Base guide

Spangdahlem Air Base

4 min read

  • 7 sections
  • 12 sources
On this page
  1. Before you fly
  2. Housing and lodging
  3. Medical care: no emergency services on base
  4. Schools and child care
  5. Driving and pets
  6. Legal assistance
  7. If you arrive in summer with a pet

Spangdahlem Air Base, in Germany’s Eifel region near Trier, is home to the 52nd Fighter Wing, which “maintains, deploys, and employs F-16CM Fighting Falcons in support of NATO and the national defense directives”, according to the MilitaryINSTALLATIONS page for Spangdahlem. The base calls itself the “Home of the Sabers”.

Before you fly

Ensure every traveler has the required passports and visas before leaving, the Spangdahlem page says; the base Passport Office answers questions on passports, visas and birth-abroad paperwork. The MilitaryINSTALLATIONS overview of Spangdahlem calls Europe a moderate to high cost-of-living area, recommends meeting a Personal Financial Counselor, and warns that housing deposits can run one to three months’ rent. The VAT/UTAP office can help you save on taxes for purchases and utilities on the German economy.

All new arrivals report to their squadron Command Support Staff on the first day and attend the 2-day Newcomers Orientation run by the Military and Family Readiness Center, per the Spangdahlem check-in page. The base newcomers website has a pre-arrival video series.

Housing and lodging

You can live in government housing, as available, or off base in the community; on-base housing is a mix of townhomes and stairwell apartment-style units, per the Spangdahlem housing page. Once you have orders, register through the Air Force Housing Early Assisting Tool.

The Eifel Arms Inn takes PCS reservations: DSN 314-452-0500, per the Spangdahlem temporary housing page. Pet lodging is “EXTREMELY limited from June through August”; ask your sponsor early or contact the Saber Pet Lodge. The 52nd Force Support Squadron runs the Saber Shuttle, a reservation-based daytime service between Spangdahlem, Frankfurt International Airport and Ramstein Air Base, and pets in approved carriers ride space-available.

Medical care: no emergency services on base

“Please note, emergency services are not available at the clinic on base”, the Spangdahlem health care page says. The 52nd Medical Group provides primary care, dental care, pediatrics, women’s health and mental health; in many cases family members are referred to the four local hospitals, especially for emergency care, and patient liaison officers work at each hospital. The hospitals the page names include Klinikum Mutterhaus der Borromaerinnen and Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Brüder, both in Trier. Retirees, non-command-sponsored dependents, civilians and contractors are seen space-available, which the page calls “extremely limited.”

Schools and child care

DoDEA Europe operates schools at Spangdahlem from kindergarten through 12th grade, with elementary, middle and high schools, and bus service for families, according to the Spangdahlem education page: DSN 314-452-6600 or 011-49-6565-61-6600.

The Child Development Center serves children of active-duty members, DoD civilians, reservists on active-duty orders and DoD contractors, with hourly drop-in care space-available; Family Child Care homes are licensed both on and off base (DSN 452-9022), per the Spangdahlem child care page.

Driving and pets

You must get a USAREUR driver’s license to drive and register vehicles in Germany, and you must arrive with a current stateside license in hand, per the Spangdahlem motor vehicles page. The minimum age is 18 (17 with an exception to policy). Study and take the final exam on Joint Knowledge Online (USA-007), then bring the printed certificate, valid 60 days, to your vehicle licensing appointment. Every vehicle needs proof of insurance before registration.

Pets entering Germany need a health certificate signed by an accredited or military veterinarian within 10 days of your flight, per the Spangdahlem pet shipping page, and the page warns that “under German law, certain breeds and crossbreeds cannot be imported or transferred into Germany.” That ban, as German Customs applies it, is in the Ramstein Air Base guide. Airlines may refuse pets when the ground temperature is above 85 or below 45 degrees Fahrenheit at takeoff or any stopover.

The legal office serves active-duty members, Reserve and Guard members on Title 10 orders, civilian employees, dependents and retirees, with licensed attorneys for wills, divorce, custody and consumer issues, and German attorneys and paralegals for German legal matters, landlord-tenant issues, traffic tickets and Kindergeld paperwork, per the Spangdahlem legal assistance page.

If you arrive in summer with a pet

Book pet lodging or the Saber Pet Lodge as soon as you have dates, because pet rooms are extremely limited from June through August, and check your dog’s breed against Germany’s import ban before you buy a ticket. Then learn the way to the Trier hospitals: the base clinic has no emergency services.

Sources

installations.militaryonesource.mil