SWISS CHEESE: Life of a United States







SWISS CHEESE: Life of a United States
Attaché to Switzerland

By Colonel Bob McBride

Editor's Note: Have you ever wondered what the life of an Attaché is like? COL Robert McBride kept a journal for his first months in his new assignment as the Defense and Army Attaché to Switzerland. That journal gives us a glimpse into the life of an Attaché. After six months as a geographic bachelor, his family joined him in August. Following are some of his impressions and experiences as a new Attaché to a traditionally neutral country that is experiencing some historic changes in outlook.

As I read back over my journal, I recalled often wondering just what the business end of being an Attaché was all about. In choosing some of the highlights to illustrate what I do for a living, I was amazed at how quickly a new defense Attaché gets involved in the nuts and bolts of the political-military relationship. Being a defense Attaché forces/allows you to use virtually all of your past military experience to the benefit of the country team as well as the host country's defense and military community. The other surprising reflection is how much happens in one year in the assignment, how quickly that first year goes by, and how short the remaining two years appear compared to the goals and objectives we have set. Don't pass on Attaché duty if it comes your way.

2 Feb 97

My official accreditation to Switzerland is a week from tomorrow. I will meet with the Chief of the General Staff, the J-2, and with the new Chief of Staff of the Army, LTG Dousse. General Dousse is one year younger than I am and was just promoted to Lieutenant General on the first of January as he took his new post. He was hand picked by the Minister who is trying to get some younger officers into the senior positions in the Swiss Army.

The 13th is my welcome reception at the ambassador's residence. 200 people were invited, and we expect about l00 to come, including several of the ambassadors of friendly countries, and much of the senior leadership from the Swiss MOD, General Staff, and the services. I'm thinking about wearing my dress blues, since I will be the only U.S. Army officer in the room. The Air Attaché said to me tonight, "You're the DATT. You can wear whatever you want."

9 Feb 97

Breath taking beauty is a rare thing. Merle Haggard sang, "If God doesn't live in Colorado, I bet that's where he spends most of his time." I don't know how much time Merle ever spent here in Switzerland, but, after the last two days, I would beg to differ with him.

Toward the end of this week, the sky cleared off over all of Switzerland for the first time since I arrived eleven days ago. The scenery surrounding Bern is dominated from the south east to the south west by the snow crested Alps of the Berner Oberland and, most prominent among them, the peaks of the Eiger, the Munch, and the Jungfrau, three of Switzerland's most famous mountains. This beautiful setting dominates the skyline from any high or open terrain in or around Bern and makes a house with a southern view and a large window one of the most important attractions to those who can swing it.

Saturday morning I drove south east from Bern toward Interlaken. The city takes its name from its place on the Aare River between two huge lakes called the Thunersee and the Brienzersee. Interlaken is 'between the lakes." As I entered the Berner Oberland and approached the beautiful mountains on either side, I came over a rise in the freeway, and then I literally drew in my breath in surprise. I was looking at the entire valley floor filled with clear, beautiful water and reflecting the surrounding peaks in the morning sun. This was the view from the western end of the Thunersee, twelve miles long and three miles across, looking southeast toward its other end and the higher mountains beyond. It was so beautiful I had to stop the car at a little restaurant parking lot right down on the water just to be able to enjoy the stillness of the lake's beauty for a few minutes. Continuing my drive, I bypassed Interlaken and drove south into the mountains to a little town called Interkirchen that is almost at the headwaters of the Aare River. That high in the mountains, the Aare is a clear, rambling stream with a white stone creek bed and is lined by beautiful trees. I stood on the small bridge that crosses it at Interkirchen and enjoyed the sun reflecting off the water and the rocks. The pleasant sound of the rather quick running stream was one I think I will drive back to hear again and again. In winter months, the road south from Interkirchen is closed because of the snow. In the spring I can drive that way to go on through the Grimsel Pass to get into the Valais, the next east-west valley, south of the Bernese Alps.

28 Feb 98

Just returned from the Swiss Army ski week for Attachés and families. Many of the Attachés who cover Switzerland from Paris, Rome, Bonn, or Vienna also attend this annual event. I spent the entire week not only learning to ski but also interpreting all of the instructions and training from French into English. The Swiss Army instructors for the beginners' group only spoke French, and the other folks in the class only spoke English or German. Sometimes I had to interpret from French to German because the Turkish boy speaks mainly German. This all meant that I got everything twice, so it probably helped me to learn better how to ski.

Crans-Montana is one of many famous ski and mountaineering resorts in the Valais region. It sits about half way up the southern slope of the mountains on the north side of the valley. The closest large towns are Sierre and Sion. When you get high enough in the cable cars to see further to the south over the tops of the mountains, the impression is much like looking West over the Rocky Mountains when taking off or landing in an airplane in Denver. The mountains simply go on forever, as far as you can see. Switzerland truly is "the roof of Europe" and has some of the most beautiful mountain scenery I have ever seen in my life.

15 Mar 97

Went shopping yesterday in Bern. The altstadt (the old part of the city) is so fun, because it is like a rabbit warren of small shops and covered sidewalks. I ended up going down toward the point of the bend in the river and then made my way back up by the cathedral (the Munster). I walked out onto the terrace above the river on the south side of the cathedral grounds. It is a favorite meeting place in Bern, with lots of people just hanging out enjoying the sun and having something to eat or drink. The paths are hard dirt, so it is the favorite place in town to play Boules, Bacci, lawn bowling, or Petanque, whatever you know it by. I'll have to take the kids down there to play sometime. I know I'm not good enough to compete with the regulars.

I stepped inside the cathedral just to look and heard the choir beginning their warm ups for a practice. I sat down to listen and this turned into a free concert. They were getting ready for the Saturday evening and Sunday morning services. It is a Protestant cathedral, so in their services they tend to sing a little more than in a catholic service. They did everything a capella. The director would give them the tone and off they would go. It was very, very lovely. I want to go back sometime to hear them signing with the organ. Next Sunday afternoon is a performance in the cathedral by the Bern Oratorio society, so I am trying to get a ticket for that.

30 Mar 97

I attended a very interesting luncheon with the Deputy Chief of Mission last week. We had two staff officers down from HQ, US European Command. They are staff experts on the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. Switzerland joined PFP last fall, and they prepared their first years program based on the list of possible events from NATO. US EUCOM spends a lot of time arranging bilateral PfP exercises between the US and one or more other PfP member countries, so that entire effort is outside the bounds of the "NATO sponsored" fist of PfP exercises. We wanted the Swiss Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to understand the difference between the two efforts and to start looking at the possibility of US-Swiss bilateral exercises or Swiss hosted NATO sponsored exercises. We had two ambassadors, one from each from the two ministries, both responsible for Swiss national security policy.

The EUCOM briefing was an eye opener for them. The Swiss are trying to keep a low profile in their first year of participation. Any thing that sounds like a Swiss soldier saddling up and going "down range" for a military exercise outside Switzerland is too politically sensitive to be in the first annual report going to parliament. Since all PfP exercises can only be based on peace-keeping, search and rescue, humanitarian relief operations, and peace enforcement at the tactical level, the Swiss can use their expertise in such areas as search and rescue and peace keeping. Frankly, we were surprised at their lack of detailed understanding of the program they just signed up for. It was a good effort. The next move is to take the guy from the General Staff who actually sits down and drafts the annual program for the Swiss up to Stuttgart to brief the Operations and Policy guys on the Swiss Program and his political constraints. This kind of effort is a good example of our representational role for DOD, JCS, and the Unified Command.

I Finally got a weekend to get away and study some more about Switzerland. I drove up to Zurich for two days of museum hopping. Saturday was 5 hours plus in the Swiss National Museum. I stayed as long as my back could hold out. It is a very impressive museum, and I seem to remember parts of it from back in my FAO trainee days in 1984. The large weapons hall portrays the history and evolution of infantry weapons from Roman times up to the 19th century. I remembered the display of six life size figures dressed in their medieval half armor and forming a defensive square with pikes and long spears. It is a very impressive display of their armor, their weapons, and their tactics for defending themselves against the mounted horsemen. I'm a heavy cavalry guy at heart, but I would hate to have to ride my horse into such a formation with long spears waiting to take me out of the saddle.

I had to go down to Lausanne for a day and a half Tuesday and Wednesday, This was for an OSCE demonstration by the Swiss Army of their new "Piranha" armored personnel carrier. I was one of two U.S. representatives. I learned more about the Swiss Army (Training, tactics, Mechanized Infantry, Artillery, and outlook) in 24 hours than I had learned in the last six months. It was fun to put my BDU's on and actually get my boots dusty for a couple of days.

15 APR 97

Thursday was an organized visit for the foreign Attachés to the Swiss Army Engineer School. More good stuff, and more insight into how they train. The lieutenant, platoon leader, in charge of a pontoon bridge demonstration (six sections with two end ramps making a 100 meter, 60 ton bridge across a river) told me he has been a lieutenant for six months. This time last year he was a corporal in Engineer Officers' School. Half way through every basic training course, several soldiers are singled out to become corporals. They finish their basic training with that in mind. Of those, a select few are tapped to go to Officers Training. Understand, this is all militia, similar to our National Guard. They go to basic training for 15 weeks, but that includes what we do at Advanced Individual Training after basic. Then they come back for three weeks active duty every two years until they are 42 years old, or 52 in the case of officers. Only about 3,500 Officers and NCOs are full time active duty. The entire force, if mobilized, would be 450,000. Every Swiss male citizen is liable for military service. Quite a system.

MAY 97 - Appenzell

Major General Markus Rusch (who is now serving as the Swiss Defense Attaché in Washington) and his wife, Ruth, invited a few of us to their home canton of Appenzell to see the annual exercise of direct democracy known as "Landsgemeinde." This event always takes place on the last Sunday in April.

At 12 noon sharp, the cantonal ceremonial band and the seven color guards escort the members of the government and the fourteen judges from the cantonal court down from the government house to the Landsgemeinde Platz. They do a traditional slow march, with the color guards doing the circular waving of the flags as you often see in movies about Europe. The members of the government and the judges are all dressed in their dark robes and all march carrying their hats in their hands, because the hat is the symbol of their authority. They have to be re-elected in order to continue to wear it.

Once they and all invited official guests have taken their places, the head of government (the Landemann) takes over as the master of ceremonies. All the official greetings are spoken in high German, because many of the official visitors are from Germany or from other cantons of Switzerland where the local dialect of Appenzell would be hard for them to understand. Once the main business begins, however, the Landeman reverts to Appenzeller Deutsch.

The first official act is to re-elect the government or for the citizens to propose new members for any of the government posts, primary among them and first to be voted on, the Landemann himself. (In Arizona we would call him the chairman of the board of supervisors. Sorry, it's hard for me to think of him as the governor of a State, but in fact by law, that is his equivalent level.) The Landemann goes down off the stage and faces away from the citizens so he can't see their votes. His deputy gives the Landemann's name and says that it is proposed that he be retained in office for another year. Then he asks if any citizen has another candidate to propose, (None did.) Then he says,"this being the case, the Landemann is re-elected." The Landemann then returns to the stage and takes over for the rest of the ceremony.

Each of the names of the other six members of the government is approved by the same process, each of them going down from the stage in their turn. Once this is done, the fourteen judges all have to step down and face away at the same time. Each of them is re-elected in the same way and they resume their places one at a time in turn on the stage in front of the citizens.

Now is when the Landemann takes his oath for the coming year, and then he reads the citizen's oath, that they all repeat back to him with their thumb and first two fingers held in the air (representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost).

From here on it is less symbolic and more down to business. The only two real votes were on the fiscal proposals for the coming year and a proposal that retail establishments be allowed to have "sales" more than twice a year. Both proposals passed, with the Landemann asking, "all those in favor of this proposal, please show it by raising your hand, and all those opposed please show it." You can imagine my emotions at watching this. I told Markus the last time I had seen anything like that was in my church. He found that very interesting.

The weather was miserable, with rain most of the day, but that did not hamper the solemnity of the ceremonies in any way. The judges and members of government stood uncovered in the rain until they were re-elected. At each point when the citizens knew they were going to be called upon to vote, they would put their umbrellas down. Then they would come back up again after the vote.

Markus said he remembered an issue being controversial from when he was a little boy, and that the vote was so nearly split that the Landemann had to ask the citizens to go to one side of the square or the other depending on how they wanted to vote and then he had to try to count the votes.

That was it. The band and color guards escorted them back out, this time wearing their hats proudly, the Landemann's just a little bit taller (almost a conservative stove pipe) than the others. As he passed the two police officers who had been escorting him earlier they saluted. He grabbed the brim of his hat and removed it down to his waist to return the salute. I was so impressed I said, "Markus, did you see him return that salute in the proper way." He said, 'Yes, of course. He was a company commander in my battalion."

June 97

I recently got to visit the factory of the MOWAG corporation, the manufacturers of the Pirhana Infantry Fighting vehicle. During the MOWAG visit, I met a Corporal White, Swiss Army. I was staring at his nametag and he was staring at mine. I said how did you end up in the Swiss Army with a name like White. He said, "My dad was from Scotland. You have a Scottish name to, don't you." He has been in Switzerland for five years, so he had to do his military service or leave. He is starting officers training, so he will be a lieutenant a year from now. We were speaking French to start with and he didn't recognize my uniform so he was surprised when I told him about my great grandfather going to America from Scotland in 1856. Once we got it straight that I am a U.S. colonel, we enjoyed the coincidence. I gave him my card and told him to call me the next time he makes it to Bern.

This past week we enjoyed the visit of Dr. John White, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense. He is a very friendly man whom the Swiss enjoyed visiting. In the country team meeting before his meetings with the Swiss and the Swiss Minister of Defense, I was able to brief him on Swiss government efforts to relook their National Security Strategy and their place in Europe over the next twenty years.

I also brought him up to date on our efforts to resolve the dispute over work done by the Swiss on artillery cannon for the United Arab Emirates but using U.S. technology which they did not have permission to release. I was able to begin the process of negotiating offsetting work which will resolve the dispute. The U. S. Army arsenal in Watervliet, New York will forge cannon barrels that will come back to Switzerland and be used by the Swiss Army to upgrade their own weapons. This solution was the result of my working with the chief of artillery systems in the Swiss Armaments Procurement Agency on proposals to get the negotiations started. The second time I sat in his office, I told him, "Peter, if this problem has a solution at all, you and I are the guys who can make it work." We sat for two hours and drafted a letter for his boss, the Swiss Armaments Director, going back to General Kicklighhter in the Army Secretariat in the Pentagon (Deputy Under Secretary of the Army for International Affairs). It stated the Swiss proposal for offsetting work. General Kicklighter's folks liked it (I was calling them on the phone from Peter's office as we drafted the Swiss letter), and he signed a nice response within the following two weeks.

This dispute was brewing as l came to the job here. Each week the Political officer would mention the M109 Howitzer dispute and the latest nasty notes between the U.S. and the Swiss government. I finally got tired of it and asked the Ambassador if there was anything I could do besides "wring my hands." That began my direct coordination with General Kicklighter's office.

July-August 97. Most of this time was taken up with helping my family move from Virginia to Switzerland. I also attended my son's high school graduation and traveled across the U.S., via the northern route, to a big family reunion in Oregon. Got back with everyone in place by mid August.

August 97

The highlight of this past week was a cocktail party and reception to say hello to Sharon. Since she got to meet most of the Attachés and wives in February, we concentrated on the Military Department, the General Staff, the Army Staff, and the National Armaments Agency. Ambassador Kunin insisted on stopping by, in spite of eight houseguests and a dinner of her own. Mr. Wicki, the Swiss Armaments Director and number three in the MOD also joined the group. He is in better spirits lately since the U.S. Army Staff in the Pentagon is really trying hard to help resolve the howitzer barrel dispute. George and Carolyn Walton, the Air Attaché couple, hosted the event in their 15th floor penthouse, since my dayroom furniture doesn't look too cool in our house. We had about 50 people and it was a nice evening. The group also included over a dozen Major Generals and their wives, from the General Staff and Army Staff and two division commanders.

Friday, I attended a memorial ceremony for LTG Jean-Rodolphe Christen, former Chief of the Swiss Army (Ground Forces), who just retired last December. It was sad to see him go so soon after his retirement. While there, I saw and spoke to Mrs. Schlup, the widow of the former Swiss Defense Attaché to Washington. Sharon and I want to go pay her a visit soon. She and her husband, MG Hans Schlup, went on all the Attaché trips I organized in my foreign liaison job in the Pentagon.

Out in front of the cathedral, I got to introduce myself to MG Max Riner, one of the division commanders in the Swiss Army, and a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. I had seen his picture and knew he was a War College grad, but had not yet had a chance to meet him. I made sure he was invited to our 4th of July event, but he was out of town. As I introduced myself, in German, and he looked at my uniform, he smiled and said, "Sie sprechen unheimlich gut Deutsch." (You speak unusually good German.) That made my day, of course, and then I made his by telling him that War College grads have to stick together. He is class of '89. He also knew what I meant when I told him I did it "the hard way." I look forward to inviting him over for dinner and getting to know him better. He seemed like a very friendly guy and insisted that I come pay him a visit.

Next Thursday, Sharon and I are hosting a barbecue luncheon on our patio for the Swiss Military Protocol Office. This is the equivalent of our foreign liaison offices in the Pentagon, but they have the protocol function on top. I feel sorry for them. Not a very big office, and they take wonderful care of the Attaché community (very small by comparison to D.C.) and do all the traditional protocol functions. Our office hosts them to lunch once a year just to thank them for all their support.

Sep 97

My West European DATT conference this week is at the embassy in Madrid. Two days discussing the emerging European security architecture, and then we get to spend some cultural time down in Toledo. I told the kids how impressed I had been with Madrid and Toledo 13 years ago when I was traveling through as a FAO trainee. Can't believe it has been that long since I was there, but indeed, our Jeannette was a brand new baby then, and she just turned 13 this summer.

We are happy to be getting some U.S. Marines and Navy SEALS, and perhaps some National Guard Special Forces troops, to come to Switzerland in October to participate in an international airborne and patrol competition for "elite" troops. Looks like we will get U.S. C-130's for them to jump out of. This will be a first for the U.S. and is a warm up for further similar events in Switzerland under the Partnership for Peace umbrella.

It looks like the howitzer barrel negotiations between the U.S. Army and the Swiss Armaments Agency went well. I am happy to have had a hand in getting them to the table and making it turn out right. Now if the Army can get the State Department and Congress to lay off the Swiss, we may have the beginning of a very lucrative cooperation agreement for U. S. industry to sell U.S. upgraded M-109 howitzers with Swiss cannon. Both sides make money and the customer gets the weapon he wants.

Today was the first day of school for Jeannette and Sean. Their bus (van) comes, at 0725. Jeannette has about 12 classmates in 8th grade, three of whom are American. Sean has about 21 classmates in 10th grade, and they are split into two groups. They both are taking English, French and German at the same time. This is the mandatory language program at the school, in addition to their normal math science, social studies, etc. I am glad they are having this opportunity at their age.

Oct 97

Yesterday, I was the guest U.S. officer at the annual meeting of the Swiss Fort Benning Club. The organization is composed of all Swiss Army officers who are graduates of the U.S. Army Infantry Officers Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. It took them personal greetings from MG Ernst, the CG at Fort Benning, and gave them an info paper on what's happening there and in the U.S. Army in general. They were particularly proud this year with the new promotions in the Swiss Army that reached out and touched the "Fort Benning Mafia" particularly well. The new Chief of the General Staff, the new deputy chief of staff of the ground forces, two new division commanders, a new corps chief of staff, and the new chief of operations (J-3) on the General Staff are all Fort Benning Grads! Two of them are going from Colonel directly to Major General to assume their new functions. Good stuff for our Professional Military Education program!

One recent highlight was two days spent with the Swiss Army Logistics Troops, hosted by Major General Hans Pulver, The guy likes to sing! He organized a male choir twenty-five years ago composed of civilian employees (and Swiss Army militia members) who work for the Federal Office for Logistics. At the dinner on the first night, his old choir came in to sing to the Attachés and other guests, including LTG Jacques Dousse, Chief of the Swiss Army, who was the surprise guest. The choir sings a capella and only in Swiss German. The songs are beautiful and the two lead singers are the yodlers. It was so beautiful I could hardly keep myself in the chair I wanted to sing with them so much. General Pulver looked at me and said, "You like to sing, don't you." I admitted that it is true and told him I had been wondering if a non-Swiss person would ever be allowed to sing in a traditional Swiss folk music choir. He smiled and said, "I certainly think it is possible. I will get back to you on that." After dessert, he even got up and joined his old choir, singing bass for three of their numbers. Their songs were so beautiful that their is no way I can express it in words. We all simply had the feeling that we were seeing and hearing a rare piece of the real Switzerland.

Nov 97

Tomorrow the embassy is closed for Veterans' Day, but lots of folks are working anyway, because the Secretary of State is coming to town this week. This seems to be a history-making event. As far back as they can trace the records, the American Secretary of State has never come to Switzerland for a bilateral visit with the Swiss Government. Previous visits have been to Zurich or Geneva and have been related to the U.N. or to other international negotiations, with Switzerland only providing the place. We are hoping her visit will go a long way in smoothing over the hard feelings created by the Nazi Gold / Holocaust issues.

December 97

Last night we went to the "change of command" reception for the new Chief of the Swiss General Staff. It was a very nice event down at the Bellevue Hotel (Bern's finest, where the Secretary of State had her ops center by the way). Didn't get much chance to get to visit with the new guy (soon to be Lieutenant General Hans-Ulrich Scherrer), because so many people were surrounding him after the receiving line was over, and then he started it all over again to say good bye. Wasn't too worried, however, since he is stepping into a special relationship with the United States, as Switzerland looks more and more toward peacekeeping and military support to European stability.

He went down to Naples last week with the Defense Minister and a group of other Swiss General Officers to visit the NATO Southern Region Combined Air Operations Center. George Walton took them down, since he is the Air Attaché and had arranged the visit with USAF LTG Betherum, who is NATO's COMAIRSOUTH. Scherrer was very impressed, and he mentioned the trip to me last night when I was shaking hands with him in the reception line. The Defense Minister, Mr. Ogi, was so pleased with the regional air defense concept and capability that he wants to increase Swiss cooperation with NATO in this area. George and I are on his calendar to discuss it further with him. Doesn't get any better than that for Attachés, i.e. for the minister's secretary to call you and propose a date to come and have a meeting with the minister. He is very forward thinking, probably the most of the seven members of the Federal Council, so he has developed a strong respect for U.S. and NATO defense concepts and methods. He was the driving force in the Swiss decision to join the Partnership for Peace.

A glimpse in 98:

March 98

Last week, Sharon and I drove up to Zurich and spent the night in a nice little hotel in Staefa, where I gave a speech one of the Swiss Officers Association chapters (Zurichsee Rechtesufer). This was the fourth time for my speech on U.S. Defense Trends and the QDR. It was a fun evening. The group was very interested in what I had to say, and the timing couldn't have been better. The Iraqi decision to deal with the UN Secretary General illustrates the utility of our strategy. I don't think we will worry next time about scaring up another coalition. It will be us, the Brits, and the French, hitting him before he has time to think about what's happening. The diplomatic solution was the best, however, because, otherwise, without the full inspection program, there is no way to prevent Saddam from continuing down the road of weapons of mass destruction with long range delivery means.

The other highlight of the month was the official release of the Swiss MOD's study on Switzerland's strategic situation. It starts a debate that will last for most of this year, but already makes some historically astounding recommendations for Swiss Foreign and Defense policy. Primary among them are things you have heard me comment on before, such as a drastic cut in the militia based armed forces, turning them away from defense of the country's borders to international peace support operations in Europe and beyond. They are recommending a full-time active duty quick reaction unit, trained in peace support operations, and deployable in 24 hours, with their own organic ground and air transportation capability to support operations in Europe and Africa. THAT is RADICAL for Switzerland, as is the recommendation that Switzerland join the EU as soon as possible and then look at an even closer relationship to NATO beyond PfP. This is good stuff, and it's a fascinating time to be here and be reporting on all this.

April 98

Spent two days this week in Stuttgart and Vicenza with 28 Swiss officers who will be the next group of new generals. They were visiting NATO, SHAPE, U.S. EUCOM, and the NATO Combined Air Operations Center (for Bosnia) as part of their "charm school" similar to the U.S. CAPSTONE program for new generals. I was with them for the EUCOM and CAOC portions. It was a good visit, and another example of rapid, historical changes that Switzerland is making in trying to come out from behind its traditional neutrality and contribute to European security. When they were at SHAPE, General Karstens said, "something must be happening in Switzerland" That about sums up what we are experiencing by being here in this particular period.

I hope that this brief glance at the life of an Attaché has been of some help to the reader. This job is a delight, with something new and amazing literally around every corner. In a real sense, you are your own boss and must find imaginative ways to solve a myriad of different problems that face any Attaché.

Colonel Bob McBride, the U.S. Defense and Army Attaché to Switzerland, arrived in Bern in January of 1997. As a European FAO, he has extensive background at higher level staffs and within his region. He last served as a Division Chief in the U.S. Army Foreign Liaison Directorate, ODCSINT-DA.

1998, Foreign Area Officer Association
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