Local legend retires after 44 years of USAF service

Mr. Rainer Mueller, 86th Civil Engineer Squadron installation management flight chief, retired after 44 years of faithful service with the U.S. Air Force at Ramstein Air Base, May 31.

Throughout his career, Mueller, a local national, was responsible for all environmental, property and support agreements within the Kaiserslautern Military Community.

His interest in keeping the world a cleaner place was a phenomenon cultivated in what he described as his “hippie days.” Since those days his understanding of mankind’s potential impact on the environment, and how it can be mitigated, has blossomed.

Mueller recognized the important U.S.-German relationship at Ramstein Air Base when he began working with the U.S. Air Force in 1976 in the Planning and Design branch within 86th CES.

Three years later, Mueller was moved to the Environmental Branch, a place where he would find his true purpose and call home for 39 years.

“The environment has always been my biggest focus throughout my life,” Mueller said. “When we started monitoring our environmental impact in the ‘80s we found a lot of pollution. The systems we had in place to prevent pollution were outdated and ineffective.”

As a result, Mueller’s most significant accomplishment throughout his tenure is the “de-icing project,” an environmentally conscientious concept he spent 14 years on from start to finish.

In cold winter months, accumulation of ice on an aircraft can lead to unknown aerodynamic characteristics. This can render the aircraft unsafe for takeoff. To combat this potential safety hazard, the U.S. Air Force, like commercial airlines, uses a de-icing fluid to prevent ice accumulation.

Although necessary, the environmental impact of de-icing fluid can’t be ignored. This is where Mueller saw an opportunity to make a difference.

“First, we developed more capacity retention basins under every ramp to capture this de-icing fluid,” Mueller said. “From there we developed certain measuring systems to determine the precise amount of pollutants within the given liquid.”

During summer months when de-icing fluid isn’t used on base, the water contained in the capacity retention basins would be transferred to natural bodies of water. If de-icing fluid is used, such as in the winter months, and the resulting reading was found to be too high, it must be sent to the Kaiserslautern sewage treatment plant. Without Mueller’s innovative approach to capacity retention basins, the de-icing fluid would have been forced to run off into the environment.

Before Mueller’s innovation, Ramstein Air Base could de-ice just one aircraft at a time to stay within environmental compliance. With his innovations, there’s no limit.

Documentation was signed in mid-May with the city of Kaiserslautern acknowledging the completion of this $16 million project. Thanks to Mueller, Ramstein Air Base is environmentally compliant.

In addition, Mueller also spent years coordinating noise abatement studies with the German government, and on securing the numerous recycling centers found around base.

From these studies, the current local quiet hours were established while the many underground dumpsters he brought to fruition helped make the base a cleaner place to live and work.

As Mueller prepares to close one chapter he acknowledges a new one forming on the horizon.

“I will really miss my colleagues and my work very much,” Mueller said. “I’ll miss my sense of connection I have to the U.S.-German relationship because it’s a very important one. In retirement, though, I plan to spend much of my time with friends, family… and making sure I keep brushing up on my English.”

Over the years, Mueller’s dedication to his work made Ramstein a significantly cleaner base, which impacted not only the environment but the people who work and live there, too.

“I put a lot of energy into this job. My coworkers can tell you that sometimes I was not easy to work with,” Mueller said with a laugh. “I had high energy and high expectations for everyone every day I worked here. Sometimes I joke if I had put as much energy as I did here into my own business instead, well… I would be a millionaire.”

Mueller may not have his millions, but his overarching impact for the last 44 years on the environment, with his coworkers, friends and family is where the real wealth lies.