Driving in Europe

USAREUR driver’s license
Under SOFA agreement, all persons that are driving must obtain a USAREUR license.

The operator must:
• Be at least 17 years of age
• Have a national unrestricted “Driver’s License” (Not “Provisional” or “Intermediate”)
• Have at least 20/40 corrected or uncorrected vision
• Have orders to Germany
• (Age 65 and older) Have a signed and stamped eye exam letter from within the last two months.
 (If the operator has a “Provisional” license, “Intermediate” license, or any restriction other than wearing glasses/contacts, a letter of exception from Mannheim must be obtained prior to testing. E-mail corinne.poarch@eur.army.mil.)

If the operator wants to transfer a USAFE license, they must also:
• Have orders from the previous USAFE base to Germany
• Apply no later than 30 days after “Report no later” date
• License must be current

As per the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern commander’s orders, we are not authorized to do anything more than renew a USAREUR license (must have old license) for Army personnel or sign an application for an international driver’s license. All other processes must be conducted through Danner Kaserne; call 483-7332/35. You may also view the study material online at http://rmv.hqusareur.army.mil/drivrman/190-34.htm

Testing Process:
Testing is done at 7:15 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and at 12:15 p.m. Tuesdays (by appointment only). Arrive early enough to be checked in. Testers must bring with them:  ID, national or stateside driver’s license, orders, application filled out from block 1 through 24, and a check or money order for $10 (no cash). A debit/credit card may be used as long as the card is accepted by our machine.  
Retesting for test failures are done at 8:45 a.m. Fridays, unless arranged by driver’s testing officials. As for
USAREUR regulations, the first retest opportunity can be as soon as the end of the work week (Friday); the second opportunity is at least two weeks from the first; and the third opportunity and every time after that it’s at least two months from the last.

International driver’s license
The applicant must be at least 18 years old and have their hard copy USAREUR license and ID card prior to applying. The applicant will start by filling out an international driver’s license application at the Driver’s Testing Office. The applicant will take the application to their local county seat which is determined by where they live. We will provide information about the local county seat.

GOV license
To obtain a GOV license, the operator must have a USAREUR license or a German driver’s license (local nationals) and submit an AF 171 to the Driver’s Testing Office. The form must be completely filled out by the unit VCO/VCNCO or unit CC. There is a next duty day turn-around time for all AF 171s submitted.

(Courtesy of Operator Records and Licensing)