From Military.com:
“On Bases in Germany, Air
Conditioning a Rare Luxury as Temperatures Near 100 Degrees”
The military in Germany is
sweatier than ever as record high temperatures bake base offices and homes,
most of which are without air conditioning even as summer scorchers become more
frequent. But there is potentially good news for the Army in Europe: officials
are looking at recent weather trends to see if policies that limit the use of
air conditioning need to be modified. "Validated historical weather data
is being reviewed and analyzed to determine the impact of recent weather trends
on existing policies," said Ray Johnson, Installation Management
Command-Europe spokesman. The reason air conditioning isn't everywhere on
garrisons already is twofold: a desire to save energy costs and a view that the
temperatures in Germany are not extreme in the summer. "Based on
historical ambient weather data, air conditioning is generally not considered
appropriate for climate conditioning for U.S. installations in Europe, with the
exception of Italy," IMCOM-Europe's current policy states. However, recent
data reveals a warming trend. From 2014 through this month, there were 98 days
above 86 degrees in Kaiserslautern, the city where about 50,000 military
Defense Department personnel and family members live in or near. In comparison,
the city only saw 39 days above that temperature in the six-year period from
1975 to 1980, and 50 from 1985-1990, according to the German Meteorological
Service. Central air conditioning in German homes is an extreme rarity, with
most historically built to endure cold winters, though snowfall is typically
light in Kaiserslautern. About 60 miles to the city's northwest at Spangdahlem
Air Base, a family housing brochure states that air conditioning isn't allowed
in government units because homes "should be built to mirror units found
in the off-base community." Air Force installations in Germany also
require waivers for air conditioning in hopes of cutting energy costs. Ramstein
said they don't expect major changes to the base air conditioning policy, which
is currently under revision. "No one would deny that we have very hot days
in Germany," said Lt. Col. Kevin Parker, 86th Civil Engineer Group
commander. "However, the number of days and severity, according to
cross-service policy, do not warrant the expense of installing or maintaining comfort
cooling." A January 2018 policy at Ramstein Air Base states that
Kaiserslautern averages only 17 hours above 90 degrees and 48 hours above 85
degrees per year. That data appears outdated. The average high temperature in
Kaiserslautern from June, July and August from 2013 to 2018 was 91 degrees,
according to a Stars and Stripes analysis using data from the Agricultural
Meteorological Service Rheinland-Pfalz weather website. All but three months
during that period had at least one day over 89 degrees. "Extreme weather
events have increased throughout Germany," said Harald Hofstaetter, a
technician with the weather service. On Wednesday, Germany recorded its highest
June temperatures in history, as the mercury rose to 101.5 degrees in parts of
the country. German authorities took the rare step of imposing speed limits on
parts of the autobahn because of concerns that high speeds would warp the
asphalt. It was the third year in a row they've done so. Italy, which includes
major Navy, Army and Air Force installations, is also experiencing temperatures
upward of triple digits, but there are fewer restrictions on air conditioning
there. In Germany, however, Army personnel can't add air conditioning units in
their base homes or office spaces without permission. Approval must first be
granted by the local garrison department of public works director. "The
DPW can approve exceptions to policy in coordination with the garrison energy
manager for communications rooms, health care facilities and secure
facilities," Johnson said. Garrison commanders can approve portable
cooling devices in Army family housing for medical conditions recognized by the
Exceptional Family Member Program screening process, he said. Other requests
require IMCOM-Europe review. For those, "approvals are generally granted
if the justification validated/endorsed by the garrison DPW and is in line with
the IMCOM-E policy," Johnson said. Multiple stores in Kaiserslautern had
plenty of portable air conditioning units on sale a couple of weeks ago, but
most were gone Thursday. Most units require a bucket to gather water and
running an exhaust hose out of a window, which can let bugs and hot air back in
a building without a separate window-sealing cover. Meanwhile, the heat wave
has altered some Army training operations. To reduce the risk of fire, soldiers
have stopped using tracer rounds on live-fire ranges at Grafenwoehr, home of
the Army's largest training area in Europe. The move came after a small grass
fire sparked on one of the ranges earlier in June, said Sgt. Maj. Micheal
Sutterfield, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria's sergeant major. His advice for
soldiers and civilian employees on base: Stay hydrated and go to
air-conditioned places like the post exchange and the commissary during the
hottest parts of the day. Lack of tracers hasn't affected Bavaria's Hohenfels
Training Area, which focuses on war games that do not use live ammunition, but
officials there have pushed some training to later in the afternoon. The heat
wave comes as annual rates for heatstroke across the U.S. military have risen
steadily from about three cases per 10,000 people in 2014 to nearly five per
10,000 last year, according to military data. The command at Grafenwoehr has
told leaders that making sure soldiers and others get enough water is
"leadership 101," Sutterfield said. "We're especially worried
about at-risk groups of people, like pregnant women, children and the
elderly," Sutterfield said. "You should check on them and your fellow
soldiers often during this [heat wave] to make sure they're OK."
^ I lived in military housing in West
Germany and then on the economy in Germany not to mention travelling to Germany
since I lived there and there is nothing worse that it being hot and not having
air conditioning. The current policy for base housing in Germany is just plain dumb. A soldier and his/her family should be allowed to use a portable air
conditioner if they want to. ^
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