{"id":226705,"date":"2024-07-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=226705"},"modified":"2024-07-17T07:19:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T07:19:45","slug":"2nd-tour-in-germany-new-once-in-a-lifetime-experience-for-afsbn-germany-nco-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=226705","title":{"rendered":"2nd tour in Germany new, once-in-a-lifetime experience for AFSBn-Germany NCO, family"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n Army Sgt. 1st Class Joe Cajigal is assigned to Army Field Support Battalion-Germany and stationed at the D\u00fclmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in North Rhine-Westphalia. Cajigal said living and working there is very different from his first tour in Germany when he was stationed at Vilseck, and this tour is proving to be a once in a lifetime, new and interesting experience for he and his family.
\n (Photo Credit: Army courtesy photo)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

DULMEN, Germany \u2013 Army Sgt. 1st Class Joe Cajigal\u2019s first duty station was Vilseck, Germany. He was newly married at the time, and he and his wife lived in Army housing on Rose Barracks. That was 2012. When they found out last year they would be returning to Germany for a second tour, they were very excited. They just didn\u2019t know how different the experience would be this time around.<\/p>\n

The senior supply noncommissioned officer is assigned to Army Field Support Battalion-Germany and stationed at the D\u00fclmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in North Rhine-Westphalia. He and his wife and their 12-year-old son live in M\u00fcnster, Germany, and he commutes 30 minutes to and from work each day.<\/p>\n

There are no U.S. Army installations nearby, besides the APS-2 worksite. There\u2019s no post exchange services, no commissary, no Army medical treatment facilities and almost no family support services. Their son goes to an international school in M\u00fcnster \u2013 their only option, according to Cajigal \u2013 and they do all their shopping and receive everything they need on the local economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew it was going to be different, but we didn\u2019t realize it was going to be this different,\u201d said Cajigal. \u201cIt was tough at the beginning. On our first tour, we were living on post. We\u2019d see Americans every day. But over here we\u2019re completely immersed into our local community, and we see almost no Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite challenging at first, but we\u2019re getting used to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"2nd
\n <\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Many Soldiers and Army civilians stationed at the D\u00fclmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 reside in nearby M\u00fcnster, which is a vibrant, bustling city in western Germany known for its gothic and Romanesque styles. Personnel who work at D\u00fclmen are completely immersed into the local communities and German culture because there are no American facilities there and little to no Army support services \u2013 making it a once in a lifetime, new and interesting experience.
\n (Photo Credit: Courtesy photo)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe enjoy learning about the history and culture of M\u00fcnster, and we enjoy shopping on the local economy,\u201d Cajigal said, \u201cand every time I have an appointment at the NATO air base in Geilenkirchen or I go to Brunssum [Netherlands] or Kaiserslautern [Germany], I\u2019ll stop by the commissary on post to get a few American things. Otherwise, we enjoy being completely immersed into Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n

At work at the D\u00fclmen APS-2 worksite, Cajigal is one of the contracting officer representatives for the directorate of supply. The noncommissioned officer with 12 years of active-duty Army service is also the directorate\u2019s senior supply sergeant, and he\u2019s the primary hand receipt holder at D\u00fclmen for all the table of distribution and allowances, or TDA, equipment and property.<\/p>\n

This includes everything that\u2019s not APS-2, such as some of the test sets and tool kits, the automation equipment and computers, and some of the support vehicles and material handling equipment. In total, the TDA equipment Cajigal is responsible for is valued at about $5 million, he said.<\/p>\n

Originally from Subic Bay in the Philippines, the 35-year-old Soldier moved to San Diego after college and considers southern California his home. But being assigned to AFSBn-Germany, working at D\u00fclmen and living in the heart of Germany is proving to be a once in a lifetime, new and interesting experience for he and his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoy it here, and at work I\u2019m soaking up all the knowledge and information I can,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a great opportunity to learn from every aspect of logistics. I\u2019m just trying to learn as much as I can and be an asset to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"2nd
\n <\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Army Sgt. 1st Class Joe Cajigal (center, behind outgoing commander) served as the acting battalion sergeant major during the Army Field Support Battalion-Germany Change of Command Ceremony June 12 at Vilseck, Germany. Cajigal and his family live in M\u00fcnster, Germany, and he works at the D\u00fclmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite. So far, the assignment is proving be a once in a lifetime, new and interesting experience for he and his family.
\n (Photo Credit: Cameron Porter)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The D\u00fclmen APS-2 worksite is under the mission command of Cajigal\u2019s battalion, AFSBn-Germany, and is comprised of about 140,000 square feet of hardstand space and approximately 480,000 square feet of humidity-controlled warehouse space with an additional 140,000 square feet of storage in the maintenance and storage swing space areas. In addition to D\u00fclmen, earlier this month AFSBn-Germany assumed mission command of the Coleman APS-2 worksite in Mannheim, Germany, as well.<\/p>\n

AFSBn-Germany is one of four battalions assigned to the 405th Army Field Support Brigade, which is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa \u2013 providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command\u2019s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website<\/a> and the official Facebook site<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Army Sgt. 1st Class Joe Cajigal is assigned to Army Field Support Battalion-Germany and stationed at the D\u00fclmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in North Rhine-Westphalia. Cajigal said living and working there is very different from his first tour in Germany when he was stationed at Vilseck, and this tour is proving to be a once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226707,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=226705"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226711,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226705\/revisions\/226711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/226707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=226705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=226705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=226705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}