VILSECK, Germany –
Army Field Support Battalion-Germany is lucky to have John Schulz on their team. The support operations transportation specialist at the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s AFSBn-Germany has literally done it all. When he joined the Army in 1989, he was an infantry mortarman. He also was an infantry officer, ordnance officer, transportation officer, multifunctional logistician, civil affairs officer, and he worked in psychological operations.
He’s worked at the 405th AFSB’s Logistics Readiness Center Wiesbaden in plans and operations. He was with the 405th AFSB way back in 1997 when it was called U.S. Army Materiel Command, Europe in Seckenheim, Germany. He was active duty – both enlisted and officer – for 20 years. He was a U.S. Army Reservist for 16 more years. And he’s now a State of California National Guardsman and lieutenant colonel assigned to state’s museum detachment.
The 57-year-old father of two – a son and a daughter – and husband to his loving wife for the past 26 years said he’s bounced back and forth between the U.S. and Germany quite a lot over the years, especially as a Reservist called up on active duty. An Army civilian employee since 2009, the Battalion Germany transportation expert holds a bachelor’s degree in German from the University of Arizona and has been assigned or deployed to Germany six times. This includes active Army, Reserve, Army civilian, and in some cases a combination of two or more. If that’s not enough time in Germany, his first time was almost 40 years ago as an exchange student with the University of Arizona.
At AFSBn-Germany, Schulz and a host nation coworker of his handle all the transportation movements of Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 tactical vehicles and equipment sets to and from the Dülmen and the Coleman APS-2 worksites. They track everything, plan upcoming movements, report movement statuses, and ensure the commercial transportation partners they often work with are getting paid for their services. And the APS-2 they are responsible for moving and tracking can be transported all over and across Europe – and often is.
Recently, they supported U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s DEFENDER exercise, and they planned and executed movement of equipment used for training Ukrainian military forces in Grafenwoehr. Upon training completion, that equipment was transported and returned to the Coleman APS-2 worksite, which Schulz and his coworker managed and tracked.
Also, Schulz said when he was first assigned to AFSB-Germany, it was at the tail-end of a movement order to transport an entire modernized Armored Brigade Combat Team’s worth of APS-2 from Coleman to the Army’s newest, most modern APS-2 worksite in Powidz, Poland. Upon arrival to the battalion, he helped with this mission, as well, he said.
Schulz not only serves as his battalion’s go-to transportation expert. He also volunteers as the battalion’s primary trainer and instructor for the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program, Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program, and Army Substance Abuse Awareness and Prevention Program. In addition to this, Schulz and his coworker have organized multiple partnership events with local German military organizations in Bavaria, such as weapons marksmanship competitions, plus social events like barbeques and ceremonial awards and recognition events.
“I think from the Presidential level on down, there's been increased emphasis on NATO taking a larger role in defending Europe, so it's that much more important in today's environment that we work together with our host nation partners,” said Schulz, who has also deployed to Bosnia three times as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. “There’s even a saying in German that translates to ‘true camaraderie will be the decisive factor in whether you're victorious or whether you end up dead.’”
AFSBn-Germany is one of four battalions assigned to the 405th AFSB tasked with helping enhance U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s readiness and capability to support the warfighter. Headquartered at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, AFSBn-Germany has mission command of the Coleman and Dülmen APS-2 worksites. APS-2 sites like Dülmen and Coleman help reduce deployment timelines, improve deterrence capabilities and provide additional combat power for contingency operations.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging 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.