ANSBACH, Germany – Subject Matter Expert: According to the Oxford Dictionary a subject matter expert is someone who is regarded as an appropriately skilled specialist on a particular technical topic or technique.
Harald Hanitzsch is a subject matter expert. The Logistics Readiness Center Ansbach transportation motor pool fleet manager has been working for the U.S. Army as a local national employee for the past 42 years. Now, the subject matter expert is set to retire next month.
Starting out as a vehicle operator in Illesheim, Germany, in 1981 and then driving for a colonel and two commanding generals for several years – Hanitzsch has been working at the transportation motor pool, or TMP, on Barton Barracks for the past 30 years.
The 64-year-old TMP subject matter expert who grew up in nearby Bad Windsheim and lived in the Ansbach area since 1986, said he worked his way up from the bottom to the top. He was first a TMP dispatcher, then lead TMP dispatcher, then TMP operations and finally TMP fleet manager – truly an across-the-board TMP subject matter expert.
Hanitzsch currently has 13 people on his team at the LRC Ansbach TMP – seven bus drivers, two dispatchers, two transportation assistants, a transportation specialist, and a maintenance clerk. They are responsible for about 380 non tactical vehicles and several buses that support the U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach community, to include the rotational brigades stationed there, and more.
“We are responsible for the maintenance on all these vehicles, plus the scheduling, the work orders, and the accident reports. We currently do that for all the units here and for the LRC,” he said.
Becoming a subject matter expert takes education and training, and according to Hanitzsch he has a lot.
“I’ve accumulated 35 to 40 months of training and education over the years. I’ve learned a lot working for the U.S. Army,” said Hanitzsch.
“I learned how to run a transportation motor pool, and I learned how to be a good supervisor and leader,” he said. “Throughout the years, I helped to hire many of our TMP drivers and administrative personnel, and I provided training to them, as well. Some of them have been here working with me for 20 or 25 years, now.”
“The U.S. Army is a great place to work, and it’s hard to say goodbye after all these years. My last day will be bittersweet,” Hanitzsch said. “I have a very good team, and without my team I’d be nothing. I think I’ve spent more time with them throughout the years than I have with my own family.”
But that’s about to change for the father of two and grandfather of three.
“I have a lot of hobbies, and I have a lot of grandchildren who keep me very busy,” said Hanitzsch, who likes to exercise, travel, and collect coins and stamps.
“And my wife’s ‘to do’ list is bigger than my ‘to do’ list at work, right now,” he said.
LRC Ansbach is one of eight LRCs under the command and control of the 405th Army Field Support Brigade. LRCs execute installation logistics support and services to include supply, maintenance, transportation, and food service management as well as clothing issue facility operations, hazardous material management, personal property and household goods, passenger travel, property book operations, and non-tactical vehicle and garrison equipment management. When it comes to providing day-to-day installation services, LRC Ansbach directs, manages, and coordinates a variety of operations and activities in support of USAG Ansbach.
LRC Ansbach reports to the 405th AFSB, which 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 U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website and the official Facebook site.
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