German Defense Minister, Minister-President view RMTP progress Published March 20, 2006 By 1st Lt. Elizabeth Culbertson USAFE News Service RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) -- German Defense Minister Peter Struck, Rheinland-Pfalz Minister-President Kurt Beck and State Minister Karl Peter Bruch visited here May 6 to receive an update on the Rhein-Main Transition Program. During their visit, they toured the Air Mobility Command passenger and freight terminal areas, reviewed the German Bundeswehr gate guards, fielded questions from German media and received briefings on the Allied Air Component Ramstein headquarters, Rhein-Main Transition Program and Kaiserslautern Military Community Center. “It’s hard to imagine, until you see it, how the ramp is ... going under construction, how C-5 hangars are coming out of the ground, how the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center is growing by leaps and bounds,” said Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, vice commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe. “It’s very impressive to see personally ... and I think they were very happy with what they saw.” Although Minister-President Beck has visited Ramstein Air Base multiple times, the visit was Minister Struck’s first. “The visit was an opportunity to show the German military what the U.S. Air Force is doing in Germany,” said Wolfgang Hofmann, USAFE chief of European media operations. “We were able to discuss the importance of the Rhein-Main Air Base mission coming here and show them what millions of dollars in construction projects are being used for.” General Lichte acknowledged the partners in the RMTP effort — the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, the state of Hesse, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Frankfurt International Airport Authority and the U.S. Air Force — and said it was good that Minister-President Beck was able to visit. “(His constitutents) will be affected by what’s going on, and of course we here at the base will be counting on them for different concessions and where our people will live, play and where they’ll go out,” he said. “(His visit) does two things: first, it gives us an opportunity to show him what’s going on and second, he learns what’s going on so that he can explain it to ... the local community ... so there are no questions or fears.” German Defense Minister Peter Struck (center) speaks with Rheinland-Pfalz State Minister of the Interior Karl Peter Bruch (left) while Minister-President Kurt Beck (right) looks on during their May 6 visit. Members of the German Bundeswehr were also reviewed by Defense Minister Struck. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Laura Simi) Click here for hi-res image!