Troop support
The troops care seeks to soldiers, especially fighting troops to entertain, distract and cheer. It includes all contributions to the troops that go beyond food, clothing and weapons.
Troop support also includes the organization of the field post , which connects the troops both with home and the troops with each other. For the troops 'entertainment and information purposes, the soldiers' transmitters are also operated, which, depending on the orientation, can also be used for propaganda purposes.
Another component of troop support are activities of the churches and religious communities in the military context as part of military chaplaincy .
history
From ancient times, fighting troops were accompanied by a train of traders and prostitutes . Troop support has always included priests and intoxicants . In the order of the day , in addition to military instructions, the troops are occasionally given moods, wishes and greetings from home.
In modern troop support, the military leadership increasingly endeavors to provide the fighting troops with the information and entertainment they are used to from civil life. This applies to the delivery of magazines, music, theater and film screenings from the civilian sector as well as the operation of our own - and possibly censored - media, e.g. B. the newspaper The Stars and Stripes or the Bundeswehr broadcaster Radio Andernach . A typical example here is the AFN (see also Good Morning, Vietnam ). In totalitarian states, the importance of such soldier media is generally greater, since there military members are often prohibited from using civilian media. In the armies of democratic states, however, they are usually supposed to compensate for the lack of adequate (or simply linguistically understandable) media abroad.
In the Bundeswehr , troop support is organized at the respective locations through leisure offices.
Celebrities
In addition to the support organized within the troops , the appearance of celebrities as troop entertainers at the location or in the deployment area of troops plays a major role. From time immemorial, military and political leaders have visited troops for the purpose of holding parades, awarding awards and encouraging speeches, even without a specific military need, the closer to the combat zone, the more effective such visits are.
Since the First World War , the appearance of (prominent) entertainers has been part of the troop support. Usually they then appear as civilians for a fee. Often these troop supervisors waived their wages in whole or in part or even joined their army voluntarily in order to give their comrades a change in everyday life as soldiers. Some retained their civilian status, but were given an honorary military rank because of their service. Bob Hope, arguably the most dedicated troop supervisor in the US armed forces, made it to honor general.
In the United States Armed Forces, the United Service Organizations are particularly responsible for supporting members of the military and their families through performances by famous artists, excursions and short trips, as well as numerous other offers of help.
Visits by celebrities are also increasingly organized when the Bundeswehr is deployed abroad . In the winter of 2010/2011, for example, the techno live act Paul Kalkbrenner performed for Bundeswehr soldiers in Kunduz, Afghanistan .
Even if, in particular with prominent troop supervisors, care is usually taken not to use them in the immediate danger area. B. Marlene Dietrich in contact with the enemy during the Battle of the Bulge and only barely escaped capture, Glenn Miller had a fatal accident on the flight to a front tour.
literature
- Alexander Hirt: “The homeland extends a hand to the front”. Cultural troop support in World War II 1939–1945; a German-English comparison . Dissertation, University of Göttingen 2006.
- Andy Merriman: Greasepaint and cordite. The story of ENSA and concert party entertainment during the second world war . Aurum Books, London 2013, ISBN 978-1-84513-618-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ In addition, among other things: Martin Baumeister: Kriegstheater. Big City, Front and Mass Culture 1914–1918 (Writings of the Library for Contemporary History / NF; Vol. 18). Klartext Verlag, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-89861-219-8 .
- ↑ Jürgen Schieder: Celebrities with US troops . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . dated May 22, 2010.