Photo By Rick Emert | FORT CARSON, Colo. — Col. Nate Springer, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson,...... read more read more
By Scott Prater
Mountaineer staff
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Mountain Post leaders updated residents and listened to their concerns during a Quarterly Housing Town Hall at McMahon Auditorium Nov. 10, 2021.
Col. Nate Springer, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson and Command Sgt. Maj. Marcus W. Brister II, senior enlisted leader, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson, started by welcoming attendees and introducing them to some key leaders who make up the post’s housing team — from the Directorate of Public Works to Fort Carson Family Homes and the Community Life NCOs.
The event was the first Quarterly Housing Town Hall to be held live since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents were invited to attend and voice their individual challenges and concerns.
“Maj. Gen. David M. Hodne, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, wants us to conduct these town halls live as a means of fostering face-to-face communication between residents and housing leaders,” Springer said.
Accordingly, Nov. 10, Residents spoke directly to the housing leadership teams about some of the challenges they’ve faced in the past few months, including specific home maintenance issues, work-order completion, the size, variety and availability of playgrounds, and winter-time snow plowing on neighborhood streets.
In turn, Brister informed attendees that the post is currently experiencing a worker shortage at many levels.
“Our Child and Youth Services is about 66% staffed,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to bring that number up, to include pay incentives and other measures, and we’re making progress toward getting to 100%. At the same time, Fort Carson Family Homes is currently staffed at 60% and our contractors and subcontractors are experiencing the same staffing problem. We have taken steps to increase our staff but haven’t seen many returns yet.”
Springer then asked attendees for suggestions on how housing leaders and organizations can communicate better with residents.
A few voiced suggestions including how housing information could be pushed out more frequently and in more distribution channels. Others said more information about existing programs, like the maintenance texting service, should be relayed to residents during their move-in procedure.
“Right now, our DPW staff and other housing leaders are in the planning stages of constructing and placing a housing-specific (electronic) marquee in a prime location on post,” Springer said. “This marquee will be dedicated to housing related news and information.”
Responding to a resident’s confusion about the Community Life NCOs program, Brister explained the program, which assigns communication-focused NCOs to specific neighborhoods, is still in its infancy (about 120 days), is nearly fully staffed and leaders are working to improve the program.
“There is nothing we do on Fort Carson that is more important than making sure our Soldiers and Families live in quality housing,” Springer said. “Those who have participated in the Community Life NCO program over the last few months have felt pretty good about helping people. It tends to open one’s eyes about some of the housing challenges we have on the installation.”
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2021 15:51 |
| Story ID: | 411365 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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