Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Phaser11 on March 31, 2008, 02:42:51 PM
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Well,
Here I sit in Eppelborn, Germany attending a class on the software we use at our plants in North America. One of the instructors tell’s me that Ramstien AFB is about 50 clicks from here. Hey, I‘m retired from the Air force, I’ll just pop over to the base and raid the BX and Shopett for some stuff I forgot to bring and some junk food. What a great idea!
So I hoped in my little German mobile and zooooooooooooooommmm off I go. I drive on the base and go into the BX, I pickup a bar of soap, hair brush and a portable alarm clock. I wander up to the casher and she says, “I’m sorry, you have to be assigned here or on orders to shop here.”. But I’m retired, 22 years in the Air force, here is my ID card. “Sorry you cannot by anything here.” HOLY CRAP! Refused service.
I know, I’ll just pop over to the Shopett for a soda and chips. Nope we cannot help you. I just want a Pepsi and chips, but it is no use. There hands are tied. I don’t want to by the place out, just maybe a pack of gum. Nope.
OMG, never have I been so put out by my own. They told me they signed some kind of service contract with Germany or some such crap.
HEY could someone on the other side of the fence give a damn, I know I’m old and of no use to you now. I thought we were family, remember the retirement ceremony?
22 years of service and I sit outside of the base knowing I cannot be welcomed there. I really don’t know what to say. My god, I feel so low.
I don’t want any special treatment, just a soda and a bag of chips.
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Had the same thing happen to me while at NPS. Each base has its own policies on who it can sell stuff to. Its completely arbitrary and there are no standards by which the NEX, PX, etc operate. They are contractors of the host facility, and depending if the facility has a stick up their ass, can choose to allow service to contractors, civi, or just military only.
Many Army posts i've been to don't care - they just want the money. The Navy, it can go either way. Marines, they love money and don't care. Its screwed, but thats the way it is.
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Total BS IMHO. Sorry you were treated that way. I personally thank you for your service and am disheartened at the way you were treated.
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Total BS IMHO. Sorry you were treated that way. I personally thank you for your service and am disheartened at the way you were treated.
Ditto what Shuffler said. :rock :salute
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Well,
I did go down to the bar here in the hotel and had a really nice beer.
Thanks all.
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That bites.
It's a wonder they even let you through the gate.
They didn't question you or anything?
I would've gone over to the NCO Club (or O'Club if you were an officer) and seen if they refused too.
Must be somewhere to at least lodge a complaint! Base commander's office maybe?
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Dude I would have been raising all sorts of hell. I would have started off with the exchange manager and if that didn't work I would have asked to see the base comptroler, and if that didn't work I would have gone straight to the Base CO.
As a retiree with the blue ID card, your INTITLED to use those facilities worldwide. What they told you is a bunch of crap.
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Total BS IMHO. Sorry you were treated that way. I personally thank you for your service and am disheartened at the way you were treated.
and Ditto again Phaser :salute unfortunately I think it has something to do with Treaties, VAT, and governments... I ran into a similar issue when I was stationed at Ramstein. We went to a softball tournament at Geilenkirchen in 96 or 97. Because it was a NATO base we were not allowed to use base facilities or purchase anything on base, luckly for us some of the Air Force guys in the tournament had NATO orders and bought stuff for us.
Also when I went to England to visit my brother and his family for a few days I was not authorized to use any base facilities even though I was active duty
I googled real quick and found this
https://www.infantry.army.mil/rso/AAFES%20Europe%20Privileges.htm
Exchange privileges in overseas areas are not automatic.
Overseas commanders, in accordance with the host country’s/U.S. international agreements determine who will be extended shopping privileges and access to duty free goods.
AAFES does not determine shopping privileges/access to duty free goods.
This information sheet is a summary of the various overseas command regulations that govern overseas shopping privileges.
In your particular case Note 4 applies
4. Must be ordinarily resident or be visiting in Germany for a period of 30 days or more. Rationed items may not be purchased. All purchases are subject to the payment of a fixed rate tax to German customs. Entry to commissary and exchange facilities requires DD Form 2AF (Retired) or DD Form 1173, and a German Customs Certificate. (Authority: German Federal Ministry of Finance Decree, 20 July 1981; USAFER 400-4; and USAFE Supplement 1 to AFR 415-15). Also, see USAREUR 600-700 Chapter 15.
It looks like depending on your length of stay you may qualify.
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You guys are making a lot of noise about something you know nothing about.
Phaser, I feel for ya buddy but the host nation agreements are very specific about who can buy on-base goods and services. This is because all that stuff enters the country without import tariffs and is sold without any host nation taxes on the retail end. Abuse of the BX/Commissary system used to cost the local govt millions of bucks every year and there is still a thriving black market of authorized tax-exempt customers who buy their quota on base and turn around to re-sell it outside the gate.
In the UK, the biggest issue is gasoline. It's such a problem that not only did they clamp down on off-base gas ration cards, they also tried to monitor how much people were buying on base. In Korea, they have limits on EVERYTHING, including ground beef, rice, etc. If a single person buys more than about 20 lbs of steak in a month for example, or tries to buy more than a couple pounds of beef in one shopping trip, it'll flag their account and they may get investigated.
Again, it's NOT arbitrary or BS, it's the only way to cut black marketing in accordance with host nation agreements that have been in place for decades, even if they were not always enforced in the same way.
I think there ARE ways to get authorized use of on-base support on a temporary basis, but you'd need to find the exact right person to talk to and catch them in a good mood. I think the support group would be the place to check, but I'm not sure. I am pretty sure that people in the country on a tourism visa or conducting personal business are generally not authorized, but again I remember hearing about exceptions when I was in the UK so you'd have to find out exactly what the categories of authorized users are, and get a ration card or your ID entered into the ration system, however they happen to be doing things in that particular location.
Edit - Airscrew seems to be on the right track. It's a question of finding out if you fit within the right category and then filling out paperwork.
In Korea, even though I was serving an unaccompanied tour, my wife could show up and get a limited use ration card so she could even get in the door at the BX... But there were rules to follow and paperwork to fill out.
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We had a McDonals on a base here. One time they caught a guy at the gates with like 50 burgers, 50 Big Macs and a whole bunch of chicken nuggets.
It was ugly.
True story.
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We had a McDonals on a base here. One time they caught a guy at the gates with like 50 burgers, 50 Big Macs and a whole bunch of chicken nuggets.
It was ugly.
True story.
Did they let ya go?
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you wasted 100Km of gaz at Euro price to got to a BX buy 3 items ?
LOL
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We had a McDonals on a base here. One time they caught a guy at the gates with like 50 burgers, 50 Big Macs and a whole bunch of chicken nuggets.
It was ugly.
True story.
When he bought that, all the counterkid said was, "you want to supersize that?"
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We had a McDonals on a base here. One time they caught a guy at the gates with like 50 burgers, 50 Big Macs and a whole bunch of chicken nuggets.
It was ugly.
True story.
How the hell did Michael Moore get on base? Did his boat make a wrong turn enroute to Cuba?
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How the hell did Michael Moore get on base? Did his boat make a wrong turn enroute to Cuba?
\
If it had been Michael Moore the burgers wouldn't have made it as far as the gate.
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Of course the wife emails the wing (of course I did not think to do that) and gets the answer and the fix.
Man, those military wives, still have the best intel and can make piles of red tape melt at your feet.
Well done wife boss.
The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) prohibits anyone not directly
> serving as AD, DOD, contractor, GS from using the BX and commissary
> facilities in Germany (retirees are not authorized). Your husband needs
> to speak to a customs official at the air passenger terminal or go to
> the nearest Rathaus (city hall) in Ramstein and request a customs form.
> In this instance he will be given a form and required to keep any
> receipts of purchase. Once he departs the county he will be required to
> stop by the customs office at the airport terminal and pay the 19% tax
> on goods purchased in the BX and/or 8% food tax on commissary purchases.
> Thank You
>
> 435 ABW/PA
>
>
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Alot of paperwork for a coke and chips :D ...
I told my wife about this on the ride home, she reminded me of the SOFA agreements...
I think you can still go to the cantinas on base though and I think you can use the NCO club (they used to have slot machines :t