U.S. Army Garrison Okinawa's directorate of public works installs barracks furniture and appliances at Tori Station, Japan, on Jan. 14, 2025. USAG Bavaria issued a stop-work order Wednesday for all housing furniture and appliance deliveries, pickups and maintenance, effective immediately due to the ongoing government shutdown. (Natalie Stanley/U.S. Army)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — U.S. Army families stationed across Bavaria may have fewer of the comforts of home for a while, as the garrison there issued a stop-work order halting all furniture and appliance requests amid the government shutdown.
The order, announced Wednesday on U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria’s Facebook page, took effect Oct. 30 and indefinitely suspends delivery and pickup of government-issued furniture and appliances, as well as maintenance orders for the latter.
The move affects family housing, unaccompanied housing and soldiers’ barracks across the garrison’s installations in Grafenwoehr, Vilseck, Hohenfels and Garmisch.
All previously scheduled services between Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 were canceled, with no timeline provided for when operations might resume. The announcement said the decision was made “to avoid unauthorized commitments” during the funding lapse.
Common government-issued furnishings include beds, couches, wardrobes, washers, dryers and dishwashers. Without delivery or pickup services, soldiers and families scheduled to move to or from the garrison’s installations may experience delays in receiving or returning essential household items.
The Army is working to resolve the issue, which affects garrisons around Germany, with remaining funds early next week, Installations Management Command Europe spokesman Mark Heeter said Thursday.
“We will have to reschedule some pickups and drop-offs, but our garrisons will be able to manage those locally,” Heeter said. “This temporary issue will be resolved in the days ahead.”
The garrison’s Facebook post had generated about 30 responses as of early Thursday afternoon.
“Me and my family accepted our housing offer on Monday ... praying we have our basic needs met prior to arriving,” one reply read.
Despite the pause in these specific services, the garrison’s directorate of public works, which oversees base maintenance and facilities, will continue operating during regular hours, according to the garrison’s website.
The shutdown began Oct. 1 and is now the second-longest in American history. It would overtake the 35-day shutdown of December 2018 and January 2019 if it continued past Nov. 4.
Services that initially remained unaffected by it are now beginning to scale back operations.
Last week, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria announced the closure of all education centers across its installations effective Oct. 21.
However, educational institutions such as University of Maryland Global Campus and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University remain open and available to assist students and families, the announcement stated.
