GRAFENWÖHR, Germany – When people hear the term of endearment ‘Army brat’ it’s most often associated with a child whose parent or parents are Soldiers, but in Germany another type of endearing Army brat exists, and they’re German.
Dani Danhauser is an Army brat. Even though her parents are German and are not affiliated with the U.S. Army, she is. She grew up less than five miles from Grafenwöhr where the largest contingency of Army forces in Europe is stationed, and recently she was honored for her 40 years of service as a German local national civilian employee there with the U.S. Army.
“I started working for the U.S. Army in 1983 right here in Grafenwöhr at the age of 17,” said Danhauser. “My first three and half years I was a mechanic, and for the last 36 and half years I’ve worked as a supply clerk.”
“I really like working for the U.S. Army,” said Danhauser, who is assigned to Base Support Operations Maintenance, 405th Army Field Support Brigade. “All my colleagues are very friendly, and the mechanics I support are really good and friendly. They always joke with me, calling me a supply devil, but I tell them I’m a supply angel.”
The 58-year-old mother of two boys and grandmother of two girls with another on the way believes work-life balance is important to a successful career and life. When she’s not supporting the Army as a supply clerk, she said she enjoys spending time with her granddaughters. She also enjoys exercising, Nordic walking, bicycling, painting and working in her garden.
“My garden provides me with a quiet place after work. I live in the middle of the city, but I have a big, beautiful garden behind my house,” she said. “I like to put my feet up and enjoy a glass a wine in my garden, when I can.”
At work, it’s much less relaxing. Being a supply clerk at BASOPS Maintenance means Danhauser is responsible for supplying repair parts, tools and other material to maintenance teams and mechanics supporting five Army garrisons and several other Army installations across Germany. From Grafenwöhr to Rheinland-Pfalz and multiple garrisons and installations in between – Danhauser manages a robust supply system, which includes supply requests and supply orders, working with the property book office to ensure accountability, and sometimes distribution and delivery.
“For example, when someone from Stuttgart or K-Town contacts us and says they need new safety boots or work uniforms or this or that, not only do I order the equipment. I also provide this information to the property book officer, and I sometimes make the delivery. Or if someone is already planning to drive there then I ensure the order is included in that movement and properly delivered.”
As a field operating activity 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.
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 and the official Facebook site.
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