405th AFSB BASOPS Maintenance apprenticeship program helps rejuvenate workforce with fresh perspectives

Photo By Cameron Porter | Daniel Hirn is the newest apprentice to join Base Support Operations Maintenance, 405th Army Field Support Brigade. He started on Sept. 1 and his apprenticeship as a mechatronic is 3.5 years. The apprenticeship program allows apprentices to learn as they go, gaining critical on-the-job experience, and it helps to rejuvenate the BASOPS Maintenance workforce. (Courtesy photo)  

GRAFENWOEHR, BY, GERMANY

09.23.2022

Story by Cameron Porter 

405th Army Field Support Brigade - Europe & Africa

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – As a newly assigned apprentice at Base Support Operations Maintenance, Daniel Hirn joins a long line of legacy apprentices before him who are now successful mechanics, inspectors and maintenance managers.

The apprenticeship program, which was established nearly 25 year ago, is an important part of the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s BASOPS Maintenance, which provides equipment maintenance support to garrison community organizations and activities in Germany and mechanical safety inspections for privately owned vehicles.

As the newest member, Hirn joins a team responsible for performing maintenance on a fleet of garrison support vehicles to include special purpose and armored vehicles, fire and rescue vehicles, snow and ice removal equipment, construction equipment such as scoop loaders, excavators, scrapers, road graders, tractors, rollers, and more.

Stephanie Kramer is the director of BASOPS Maintenance. She said the apprenticeship program includes hands on training at the workplace supplemented by vocational schooling, which focuses mostly on theory.

“Our new apprentice, just like all ones who came before him, will be profiting from a wealth of knowledge and experience our senior mechanics and inspectors provide,” said Kramer, adding that Hirn’s apprenticeship as a mechatronic is a 3.5-year program.

The BASOPS Maintenance apprenticeship program provides a unique opportunity for the exchange of real world experience from senior mechanics and inspectors with a fresh set of hands, eyes and perspectives from the newly assigned apprentices. And this exchange benefits everyone – the team, BASOPS Maintenance, the garrisons and even the community members, Kramer said.

The BASOPS Maintenance apprenticeship program offers many career opportunities to people who are interested and qualified, said Sabrina Meidenbauer, an office management apprentice at BASOPS Maintenance.

“As trained automotive mechanic apprentices with BASOPS Maintenance, when they complete the program they will be qualified to go back to school to become service technicians or service consultants,” said Meidenbauer.

And the same holds true in her field of work, she added.

“As an office management apprentice, once I complete the training I’m qualified to go back to school and become a certified business administrator or management expert, Meidenbauer said. “Additional training is also offered to become certified apprenticeship program trainers and training managers.”

The BASOPS Maintenance apprenticeship program is really a stepping stone with many more opportunities to take advantage of in the future, said Meidenbauer.

“It’s also a great tool to rejuvenate our workforce and proactively groom the next generation of BASOPS Maintenance employees as we bid farewell to some of our well-deserving retirees,” said Kramer.

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 [phone].

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 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.

• Date Taken: 09.23.2022
• Date Posted: 09.23.2022 05:39
• Story ID: 429928
• Location: GRAFENWOEHR, BY, DE