Well, the crews are "from NATO" and not specifically German, though I get your point; but flying an AWACS mission isn't exactly like "going into combat" ...
> Sending them to the US is a way for Germany to contribute to
> the coalition without fighting in a war.
Presumably the US calls the shots in NATO; so this would have to be helping the US in some way. But having NATO forces deploy in the US seems like it wouldn't help the US at all: quite to the contrary, it would set an awful precedent.
Why would the US want this mission to take place? They already get tons of grief from having that German Air Force base in Alamogordo, NM.
/jordan