Once, only a few Augsburgers knew - and nowadays even less know - that the U.S. garrison consisted not only of Army personnel, but also of small units of the Air Force and the Navy. All of these Department of Defense Components were on duty at the Gablingen Field Station, e.g. the Navy from March 1972 until April 1996. The home of the latter was Bldg 117, Sheridan Kaserne.

For three years since August 1981, CAPT Karen A. Laino was at the helm of the U.S. Naval Security Group. With female charm instead of the typical military formality, she led the approximately 50 personnel of the Field Station’s Navy Group, North of Augsburg. Laino already had been a successful signal and security control officer. Her qualifications and experience profile, as well as her career until today are extensive and impressive. From September 2007 until November 2011, she was Director of IMS (International Military Staff) Intelligence at NATO Headquarters.

On March 30, 2016, Karen A. Laino visited again her former garrison. Besides an interview with Lord Mayor Dr. Kurt Gribl, she also cultivated earlier private contacts in the Fugger city. In the evening, Laino was a guest of Amerika in Augsburg e.V. Society, where she learned to know the activities of the society and a few of its members. With this meeting she renewed the memory culture of the German-American relationship in Augsburg.

 

                        Karen A. Laino and Lord Mayor Dr. Kurt Gribl in a cheerful conversation.

 

      Former chief of police Walter Böhm (left) is showing photos of Karen A. Laino’s Augsburg tour.

 

Lord Mayor Dr. Kurt Gribl presents an Augsburg gift to Karen A. Laino. From left: Sepp Ittner and Max Hartig of the Marineverein (Navy Association) Augsburg, Walter Böhm, Karen A. Laino, Dr. Kurt Gribl, and AiA-Chairmen Georg Feuerer and Max Lohrmann.

 

 

At Bldg 116, Sheridan Kaserne, Karen A. Laino has a look at several exhibits of the Society and is posing in front of historical U.S. trucks.

 

   Intensive exchange of views between Karen Laino and Amerika in Augsburg e.V. Society members.

 

CAPT Karen A. Laino (U.S. Navy, left) and LTG Claudia J. Kennedy (U.S. Army, right), during the Farewell Ceremony at the Rosenaustadion in 1998. (Photo: Sepp Ittner).

 All photos, except where noted otherwise, by Amerika in Augsburg e.V.