GRAFENWOEHR, Germany –
The successes of an organization can often be directly attributed to its people, and this holds true for the 405th Army Field Support Brigade, as well. One person who has driven success for the 405th AFSB – serving faithfully with dedication and pride for the last 2.5 decades – is the director of the Base Support Operations Maintenance Directorate.
Recently presented with a 25-year Army length of service award, Stephanie Kramer embodies empathy, integrity, respect and more – all the character qualities that count, said Joseph Scheff, the director of the 405th AFSB, who presented Kramer with the award at the BASOPS headquarters in Grafenwoehr, Oct. 12, along with 405th AFSB Command Sgt. Maj. Terrell Brisentine.
Kramer, who is a German local national employee, first started working with the U.S. Army in September of 1998 in Wuerzburg as one of the Army’s first apprentices in Germany. The program – still in its infancy at the time – was started by the director of Theater Logistics Support Center-Europe, 21st Theater Sustainment Command. Since then, Kramer has carried the apprenticeship program with her to BASOPS Maintenance, 405th AFSB, actively instituting it within her directorate and across U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria.
As the director of BASOPS Maintenance, Kramer is responsible for a workforce of over 120 local national employees who support all the Army garrisons across Germany with material maintenance for base support operations equipment, mechanical safety inspections for privately owned vehicles and more.
“The last 25 years have been an incredible journey,” said Kramer, who started as an administration clerk after completing her apprenticeship in 2000.
Obtaining her master’s degree in business administration in 2005, Kramer moved from Wuerzburg to Grafenwoehr shortly after where she first worked at the Host Nation Liaison Field Operating Agency as a management and program analyst overseeing transportation, supply and maintenance.
“I am privileged to be a part of this amazing team,” said Kramer, who served as the deputy to the director before becoming the director of BASOPS Maintenance in 2015. “The dedication, expertise, teamwork and unwavering support of our BASOPS Maintenance professionals have contributed immensely to my professional development.”
“When I started, it was called the ‘Maintenance Center of Excellence’ and it still is,” said Kramer. “Although it’s now called BASOPS Maintenance, it’s still the maintenance center of excellence, mainly because of our people.”
“I am grateful for being a part of this organization, which I call family,” Kramer said, “and I really appreciate Mr. Scheff and Command Sgt. Maj. Brisentine taking the time out of their busy schedules to visit BASOPS Maintenance.”
“Stephie Kramer exemplifies professionalism and dedication and is a recognized leader among the U.S. Army Europe and Africa sustainment community,” Scheff said.
As a field operating directorate under the 405th AFSB, BASOPS Maintenance provides equipment maintenance support to all garrison community organizations and activities in Germany. It provides consolidated material maintenance support for base support operations equipment and mechanical safety inspections for privately owned vehicles. It performs automotive maintenance on a fleet of garrison support vehicles to include special purpose and armored vehicles, fire and rescue, snow and ice removal and construction equipment such as scoop loaders, excavators, scrapers, road graders, tractors, rollers and more.
BASOPS Maintenance also manages a special apprenticeship program that has proven to be quite successful as an alternative way to attract new employees. The program allows apprentices to learn as they go, gaining critical on-the-job experience. Currently the BASOPS Maintenance apprenticeship program is only available in the U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria area of responsibility. To find out more about the program, call DSN 314-526-3801 or commercial +49-9641-70-526-3801.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st TSC, 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 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.