Name: Matthias Eisenhut
Job Title: Heavy Equipment Maintenance Specialist and Inspector
Assigned: Baumholder Maintenance Shop and POV Inspection Station, Base Support Operations Maintenance, 405th Army Field Support Brigade
Location: Baumholder, Smith Barracks, Bldg. 8421
Experience: I’ve been working here for 11 years. I started at Kapaun Air Station in Kaiserslautern as an inspector in a temporary position for nine months, and then a position opened up here in Baumholder and I was hired here as a permanent employee. Before working for the U.S. Army I worked for a local BMW automobile dealership as a technician for 31 years until it went out of business.
Hometown: Berglangenbach, Germany
Family: I have been married to my lovely wife, Petra, for 26 years. We have two children – a son, Dennis, who is 25, and a daughter, Seline, who is 21.
Q: Can you explain what you do and what you are responsible for at the Baumholder Maintenance Shop and POV Inspection Station?
A: I work on heavy equipment – trucks, large mowers, snow plows, et cetera. But most importantly I work on fire trucks. I specialize in electrical systems. Each piece of equipment has multiple sensors, electronic boards and a computer module, and this is where most of the problems occur. I use a computer to run diagnostics and help determine where the system is failing. I also order replacement parts for repairs, call the parts distributers for cost estimates, and if the equipment is old and it’s not sensible to continue making repairs, I follow the process to turn it in.
Q: Why is the service your team provides to the Baumholder military community so important?
A: The most important service we provide is to the fire station on Smith Barracks, a part of U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pflaz Directorate of Emergency Services. We maintain a strict service schedule and conduct maintenance and repairs on seven fire trucks and multiple other equipment pieces belonging to the fire station, such as trailers, generators and more. Sometimes for three or four days a week, we work on these fire trucks and equipment pieces, ensuring they are ready to go if called upon.
Q: What do you enjoy about your job, and what motivates you?
A: I live in this community with my family, and many Americans live here, too. They are our neighbors and our friends. Within my community, I don’t differentiate between an American family and a German family. The services and support my team and I provide to this community – we provide to everyone – and I enjoy this very much. I’m lucky to have this job.
BASOPS Maintenance and the 405th AFSB: Base Support Operations Maintenance is a field operating activity under the 405th AFSB that provides equipment maintenance support to all garrison community organizations and activities in Germany. The mission of BASOPS Maintenance is to provide consolidated material maintenance support for base operations equipment for the Army across the Germany footprint as well as mechanical safety inspections on POVs for service members, Army civilians and their families stationed in Germany.
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.