Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication

Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication - AIK / AkBwInfoKom -
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active	October 8, 1990 to November 30, 2014
Country	Germany
Armed forces	armed forces
Organizational area	Force Base
Insinuation	Armed Forces Office
Location	Strausberg
Tradition	Bundeswehr Information Center
commander
Last commander	Sea captain Christian Dienst

The Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication ( AIK or AkBwInfoKom ) at the Strausberg site near Berlin was the central training facility for specialists in press and public relations , career advice and media production for the Bundeswehr . On December 1, 2014, the academy was incorporated into the newly established Bundeswehr Information Work Center (ZInfoABw).

Among other things, through the training content conveyed and the media produced at the AIK, the Bundeswehr fulfilled its task of information work. The AIK was technically subordinate to the press and information staff of the Federal Ministry of Defense , in terms of troops the academy was part of the armed forces office .

history

The academy goes back to the Bundeswehr School for Psychological Defense ( PSVSBw ) set up in Euskirchen (Münstereifeler Straße 96) in 1965 , the training center for today's troops for operational communication . In May 1986 the school was relocated to Waldbröl (Schaumburgweg 3) and renamed the Academy of the Federal Armed Forces for Psychological Defense ( AkBwPSV ) in September 1987 .

On December 1, 1990, the name was changed to the Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication. This reflected the changed security situation after the end of the Cold War, which made “information and communication” rather than “psychological defense” necessary. The AIK was relocated to Strausberg in 1994 as part of the restructuring of the Bundeswehr after the completion of German unity .

At times of change

On November 15, 1989, at the meeting of the former National People's Army (NVA) and the Ministry of National Defense in the conference center, the participants demanded the resignation of the GDR's defense minister and a fundamental reorientation of military policy. On May 2, 1990, the first civil defense minister of the GDR, Rainer Eppelmann , announced the new military policy guidelines at the first commanders' meeting of the NVA after the fall of the Wall. On October 10, 1990 - one week after the reunification of Germany - Lieutenant General Jörg Schönbohm chaired the first command meeting of the Bundeswehr Command East here . 430 commanders - around half of them former members of the NVA - took part in the conference. In July 1991 the house became the care center for soldiers and civilian employees of the branch office of the Ministry of Defense and Defense Division VII.

assignment

The AIK was the central training facility for specialists in press and public relations, career advice and media production in the Bundeswehr. From 2012 she was also responsible for the production of central federal defense media at her second location in Berlin.

Fundamental scientific work was also carried out at the AIK, particularly on communication between the Bundeswehr and the public. This basic work went hand in hand with the training of the specialist personnel active in this field of activity as well as the production of the central federal defense media.

Special public relations activities were coordinated in Strausberg - from national and international seminars to the deployment of youth officers in the Bundeswehr. Workshops, conferences and seminars on security policy topics for various interested groups as well as for specialist audiences were also part of the Strausberg office's mandate. Because of the conference rooms available on the Strausberger campus, the good gastronomic offer and the excellent overnight accommodations as well as its location in the Berlin area, the AIK was also used as a conference venue and for special events. Not only, but mostly by the Bundeswehr itself. The Academy had thus established itself as an important forum in the dialogue between the Bundeswehr, society, politics and the media.

The AIK team comprised a total of around 230 civil and military employees at both locations.

Areas

Teaching / training area

The experienced staff officers and civilian employees working in this field of activity conducted courses in central areas of information work and for personnel recruitment. Together with trained communication trainers, small groups in the “team teaching” concept were given intensive support in the courses. In small learning groups of a maximum of 16 course participants, the topic of communication was intensively discussed. B. when speaking with and to individuals or groups as well as in front of cameras, when writing and holding lectures or when designing video contributions, photo documentation and online offers.

Equipped with modern studio and seminar technology, the academy recently offered more than 40 different courses. Military and civilian members of the Bundeswehr were trained. B. for tasks as press spokesman, youth officer, officer for public relations, career advisor, editor (also online) as well as for photography, camera work or film / video editing.

There was also general training in dealing with the media and preparation for the special communication requirements of military executives on missions abroad. A total of around 1,500 participants attended the up to four-week courses each year.

Basics / development area

The members of this area supported the information work of the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg) and the Federal Armed Forces with scientifically based studies, concepts, recommendations and statements. Seminars were also offered for special interest groups such as judges / prosecutors, journalists and volunteers as well as students. In addition, lectures and publications on topics of national and international security and defense policy were prepared. Scientific employees of the division were employed as lecturers in courses in the teaching / training division. They regularly took part in public discussions as lecturers at specialist conferences and as lecturers at universities.

The development and expansion of the Bundeswehr's central editorial office was supported by analyzes and recommendations, including studies on the development and perception of various media.

Public relations area

This area represented those activities of the Federal Armed Forces own public relations that were not directly perceived by the BMVg.

The department was entrusted with the technical management and further training of the youth officers and the staff officers for public relations. In addition to conceptual work, this also included the organization of conferences for specialist staff in his area of ​​responsibility.

Another area of ​​responsibility was the offer of special security policy seminars for multipliers at home and abroad. At these seminars, lectures and visits to units of the Bundeswehr, the EU and NATO as well as other national and international institutions were complementary. Two special events were the “Europe Seminar” and the “Manfred Wörner Seminar”, which brought together young executives from Germany and Europe and the USA in a dialogue on security and defense issues.

Central editorial office of the Bundeswehr

The federal armed forces' own media with a wide reach were brought together in the central editorial office of the armed forces according to a new concept from 2012: editorial activities for all formats - from the newspaper to the monthly magazine to the various Internet offers - were coordinated across the board.

The products that were created in the central editorial office were the weekly newspaper “aktuell”, the monthly “Y-Magazin”, the “Reader Sicherheitsppolitik”, the quarterly “Innereführung” (if) and central, continuous online offers such as “Bundeswehr” .de ”, YouTube, Flickr and the online portal“ Wir.dienen.Deutschland. ”with connected Facebook activities. The dialogue with the public was conducted here via the so-called “citizen telephone” as the central point of contact and by answering letters from the population.

The central editorial office included a large archive in which all products as well as all text, photo, audio, video and traditional film materials were collected. Not only the editorial staff of the Zentralredaktion worked with this archive. The materials available here could also be accessed and used by public and private broadcasters or publishers.

Library

With 1.2 million media units - from books and digital data carriers to valuable historical maps and prints - the AIK library and specialist information center was the largest specialist military science library in Germany. Their holdings comprised around 350 current journals as well as extensive specialist literature from the fields of security policy, history, social, political and communication sciences. The library was equipped with modern equipment, so it offered extensive research options, a large reference library with a reading room and a connection to the nationwide interlibrary loan network. The library was open to the public. The visit and the loan were free of charge.

AIK as a conference venue

The academy supported around 270 different events organized by the armed forces and other institutions every year. The conferences and seminars, which last from several hours to several days, have up to 14,500 participants annually. In addition to modern lecture halls and studios, the AIK also had a conference room with over 600 seats and a conference room with 200 seats. The 190 comfortable accommodations available in the house recorded more than 26,000 overnight stays per year.

Commanders

The academy was headed by the following commanders:

Rank	Surname	Commander of	Commander up
Sea captain	Christian service	Feb 28, 2014	Nov 30, 2014
Colonel	Axel Hecht	21 Sep 2007	Feb 28, 2014
Colonel	Rainer Senger	2002	21 Sep 2007
Colonel	R. Zimmermann	0Apr 1, 1999	2002
Colonel	Robert Bergmann	0Apr 1, 1997	31 Mar 1999
Colonel	Horst Prayon	0Oct 8, 1990	31 Mar 1997

Horst Prayon had already headed the predecessor department of the Bundeswehr Academy for Psychological Defense, Christian Dienst took over the management of the AIK's successor, the Bundeswehr Information Center.

Web links

• Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication. ( Memento of November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: The Armed Forces Base Services.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AIK. In: Bundeswehr location database . www.zmsbw.de, accessed on April 22, 2020 . 
2. ^ Martin spoon wood: war reporting in the media society. In: From politics and contemporary history (APuZ 16-17 / 2007), Federal Agency for Civic Education.
3. ↑ Oliver Zöllner : Dialogue as a communicative strategy. Public relations work by government agencies using the example of the Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication . Waldbröl: AIK 1993, p. 61 ff.
4. ^ "Campus Strausberg" ( Memento from March 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
5. ^ Bundeswehr Academy for Information and Communication: 1962 - 1989. In: Archives Portal Europe. Retrieved May 23, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Uwe Spranger: Change at the top of the AIK. Märkische Onlinezeitung , February 28, 2014, accessed on May 23, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Uwe Spranger: AIK with a new head: Colonel Axel Hecht takes over the scepter. Strausberg-live.de, September 21, 2007, accessed on May 23, 2020 . 

Coordinates: 52 ° 35 ′ 34.4 "  N , 13 ° 55 ′ 6"  E