NATO member retires after 47 years

Alfred Völcker was 18 years old when he started working at Ramstein on Oct. 23, 1963. Forty-seven years later, he retired from his job in the Transport Branch’s sedan shop with NATO’s Air Headquarters at Ramstein.

During a farewell ceremony Sept. 17, the commander of NATO’s Air Headquarters north of the Alps, Gen. Roger A. Brady, wished Mr. Völcker, the HQ’s youngest retiree, the best of luck for future endeavors.

“Fourth Allied Tactical Air Fleet, Allied Air Forces Central Europe, Allied Air Forces Northern Europe, Allied Air Component Command HQ Ramstein and now Allied Air Command HQ Ramstein — I’ve maintained cars in all these NATO HQs and yet I’ve always worked in one place: Ramstein Air Base,” said Mr. Völcker, who said he is now looking forward to his retirement with his wife Hannelore at their home in Morlautern near Kaiserslautern.

Over the years, Mr. Völcker has worked on a variety of NATO staff vehicles: trucks, sedans and minibuses. During the ’60s, a test lamp was pretty much all he needed to check a vehicle’s performance.

Today, an on-board computer and a diagnostics device is indispensable in keeping the HQ vehicles roadworthy and safe.

Mr. Völcker has continually attended training courses and instructions to remain conversant with state-of-the-art technology. He qualified for carrying out special vehicle exhaust tests, mandatory in Germany, and helped make the HQ motor pool an authorized Ford maintenance shop, which is the equivalent of a Ford dealership workshop.

With his gentle manner, professional attitude and reliability, Mr. Völcker was very much appreciated by his peers and seniors.

“It’s awesome. In the records, I haven’t found a single instance of Alfred reporting sick over all these years,” said Mr. Völcker’s boss at NATO, Col. Robert Ricarte. “This shows how dedicated he has been and how much he’s loved his job.”

Serving in an air headquarters, but involved in so many automotive matters, what is Mr. Völcker’s connection to aircraft?

“We know that he has a tremendous knowledge of aircraft engineering,” said Maj. Stefan Schmidt, a member of the German air force who is in charge of NATO’s motor pool at Ramstein, “and a picture of a wing is all he needs to identify an aircraft type.”

(Courtesy of Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein Public Affairs)