Courtesy Photo | Caroline Richard is a budget analyst with Army Field Support Battalion-Germany...... read more read more
VILSECK, Germany – Caroline Richard was living in Germany 30 years ago as an Army dependent with her husband when he was stationed in Fulda as a Soldier. Now she’s back, and the roles are reversed. Richard is a budget analyst with Army Field Support Battalion-Germany supporting the Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 program in Europe, and her husband is now retired and her dependent.
“We wanted to come back and capture some of that nostalgia we experienced then, now that our kids are grown up and gone to college,” Richard said. “We were practically teenagers then, and we had no money, but we really enjoyed ourselves. I wanted to try and capture some of that from 30 years ago, all over again.”
As a budget analyst at AFSBn-Germany, 405th Army Field Support Brigade, Richard is responsible for helping to manage the budget for the battalion headquarters in Vilseck as well as the two APS-2 worksites in Germany, at Dülmen and Mannheim. AFSBn-Germany assumed mission command of the Colemen APS-2 worksite in Mannheim in July, and Richard arrived in August.
Richard said when she got to AFSBn-Germany the battalion had no one working in the budget office (S-8). The chief position was vacant, and her position as an analyst had been unfilled for months. Lucky for her, though, she said the brigade budget office was very helpful.
“Grace Berger [from the brigade headquarters] has been guiding me along the way, and helping me integrate into the position,” said Richard. “She’s helped me get a battle rhythm going, and she’s been extremely helpful. overall.”
Richard, who came from Fort Liberty, North Carolina, said the opportunity to be back in Germany after all these years and work in a broadening assignment with the 405th AFSB was the right decision, and a good career move for her. And she said she is excited to support the warfighter here in Europe.
“I’m at a place and a space where I feel this organization and assignment will help me grow beyond where I’ve been and what I’ve done previously,” said Richard who was the lead defense travel administrator at the 82nd Airborne Division before accepting the job with AFSBn-Germany earlier this year.
Richard started as federal employee 20 years ago while stationed with her husband in Naples, Italy. She was a secretary and an administrative assistant at the Department of Defense Education Activity in Naples. From there, she worked at Military Sealift Command before eventually moving to Fort Liberty to work at the hospital and then the 82nd.
Being separated from family can be tough, Richard said, but she looks forward to having her four children and two grandchildren visit soon. She said one of her sons is an engineer and may soon land a project in Frankfurt. Another son is Air Force stationed in Japan. She’s hopeful he’ll be able to hop a military flight from there to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. And her daughter, who just started at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, may visit next summer.
Separation aside, the 52-year-old native of Melville, Louisiana, and proud French Creole has high recommendations for anyone considering the 405th AFSB and coming to Europe to live and work on a three-year assignment.
“If they’re at a crossroads in life where they want something new and an opportunity to meet new people and experience another culture, I would highly recommend they apply for a position at the 405th AFSB,” said the Department of Defense certified financial management professional.
“We’re strategically positioned to directly support the warfighter, there's a lot to offer here, and we have a lot of people here from different backgrounds who are all very supportive of each other,” said Richard, who is set to receive her Certified Defense Financial Manager credentials from the American Comptrollers Association, hopefully by August.
AFSBn-Germany is one of four battalions assigned to the 405th AFSB and is headquartered at Rose Barracks in Vilseck. 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 AMC’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.
| Date Taken: | 12.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.03.2024 09:30 |
| Story ID: | 486467 |
| Location: | VILSECK, BAYERN, DE |
| Hometown: | MELVILLE, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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