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The German-American Community Office will observe its 10th anniversary Tuesday. The office, which is co-sponsored by the KMC and the City of Kaiserslautern, opened its doors Feb. 19, 2003. It was established to provide service to Americans, both military and civilians, and Germans who have specific problems and questions concerning German-American matters. The bilingual staff at the GACO consists of 86th Airlift Wing host nation advisers and a relation consultant hired by the city.
“It’s amazing that our office is being in existence for 10 years already,” said Rut Pinillos Cediel, 86th Airlift Wing host nation assistant. “Throughout the years, we noticed that Germans and Americans learned to appreciate the multifaceted help they are getting from us.”
In the 10 years since its opening, about 30,000 customers have asked for help in various areas. More than 14,600 Americans, about 13,000 Germans and 1,000 foreign nationals stopped by at the office, called or emailed for support.
“Some questions require a lot of time for research and calling official institutions,” Pinillos Cediel said.
American customers mainly need assistance with German documents and authorities and have questions regarding host nation policies and regulations. They want to find out about the disposal of trash off base, drivers’ licenses for U.S. civilians, retirement in Germany, marriage between Americans and foreign nationals, leisure and sports activities, and much more.
“Germans contact us to find out what to do when Americans didn’t pay all bills after leaving Germany,” Pinillos Cediel said. “Some complain about barking dogs that belong to Americans in their neighborhood and consequently about their way of pet keeping.”
They also are interested in getting involved in German-American activities, fostering friendship or finding out how to obtain a contract with the U.S. government.
Also, German clubs, friendship associations and other groups contact GACO to help advertise their events, which also promote German-American friendship.
The GACO staff also refers people to the right places for genealogical research, in the case an American wants to find out about their German heritage.
“We also try to ease U.S. service members’ stay in Germany,” said Michael Gannon, 86th AW host nation assistant.
Every Friday, the USO newcomers’ orientation tours, which are mandatory for Army members, stop at the office where newly arrived Americans have the chance to ask questions on the spot. The Ramstein Airman & Family Readiness Center offers newcomers’ trips to Kaiserslautern whenever they have enough participants to join the optional tour.
“We give newcomers a lot of ideas for leisure and recreation activities so they get to know the area and won’t be afraid of going places,” Gannon said.
To make themselves known to KMC members, the office participates in local events such as the Kaiserslautern Christmas markets and fairs. They sponsor “GACO on Tour” with a booth in the Vogelweh, Ramstein and Sembach base exchanges, where they hand out important information.
GACO is located on Lauterstrasse 2 (Rathaus Nord) in Kaiserslautern, across from the city hall. Opening hours are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 2 to 6 p.m. Thursdays. The staff can be reached by phone at 0631-363-3010, via email at info@gaco-kl.de or online at www.gaco-kl.de.
