, he said.