Name: Thomas Moosmann
Job title: Supervisor, POV Inspection Station Baumholder (USAG Rheinland-Pfalz)
Location: Baumholder, Smith Barracks, Bldg. 8421
Unit: Base Support Operations Maintenance Directorate, 405th Army Field Support Brigade
Hometown: Idar-Oberstein and resides in Baumholder
Years of service with U.S. Army: 41 years
Years assigned at the Baumholder POV inspection Station: 22 years
Q: What advice would you give to your customers before arriving at the POV inspection station?
A: What the customers can do – which is very good for everyone – they can ensure they have a serviceable, un-expired first aid kit as well as a serviceable warning triangle and all the paperwork ready to go and easily assessable when they arrive. For the paperwork, they need a valid vehicle registration, military identification card and a completed application. They can also check their vehicle’s lights to ensure they are all working properly ahead of time and check their tires, making sure there are no nails or cracks and at least 1.6 mm of tire tread remaining.
Q: If an issue with the vehicle is discovered during the inspection, what happens next?
A: We show the customer what we have found, and explain to them what they can do to correct it – usually either repair it or replace it. We can’t recommend a specific repair shop or place to take the vehicle. That is strictly forbidden. Their safety and the safety of others is our number one priority, and we have clear guidelines that we follow to ensure all vehicles being inspected here are safe to operate on the roads in Germany and Europe.
Q: What are your hours of operation and do you take appointments?
A: We operate our POV inspection station by walk-in appointments only. Since the POV inspection station at Kapaun Air Base in Kaiserslautern switched to appointments only, we have seen an increase in service members coming to Baumholder to have their vehicles inspected. Before that change at Kapaun we were averaging about 350-450 customers per month. Now we receiving 600-700 customers per month.
The POV inspection station at Kapaun, just like ours, is a state-of-the-art facility operated by professional and highly qualified inspectors. We recommend that if you reside in the Kaiserslautern Military Community and Ramstein Air Base, you make a reservation with the Kapaun inspection station as early as possible. If you would like to make an appointment at the Kapaun POV Inspection Station, the website to do so is https://booknow.appointment-plus.com/9rm3mcns/. For more information on the Kapaun station, go to https://www.ramstein.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/303632/vehicle-inspection-registration/.
If you come here to Baumholder, we will welcome you and serve you to the very best of our ability, but understand during any part of the day – and especially first thing in the mornings – there will likely be a long line of customers and vehicles waiting to be served. We are open for walk-in appointments only, Mondays through Fridays from 7:45 a.m. to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. The last customer before lunch break will be accepted 15 minutes prior and again 15 minutes before closing. We are closed on U.S. and German holidays.
We look forward to serving you!