KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Your vehicles should be safe from tire shredder damage at Kaiserslautern-area bases with recent actions taken by the Air Force.

The Air Force removed the temporary tire shredder at the exit gate on its Vogelweh installation that had been in place for more than a year. In recent months, the red-color shredder at the heavily used exit became severely worn down with several of its teeth missing.

At Vogelweh as well as at nearby Sembach Annex, the permanent, yellow-color tire shredder systems have been placed in the "down" position and will engage only when a vehicle tries to drive onto base through the exit lane, said Air Force Capt. Sean Stapler, Kaiserslautern operations flight commander, 735th Civil Engineering Squadron. The temporary shredders are being phased out at Air Force bases in the Kaiserslautern military community, Stapler said.

When the tire shredder systems were installed about two years ago, drivers leaving area bases and posts complained that their vehicles were being damaged by the devices. The Army removed its tire shredders from Kaiserslautern-area posts in 2007 after just two weeks of use, said James Otto with U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern.

While the Army opted for other force protection measures, the Air Force kept tire shredders in use while its new system was installed.

At Sembach, at least two motorists leaving the base in recent months had their tires punctured. In one case, one of the motorists was told he would not be able to get a police report, which is needed to file a damage claim.

Only six claims have been filed in the last two years for damage done by the tire shredders, said Steve Smith, chief of client services at the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s office of the staff judge advocate. The total amount sought for the six claims was about $2,200, Smith said.

The Army investigated the claims submitted for tire shredder damage in the Kaiserslautern area and found the shredders were still under the maintenance and control of a German contractor, Smith said.

"The long story short is, we were not legally able to pay these claims because there was no negligence on the part of the government," he said. "The government wasn’t in control of the devices. The devices were under the control and maintenance of a contractor."

Those who filed claims were told to contact the contractor, SKE — Bauleitung Kaiserslautern.

"Nobody ever contacted us about claims," said Dieter Magay with SKE. "We knew of problems, but we never got any requests for claims."