U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart leadership, service providers and members of the community met at the Robinson Barracks Zentrum May 14 to discuss important local matters and collaborate on solutions for potential challenges.
The Quarterly Community Townhalls are one of USAG Stuttgart’s primary vehicles for communicating directly with the Stuttgart military community. Offering detailed updates and subject matter experts to help answer anticipated questions and on-the-spot inquiries, attendees and hosts can collaborate on multiple topics.
Most of the night’s questions, comments and concerns focused on available resources at Robinson.
Chief among those concerns, the planned consolidation of commissaries to a new facility on Panzer Kaserne, which will tentatively leave Robinson and Kelley Barracks without their own grocery store. The Defense Commissary Agency has slated all four of the garrison’s commissaries for closure upon completion of the new store in October 2027. However, mission partners throughout the footprint have begun to petition for the Kelley and Robinson stores to remain open, citing their importance to those who live and work on those installations, and the commuting distance to Panzer Kaserne.
“We will know more in August, but for right now, we hear your concerns and are doing everything we can,” Garrison Commander Col. Edward J. Sanford, said. The garrison is working with other leaders from the community to petition DeCA during its final review process in late summer.
The gate construction project at Patch scheduled for June 11 to August 13, was also discussed at length. The scope of the project will change installation access requirements. Anyone entering Patch will need a second form of identification such as a drivers license or passport as they enter a temporary access control point slated to open near the Swabian Event Center.
Details of the project and its expected impact are included in this [presentation](https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docNCCD245716FEB3a53f5245e7a051d51fe14ea39eccaabe0901b5e0cad0bc414d7e9f9c34c4a72). Additional questions submitted prior to or asked during the event are also listed[ here](https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docN9C9FF8660334516fc76d6c6c54662266230bc676b5222dc0159a3cf69de7f1179220e8234dcc).