Photo By Staff Sgt. Victor Everhart | U.S. Army Central Soldiers and family members listen to questions during the USARCENT...... read more read more
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SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –U.S. Army Central hosted a live Facebook Family Town Hall for Soldiers and their families Feb. 2, here at Patton Hall.
Lt. Gen. Michael Garrett, USARCENT commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Dostie, USARCENT command sergeant major, hosted the event. Garrett said the real purpose of the town hall is to “allow the command access to the command team.”
Garret opened the family town hall with comments about the uniqueness of a three-star headquarters being located on an Air Force installation and some of the challenges that come with it stating, “It’s not bad, it’s just different and holding these types of events gives us an opportunity to share those thoughts you or your family may be having or those improvements you believe will make a difference.”
Garrett finished his opening remarks with a thank you to all the Soldiers located in the main command post and the Soldiers helping accomplish the USARCENT mission.
In his closing comments Garrett told USARCENT Soldiers that being more proactive on base and attending town hall meetings with the base commander is going to be huge for incoming personnel stating, “if we make our needs and requirements heard the Air Force will do their best to see that we are accommodated to the best of their ability, but it starts with your involvement.”
To watch the town hall visit https://www.facebook.com/usarmycentral/videos/1482215575142315/
Q: What role does USARCENT have in shaping the local community?
A: The 20th Fighter Wing is mainly responsible for the relationship with the community. But USARCENT supports the base commander and are good team members. Keeping up with the Shaw Air Force Base web page as well as social media is the best way to see opportunities to put your impact on the community.
Q: The main gym here on base is 24 hours what’s the chances we could get the annex to be 24 hours?
A: There are no plans to make the annex 24 hours because of manning at this time, but it is an issue we have heard and are looking into
Q: The 441 gate closures are confusing, they’re based on holidays and school closures is there any way we can get the gate closures standardized?
A: In the near future the 441 gate should be open from 0600-2200.
Q: What will Third Army do if anything to commemorate Third Army’s involvement in WW1?
A: We don’t have anything currently planned but we will do something.
Q: With the shift to the new medical facility on Shaw Air Force Base does that include any additional services, doctors, and appointments or make any new treatments available here?
A: No there will be no additional services rendered, the move is more for consolidating the surrounding clinics into one building.
Q: Are there any unintended consequences of the changes being made at the hospital at Fort Jackson with the rumored shut down?
A: With regard to the hospital being turned into a clinic yes there are some. There will no longer be any inpatient services because it will be a clinic and not a hospital. That in itself will have a great impact. A lot of the services rendered at the hospital will now be outsourced to the medical network.
Q: Considering the current DA civilian hiring freeze, do you anticipate USARCENT will receive an exception to policy and what risk do you anticipate by not receiving an exception to policy?
A: We’re realistically looking at four or five exceptions to policy but the national debt and issues our leadership have deemed important are the reason these things are being done. The mission will get accomplished with what we have but prioritizing our requirements will be huge for us going forward.
Q: What’s the likelihood of us getting a mini shoppette or a clothing and sales on our side of the base?
A: There’s a plan in place, but we’re probably about three to five years away from that but it is in the works.
Q: South Carolina is a concealed carry state. What is the policy for concealed carry on Shaw Air Force Base?
A: There is no concealed carry allowed on Shaw Air Force Base.
Q: The counselors on Shaw are great but they can’t do anything for Army personnel. Is there a plan in place to bring representation from Fort Jackson here to help Soldiers with their education questions and processes?
A: It is in the works but the hard part with this is coordinating with all the Soldiers and ensuring that the information is put out there for them to utilize it. As it stands Soldiers have to go to Fort Jackson for their education needs.
Q: With the rapid improvement to Sumter in regards to housing is there anything we can do or have you heard anything about raising the basic allowance for housing?
A: BAH is based on a rental market survey done at the Army level. They do it yearly. We’re not part of that process. We can send the information and explain that there seems to be a greater discrepancy in Sumter but that’s a decision that has to be made at the Army level.
Q: Is there a plan in place to provide lighting to the running paths?
A: I don’t have a timeline but that is something I can say yes to. It has been heard before we are now in the works of figuring out how to make that happen.
Q: With the new Air Force unit proposed to be stationed at Shaw Air Force Base will infrastructure keep up as far as gates and facilities?
A: It’s not a done deal that the new unit will be located at Shaw but the timeline you’re looking at is around early fiscal year18.
Q: The Sumter Gate also known as the ARCENT gate is open from 6am to 6pm is it possible to get an hour added on either end?
A: At this time no, because the security forces doesn’t have the man power needed to man those gates for extended amounts of time.
Q: With Soldiers spread out amongst many areas what’s your (Lt. Gen. Garrett) perspective on team building events?
A: Just like any other Army unit social events are important. We do quarterly hail and farewell events. We try to vary the locations to be fair to everyone. With Soldiers living here to Columbia it’s hard to find a good location for everyone but we’re working to find it.
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2017 16:58 |
| Story ID: | 223240 |
| Location: | SUMTER, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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