Some services closed, most running at US military bases in Europe during first day of government shutdown

A red, white and blue sign reads “Due to the Government Shutdown This Facility is Closed Until Further Notice.”

A sign on the Ramstein Air Base aquatic center door announces that the facility is closed becaapply of the government shutdown. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)

It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday how the government shutdown would affect various services at installations in Europe after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by the deadline.

Military social media sites, including U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. European Command, declared there will be “limited updates” due to a lack of appropriations.

The Army garrisons in Bavaria, Stuttgart and Wiesbaden all posted on their social media feeds or informed Stars and Stripes that they were awaiting shutdown guidance.

U.S. European Command declared it did not have a list of what services have been canceled so far.

In Stuttgart, it was business as usual in many places, with services such as the drivers license testing office, military identification card office and community mail room still open. The garrison advised community members to check with individual providers if there was uncertainty about the availability of particular program.

At Ramstein Air Base, the Aquatics Center, library, UNITE Program, civilian personnel office and Military and Family Readiness Center Spoapply Hub were closed, according to the 86th Force Support Squadron website. There will be limited service at the Manpower Office, Education Center and multiple Military & Family Readiness Center programs.

At Naval Air Station Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily, child and youth programs, MWR programs and facilities, the Navy Exmodify, commissary, galley and houtilizing offices would remain fully operational, the base declared in a post Tuesday evening to its official Facebook page.

But delivery of loaner furniture and appliances from the base’s houtilizing department could be delayed, potentially impacting families relocating in or out. Houtilizing officials were in contact with people who could be affected, the base declared.

“Our commitment remains to provide the essential services our community depconcludes on,” the base declared in the post.

In a comment on the base’s post, USO Sigonella declared that not all of its operations would be fully functional. It did not identify which operations were affected.

Officials at NSA Naples also were committed to keeping essential services such as the commissary, Navy Exmodify, MWR programs and facilities, and child and youth programs open, the base declared Wednesday.

During the shutdown, base operations would continue with no anticipated impact to service members, their families or the mission, NSA Naples declared.

Here are other developments across Europe:

AFN radio is limited to local broadcasts, while TV programming includes AFN News, AFN Sports and on-demand content through the AFN Now platform.
Several services across the Kaiserslautern Military Community are closed.

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