Car number plates (U.S. Army in Germany)
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Private vehicles belonging to American Service personnel and dependent family members based in Germany currently carry German-style number plates starting AD, AF or HK (IF is used with official vehicles) but with the NATO insignia on a blue background instead of the regular EU one. These plates were introduced in 2000 to replace the American-style plates previously used.
The upper sticker shows the expiry date of the plate, rather than technical fitness as the German one does. Furthermore, unlike the German one this sticker is punched to indicate clearly the date. The lower sticker shows the text: "Streitkräfte der Vereinigten Staaten in Deutschland" (Armed Forces of the USA in Germany). The reason for the change is the higher demand for security by the US Army in Germany. Nevertheless, some personnel and relatives drive vehicles designed for the US market, which cannot always accommodate standard-sized German plates. These vehicles receive plates made to a small size which is in Germany normally dedicated for light motorcycles or agricultural vehicles. It is thus easy to distinguish US-Army-registered cars from German-registered cars from a distance, although American cars imported by normal Germans may also use the tall plate if the car can not accommodate the traditional one. The NATO logo also confirms that the vehicle is not that of a German civilian.
When the US forces began using this system, they chose the first two-letter codes not yet used in the German registration system, namely AD (standard size) and AF (small size). After some time they realised that AF could be easily interpreted as Armed Forces or Air Force, defeating the purpose of using German-style plates. So they discontinued issuing plates with "AF" and began using "HK" instead. For official vehicles the code "IF" is used with standard-size plates. By law the vehicles must carry the "USA" sticker since they are registered by a non-European Union country. But in this special matter this law is not enforced in Germany with US Army vehicles. When travelling outside Germany, US military laws require that USA sticker be displayed on the rear of the car.
In 2005, the US Forces in Germany decided that service members' private vehicles should carry normal German plates for security reasons. Re-registering with German plates began in December 2005, requiring all vehicles to have German plates by 2007. Each vehicle will display the prefix for the area where the owner lives; the only difference is that they will be exempt from German road taxes and TÜV inspections.
