Was given the verbal WARNO this week that the Army is planning to send me to Germany Next Summer, probably September time frame. I'll be in the Baumholder area, and looking forward to connecting with any World members in the area. I've passed through Frankfurt on my way to and from the land of wonder (sarcasm) but other than that only know Ireland and Greece, the Rest of Europe is a mystery. Really looking forward to looking up family origins (Irish, Norwegian, Czeck/German & Italian). In typical Army fashion, I will still deploy to Afgan, return early then over to GE with half a breath of timing in between.... Hopefully will be a 3 year gig. A bit of a surprise, but a good thing. Looking forward to linking up with any World members in advance and while there.

Will bring the 912 but probably will wait till after I am there a bit, get the lay of the land, housing ect. If there is a garage, I will bring it otherwise will store for 3 years...... grrrrr...... Much to plan between now and then. Thought I was going back to the East Coast, but......

Good Luck over there Steve, but hope you don't have to take to arms while there!


Tom
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Very nice. We loved our couple years in Italy. Spent loads of time in Germany. Lots of houses with garages IIRC, so hopefully you can get one. Depending on your current vehicles/family situation, possibly consider getting new family haulers/commuter cars in Germany and using your orders to ship the 912 for free...as long as you're pretty sure you can get it road legal in Germany. Italy was a bit of a pain to get things registered if it wasn't fairly new. Small vehicles, wagons and diesel are ideal for Europe, but I was surprised how popular my friends with full-size trucks were in Italy with people buying furniture...some made it a side job.

I had an M3 and drove it all over, on the Autobahn at ridiculous speeds, and around the Nurburgring a few times. Awesome experience.

Thanks and bless you for your service! Words simply don't express our gratitude.

Thanks and bless you for your service! Words simply don't express our gratitude. (but perhaps a double post starts to give you an idea!)

Thanks Tom, but thats 'where the fun is' lol..... Though if it comes to being necessary for me to put some lead downrange things really are bad...... lol

Maybe your potential Europe tour has something to do with the 1600 tanks and personel to be shipped to NL and moved around Germany, Netherlands and Belgium ?

from the news:
"The US has started moving tanks to a storage facility in the Netherlands in a bid to “deter” Russia, amid the biggest NATO buildup in Europe since the Cold War.
A total of 1,600 vehicles are due to be stored"

Wow, the more things change the more they stay the same. As a former "cold warrior" I'm getting all nostalgic and stuff.

Be safe in SWA and have a great time in Germany, Steve. I loved my time there (the latter...not so much the former).

Steve, thanks for your service and safe travels. I hope to see some nice pictures of your beautiful 912 pulled up to some German castle.

Thanks Gents. As the date approaches, will likely pop in and get a list of reputable shippers, etc. NOT giving my beauty to the 'lowest bidder' contractor to be stuffed on some low budget ship and sent across the atlantic....... lol

"As the date approaches, will likely pop in and get a list of reputable shippers, etc"
I shipped three cars and several parts from USA to Netherlands and have good and bad names for you from my adventures in case you decide to ship to destination Rotterdam or Amsterdam.
Of course this is from my side as importing party, I think there will be guys with more experience on the exporting (USA) side but maybe it helps.

Nice OPSEC.....be safe.

And....do not call a TDY to Germany a deployment. Just saying. Hate the guys that went to Europe so they sent us to the sand box.....watch what you post online. I assume you are a young troop. Enjoy your vacation. Spang and Rammstein are nice places to visit.

Thank you for your service and be safe.

Dude, he already said he has a deployment to AFG. He didn't ASK to be sent to Germany... just following orders.

Thanks for your service Steve and do enjoy your time over there when you can.

Let's switch to the nice things.

Enjoy food without corn syrup , good bread and as many good beer as you can get.

Try to get a fast car and go on the A81 or so at Sunday afternoon

Go to a soccer match and the Oktoberfest.

... and try to make the best out of the stay.

Und lerne etwas deutsch...

Peter

Hey High Speed.................. I'm on trip 6 to the lands of eternal need and wonder.... Pay attention & check yourself....... Poor guy had to go to the sandbox? Man up dude, we all serve and go where we are sent. Hate your fellow soldiers? And as for OPSEC.... Dude get a clue.

This is a Deployment to AFGAN, Redeploy and then good old 3 year PCS to GE.... in all of it works out will be my first Europe assignment and Nice way to roll into retirement. It's all good though, have a great night and Merry Christmas! CS is nice at Christmas time.

Effin A, Steve. Gotta take some to get some. A trip to the moon sucks, but Germany will be sooo green afterward! Was at Balad about 13 years ago and ended up with a short trip to Ramstein for a couple days. Huge sensory shock going from brown go green. Best of luck, and seriously let us know if you need anything. I guarantee the World will deliver!

Thank you, Steve from me and my family. I truly appreciate your service to not only our country, but every other country around the globe that we defend. If it weren't for men and women like you, this entire planet would be a very nasty place. Merry Christmas and stay safe in your travels.

As a reserve CPT and Company Commander in the good old CAARNG, I am not seeing the OPSEC violation here. It's not like he's giving detailed troop movements and trips to the 'Stan and Germany are so common as to be useless information to anyone.

Stay safe Steve and God Speed.

Welcome to Europe! We appreciate your staying. It may sound as a surprise, but the united history between the US and Europe after WWI and II is still very important to us.

You'll love Germany. Well organized, clean (mostly) with tons of history even going back to the Roman era. The Autobahns are not what they used to be: no speedlimit indeed, but very long stretches of roadworks going on. A 7 hr trip from Holland (where I live) to Lucern in Switzerland took 10 hrs, purely because of the roadworks and the speed limits.

Nowadays, when I want to travel to Switzerland, I go down through Belgium, Luxembourg and France! Max speed is 130 kms/hr there, but still a lot faster than on the Autobahn.

Having said that: there are plenty of spaces where you can have your Porsche fixed. Mind you, most dealers tend to pull an arm and a leg for their effort... hourly rate of 120 euros/hr is not abnormal... On the other hand, a lot of oldtimers used to work on Porsches and they still do that as a hobby!

Apart from the pre mentioned Oktoberfest, you need to try to see the whole country from north to south. In the north quiet beaches, dunes, silent islands - as almost Scandinavian-like. In the south serious Alps with snow, cold, skiing and lots of beautiful valleys during the summer. Germany is -compared with the US- small, but oh so wonderful to visit or live in.

Do the US plates get you a pass with the engine mods?

The car registration stuff can be interesting. I was at Ramstein for 8 yrs. I used to drive up to Baumholder to get my 914 reinspected after the AF guys failed it for stupid stuff. The Army inspection guys were a lot more flexible on what was acceptable. I ended up getting a German TUV inspection instead and got Historic plates. Most of the big cities in Europe forbid high polluting vehicles in the city center. If you have the H plates on your car you can go anywhere.

Germany is great. You can drive a long way across the continent in half a day and Baumholder is right near the budget airport at Hahn. Enjoy. I would go back with zero notice.

Historic plates are good! Try to get them asap. You'll blend in more easily (wise for different reasons).
For parts, I can point you to Arno Wienands (a member here) and less that 10 miles from my house.Arno Wienands' webpage

His site is in Dutch, but you can email him in English or German. Or you can ask me to translate your question

Have a wonderful and safe 2017

Menno

Thanks! Yes, I have experienced the hospitality and camaraderie of Europeans. When I was in the 101st Airborne I participated in a Normandy Jump. Was an amazing time. Belgium and France I think. Was 15 years ago, lol.

Really looking forward to it!

I have Historic/Antique plates, hopefully will be good to go on this.

I've been on leave the last two weeks, will find out more info this week.

Kev,

Do you still have a Thermostat and Alt Pulley? If so I'd like to grab them from you. Greenbucks in hand ;-) Also, i am calling the body shop this week, want to get the dent/paint fixed in January if possible. I was going to go for a drive today and swing by to say hello, but got tied up with household blaa blaas......

Pm sent.