Formerly with Air Force, Marine Corps – LRC Ansbach motorcycle instructor is avid rider

By Cameron Porter, 405th AFSB Public Affairs OfficerOctober 7, 2024

Formerly with Air Force, Marine Corps – LRC Ansbach motorcycle training instructor avid rider
Stephen Todd works at the Drivers Testing and Training Station on Katterbach Kaserne supporting the U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach community. Before starting this position with the Army in May of 2024, he spent nearly 14 years working for the Air Force and the Marines as a government civilian employee, combined. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army courtesy photo) VIEW ORIGINAL

ANSBACH, Germany – After working for the Air Force for about 10 years, including a stint at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and the Marine Corps for almost four more – Stephen Todd made the jump to the Army and is now at the Drivers Testing and Training Station on Katterbach Kaserne supporting the U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach community.

“Primarily, we’re issuing U.S. Army Europe drivers licenses to Soldiers and their dependents. We also do this for Army civilians and sometime contractors, too, as long as they have a Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA status,” said the DTTS instructor and customer support specialist at Logistics Readiness Center Ansbach, 405th Army Field Support Brigade.

Todd said at LRC Ansbach, there are three personnel working at the DTTS supporting the Ansbach Army community, which includes multiple installations and thousands of community members in Ansbach, Illeshiem and Katterbach. Todd is the only Army civilian employee at the DTTS. The other two employees are local nationals working for the Army.

In addition to issuing USAREUR drivers licenses, Todd said he and his team also issue transportation motor pool licenses to Army civilians and some contractors, as well. For Soldiers, Todd works closely with the USAG Ansbach master driver and noncommissioned officer in charge who takes care of the TMP licenses for the Soldiers “because he’s got a lot on his plate,” Todd said. “He wears many hats over at the garrison headquarters.”

To issue the TMP licenses and manage that program, Todd uses GCSS-Army. Global Combat Support System-Army is a web-based automated logistics system of record that focuses on property book actions and supply and logistics management operations. It’s capable of managing large volumes of transactions, and it interfaces with the General Funds Enterprise Business System, or GFEBS, for financial data tracking and feedback.

For USAG Ansbach community members who own and operate motorcycles in Germany, the native of Indianapolis, Indiana, is one their primary instructors for the motorcycle orientation course. Todd, who’s been married for 13 years and is 34 years of age, said he’s owned and operated motorcycles most of his life. He started out riding his grandfather’s bike at 16. His last motorcycle was a Honda VTX 1300, and his next will be a BMW 1600GT, he said.

Formerly with Air Force, Marine Corps – LRC Ansbach motorcycle training instructor avid rider
Stephen Todd is one of the motorcycle orientation course primary instructors at the Drivers Testing and Training Station on Katterbach Kaserne supporting the U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach community. Todd, who is 34 years old, said he’s owned and operated motorcycles for most of his life. He started out riding his grandfather’s bike at 16. His last motorcycle was a Honda VTX 1300, and his next will be a BMW 1600GT, he said. (Photo Credit: Courtesy photo) VIEW ORIGINAL

“As long as they have the motorcycle endorsement on their stateside driver’s licenses, and they have the Motorcycle Safety Foundation card, they can call us and make an appointment for our orientation class, and we’ll sign them up,” he said. “They'll do an orientation briefing with us. We'll brief them on what they're about to test on and kind of get them a little more comfortable before taking the test.”

“Some of the questions are word play questions, so they must really pay attention. We’ll go over those with them – we don't give them the answers – we just ask them the questions in different ways, and they usually know right off the bat,” Todd said.

Todd started working for LRC Ansbach in May of 2024. This was his first time working for the Army after nearly 14 years with the Air Force and the Marines as a government civilian employee, combined. He said he likes working for the Army because the Army offers more opportunities to grow professionally and more opportunities to work in positions of increased responsibility.

“I can’t knock the Air Force or the Marines because they are the same as the Army – the people are all really nice and friendly and helpful – except for the growth part. I think that’s where the Army stands out. The Army really tries to make sure their people are given opportunities to grow and succeed,” said Todd, who holds an associate’s degree in business management from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

The LRC Ansbach DTTS is located on Katterbach Kaserne in building 5818. Hours of operation are Mondays through Thursdays 7:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3:30 p.m. The DTTS is closed for training on Friday mornings and opens 1 to 3 p.m. Classroom instruction and testing is conducted on an appointment basis, only.

The LRC Ansbach DTTS provides services for USAREUR and TMP licenses. The cost of a USAREUR license is $30 paid by debit, credit, check and money order. According to AE 190-1, applicants 65 and older must have their eyes examined by an optometrist or an eye vision professional to obtain or renew their USAREUR license, and proof of eye test results will not be accepted if older than 60 days. For more information on USAREUR drivers license requirements and the DTTS process, go to this web page. The LRC Ansbach DTTS telephone number is 09641-70-587-3028/3029/3031 or DSN 587-3028/3029/3031.

LRC Ansbach is one of eight LRCs under the command and control of the 405th AFSB. 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.

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 and the official Facebook site.