German army instructor making refernce to New York City blacks still on duty

A German army instructor who ordered a soldier to envision himself in New York City facing hostile blacks while firing his machine gun is still on duty.

Photo: German army instructor making refernce to New York City blacks still on duty

A video of the army instructor telling the soldier to shoot and yell obscenities while thinking of blacks aired on German national television Saturday.

The president of the Bronx, the New York City borough that the army instructor referred to in his directions to the soldier, has demanded an apology from the German military.

The German military said it was investigating. "The German army takes the incident very serious and is interested in quickly resolving it," army spokesman Florian Naggies said, adding that the instructor "is still working for the army."

Another spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that "this racist incident is unacceptable and contradicts every principle according to which training is done in the army."

The clip shows an instructor and a soldier in camouflage uniforms in a forest. The instructor tells the soldier, "You are in the Bronx. A black van is stopping in front of you. Three African-Americans are getting out and they are insulting your mother in the worst ways. ... Act."

The soldier fires his machine gun several times and yells an obscenity several times in English. The instructor then tells the soldier to curse even louder.

The Defense Ministry said the video was shot in July 2006 at a barracks in the northern town of Rendsburg and that the army has been aware of it since January.

In New York, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. said Saturday whoever was responsible for the video should be disciplined.

Coming after scandals involving photos of German soldiers posing with skulls in Afghanistan and the abuse of recruits by instructors, the video seemed likely to raise more questions about training practices in Germany's conscript army.

Winifried Nachtwei, a national security spokesman for the Greens, said that the behavior "was not compatible with the requirements of today's overseas deployments. Such instructors have no place in the army."