Photo By Richard Komurek | Benelux employee Craig Gronlund, a contracting officer representative at Army...... read more read more
[Editor’s Note: In this series, we are shining a light on our workforce in and around the Benelux. This Spotlight is on Craig Gronlund, a contracting officer representative at Army Prepositioned Stock-2 (APS-2) Zutendaal, who builds bonds with the Belgian community through his work for U.S. Army garrison Benelux and passion for riding motorcycles.]
ZUTENDAAL, Belgium – When it comes to garrison operations at Zutendaal, everyone knows contracting officer Craig Gronlund as the go-to-guy for a wide range of site support such as operating forklifts, the control of building keys, placement and tracking of all facility repair work orders and the purchasing of supplies as the site’s primary government purchase card holder.
But beyond all his additional duties, Gronlund’s primary responsibilities include the managing of service contracts for fire and climate control systems and overhead warehouse doors for the site’s nearly 30 Army prepositioned stock warehouses, as well as service contracts for electric doors at various garrison facilities including the base exchange, commissary and lodging facility at Chièvres Air Base.
Being at the epicenter of the APS-2 site’s mission gives Gronlund an opportunity to meet people from the local community who provide services and support as contractors. But there’s also another more adventurous way that Gronlund connects with the Benelux community, through his love for motorcycles and rides on the open road.
Gronlund’s interest in motorcycles began when he was a 16-year-old boy growing up in Duluth, Minnesota. While visiting a friend’s farm, he noticed an abandoned Kawasaki dirt bike that was rusting away with weeds growing through the wheels.
“When I showed interest in the bike despite its awful condition, my friend’s mother was more than happy to give it away for free just to get rid of it,” said Gronlund with a laugh. So, with the help of a friend and a sledgehammer to unseize a rusted engine piston, Gronlund’s passion for motorcycles was born.
In 2006, Gronlund got his first road bike, a Honda Shadow VLX 600, and embarked on a 7,000-mile road trip from upstate New York to Wyoming and then back to New York. Travelling with his best friend, the 2-wheeled journey took them along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina to the Ozarks in Arkansas and then further west to Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado before ending at the famous Wyoming landmark of Devil’s Tower. The cross-country adventure also included the "Tail of the Dragon", an 11-mile stretch of road with 318 curves near Deals Gap, Tennessee that is world famous among motorcycle riders.
Now in Europe, Gronlund’s road trips may be short in distance but are long in providing culture and history. One example is a recent trip through the Benelux countryside to the Netherlands American Cemetery in the Dutch village of Margraten and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Plombières, Belgium.
“In Europe we get to see so much and learn about history,” said Gronlund. “All of the architecture and sites from World War I and World War II … you’re doing more than just reading about it or seeing it on television, you're actually experiencing it.”
After being at Zutendaal for more than two years, Gronlund has befriended some local bikers who organize weekend rides together. One recent ride the group made together was for four days along the Moselle River in Germany, where they saw Cochem Castle and visited the famous Nürburgring racetrack and motorsports complex.
“The guys in the group are all Belgians and I'm the only American. Our group doesn’t even have a name, we’re just a bunch of friends that ride every Sunday,” said Gronlund.
Before arriving to Zutendaal for his job as a contracting officer, Gronlund satisfied his taste for adventure and exploration by traveling to the Arctic and Antarctic as a member of the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, which provides logstical support for the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program and conducts science support missions to Greenland.
Now in the Benelux, Gronlund has traded trips to the frigid Arctic and Antarctic for more pleasant weather adventures across Europe like an upcoming week-long motorcycle trip through the Pyrénées Mountains in northern Spain and southern France, where he will practice off-road riding along with a Belgian contractor that he met at Zutendaal.
“We were working together and just talking a bit when we realized that we both have a love for motorcycles,” said Gronlund. “He actually helped me buy my first bike here.”
Now Gronlund enjoys owning two European motorcycles, a BMW 1100RT for road riding and a KTM 890 Adventure that can be used for both street and off-road riding. With Europe at his doorstep, Gronlund already has another road trip planned for this Fall, a week of riding through glens, moors and mountains of Scotland.
“I love the thrill of being on the road … the freedom and the openness,” said Gronlund. “You can't get that sense of adventure anywhere else without being on a bike.”
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2025 08:26 |
| Story ID: | 498426 |
| Location: | ZUTENDAAL, LIMBURG (VLG), BE |
| Web Views: | 13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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