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“Are you my friend or my enemy,” asked the Installation Management Command Commander Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch to Pvt. 2 Brian Lamson.
“I am the enemy, sir,” the private humbly replied to the three-star general.
Private Lamson had just become the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s Better Opportunities for Servicemembers president just five days before meeting his first three-star general. He was briefing the general March 9 about the facilities of the garrison’s new Warrior Zone in the Java Cafe on Rhine Ordnance Barracks.
During the course of his briefing, the private ended up teaching the general how to play the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.”
“I ran up behind him and killed him (in the video game), and he said ‘What are you doing? You are supposed to let me kill you first.’” The private said he then replied, “Yes, sir.”
The general, who took command of the organization that oversees the Army’s 163 garrisons on Nov. 2, was visiting Kaiserslautern as part of a European tour. He was here for a little more than four hours before heading to USAG Heidelberg and Grafenwöhr.
While here, Lieutenant General Lynch made it a point to visit wounded Soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and talk with Army spouses.
“He wanted an opportunity to talk to spouses, and we know that there are a lot of Soldiers and spouses who come in here close to lunchtime,” said U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s Commander Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison on why the general’s tour included a stop at the Java Cafe.
Lieutenant General Lynch and his wife, Sarah, were able to meet about 10 Army spouses, who represented a cross-section of the community from Landstuhl to East Kaiserslautern.
One of those spouses was Michelle Settle, the Family Readiness Support assistant for the 357th Air and Missile Defense Detachment and 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery. She had met the general and his wife in 2008 at
Fort Bliss, Texas.
“He took the concerns of the family members. He really wanted to know what needed to be fixed or what he could do to help,” said Mrs. Settle, who has been an Army spouse for 10 years. “Within probably two or three months after his visit, those things were fixed.
“He came and listened to what the spouses and family members had to say, and he made those changes,” she said.
Crystal Curran, who has been an Army spouse for seven years, agrees that changes will be coming soon.
“He said to look for changes within the next two months, and I think we will see some changes coming down the pipe,” said Mrs. Curran, who added that the general and his wife were “very down to earth.”
Colonel Hutchison said showing the general what needs to be improved in the community was a big factor in deciding the tour’s schedule.
“We wanted to show him some of our success here in Kaiserslautern,” Colonel Hutchison said, “but we also wanted to show him some of those things we would like to improve – that maybe we can get his help on to make better.”
One of those successes is the garrison’s new Warrior Zone, which is a part of the Department of Defense’s initiative of “Return and Recreate,” and supports the Army’s Soldier Family Action Plan.
“(The Warrior Zone) is a place for Soldiers to relax and unwind after work,” said Private Lamson when he briefed the general.
Private Lamson then cited the big flat-screen TVs, computer area with free internet and multiple video gaming systems which led to the virtual battle between the three-star general and private.
