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The summer 2021 permanent-change-of-station season runs May to September, and U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz expects nearly 2,000 Soldiers and family members during that time.
Sabine Bangert will be one of the first people many PCSers meet. Her work station in the Baumholder housing office moved, and she is now front and center, the first face customers see as they in-process the garrison.
“My main duty is to welcome our customers and guide them, so they don’t feel so lost when they get here,” said Bangert, who’s been with the housing office four years. “I understand transitioning from one duty station to another can be very hard, especially if a Soldier or family is going to another country. I think it’s very important for them to be greeted with a smile from the first person they meet.”
With the ‘Summer Surge’ — the annual permanent-change-of-station effort across the DOD — coming soon, the housing office attacked various shortcomings in its customer service game. The team decided moving Bangert to the front was a priority.
Charm Sutton, the Baumholder housing chief of customer service, said the pandemic and resulting mitigation restrictions changed how her office operated.
“We had to have our doors locked so people couldn’t just walk in. We had staggered staffing and tried appointments. It just wasn’t a streamlined process,” Sutton said. “We had to reengage our staff and our customer base to let them know how we were doing business every time we changed. That’s not an effective way to do customer service.
“Sabine’s position is the nucleus of our customer service branch,” Sutton continued. “She is the person who can answer those initial questions and make sure our customers are being pointed in the right direction and right person, and not wasting their time going from office to office for an answer.”
Bangert understands she will be at the tip of the housing spear. She will be the person with a smile on her face who will help manage the expectations of housing customers and point them in the right direction to get their new home for their time in Germany.
“It’s no secret it’s a big change coming from the States, especially if the Soldiers and their families lived in privatized housing during their previous assignment,” Bangert said. “I believe if you let them know you’re there to support them, that you want them to have the best housing experience possible and do it with a sincere smile, hopefully, it will make their housing experience much better.”
