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NEWS | Oct. 12, 2021

QA specialist says safety is always first priority at Zutendaal APS-2 worksite

By Cameron Porter 405th Army Field Support Brigade

Name: Scott Schneider

Job title: Quality Assurance Specialist

Assigned: Zutendaal Army Prepositioned Stock-2 worksite, Army Field Support Battalion Benelux, 405th Army Field Support Brigade

Location: Zutendaal, Belgium

Experience: I’ve been here at the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite for two years and seven months. Before that, I was a contractor for eight years at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, where I was the project manager for the Logistics Supply and Support contact.

Other service: I retired in 2002 after serving 20 years and 29 days as a Staff Sergeant and M1 Tank Mechanic.

Hometown: Toronto, Iowa

Family: I have been married for 36 years to my wife, Ulrike, who is from Frankfurt, Germany.

Q: Can you explain what you do and what you are responsible for at the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite?

A: I oversee the work of three quality control inspectors. We support a maintenance fleet for the Ground Support Equipment here at Zutendaal. We manage over 1,500 pieces of equipment. We inspect and conduct quality control checks on all that equipment to ensure all services and repairs are conducted properly.

Q: Why is your team’s work at the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite so important?

A: We’re dealing with very unique equipment. Before working at the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite, our host nation workforce had not seen nor been around this type of equipment before, and it’s inherently dangerous to work on because it’s extremely heavy. Safety is always our first priority. We all have to be precautious. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.

Q: What do you enjoy about your job, and what motivates you?

A: I love my job. Every day is a new challenge, and I love working with our host nation workforce. We have a really good team here – both American and Belgium. Also, I love being in Europe. Belgium is beautiful. It’s centrally located. We can travel to France in a couple of hours, we can be in the Netherlands in 15 minutes, and we can be in Germany in 20 minutes. It’s a great, central location.

APS-2 Program and the 405th AFSB: The APS-2 program is a key component of U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s power projection and warfighter readiness missions. The 405th AFSB’s APS-2 program provides turn-key power projection packages – ready to deploy at a moment’s notice – while helping to reduce the amount of equipment needed from the deploying forces’ home stations. Combatant commanders identify their APS-2 requirements, and the 405th AFSB executes and then issues the equipment to the deploying warfighters.

The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.