GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- The thousands of rotational troops arriving at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria now have their own recreation center and gym at Camp Algiers in the Grafenwoehr Training Area.
The recreation center provides activities for the rotating Soldiers and a means to contact family and friends in the states. TVs, video games, board games, foosball tables, a library and soon pool and ping pong tables, keep Soldiers entertained. Free Wi-Fi and call center allow Soldiers to easily contact loved ones back home.
"What the rec center and gym are intended to do is bring quality of life enhancements to the field camps," said Audre Binder, USAG Bavaria Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation director.
Though the training camps aren't far from the main installation, the vehicle-less Soldiers must walk one mile and past a security point to reach the nearest building with Wi-Fi, nearly 2.5 miles to the Warrior Zone recreation facility, and even further to reach the Tower Barracks gym.
"With the standup of the (rec center) Soldiers are able to walk a few minutes and get connected. I see Soldiers and their families on Facetime or Skype all the time when I go there," said Col. Robert Ashe, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division commander, out of Fort Stewart.
"Today we are in a connected world," added Ashe. "Soldiers and their families have an expectation that they can communicate."
Easy access to these modern-day necessities has improved the sense of well-being in the camps, said Master Sgt. Arthur Wade, Mayor Cell noncommissioned officer in charge.
"The morale has gone up a lot since the rec center was opened. Soldiers needing Wi-Fi had to go over onto base. Now, they actually line up in front of the rec center waiting for it to open," said Wade.
While troops certainly get in line for games and Wi-Fi, the rec center also provides a refuge for those crammed in training barracks and sharing sleeping quarters with 50 other Soldiers.
"I come here for the peace and quiet," said Spc. Fred Villeneuve, 1st ABCT, 3ID.
Spc. Stuart Handy, also from 1st ABCT, 3ID, expressed a similar need for escape.
"It's peaceful at the rec center," said Handy. "It's nice. I come here to relax and get on Wi-Fi and talk to friends and family back home."
Adjacent to the rec center is a gym with free weights, machines, treadmills and ellipticals.
"Having the gym is absolutely awesome," said Ashe. "Soldiers need an outlet when they deploy, and in every deployment that I have been on the gym is a focal part of helping Soldiers get through the deployment. They set goals, establish lifting partners and really have something to look forward to every day."
With the fitness and off-duty needs of the rotational troops being met, FMWR is now looking to expand transportation and travel opportunities.
Outdoor Recreation already picks up Soldiers from the training area for day trips, making it easier for them to explore Germany. Regular outings to nearby cities, like Nuremberg and Regensburg, for the rotational troops are also a possibility, said Wolfgang Schultes, Outdoor Recreation director.
Rental bicycles and on-post fishing opportunities might be available soon as well.
"We're trying to extend as many services to these Soldiers as possible," said Schultes. "This is where more recreational services are needed than anywhere else."
The rotational forces, such as the Soldiers from ABCT, 3ID, are part of European Command's ongoing Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began last year. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, called OAR and its 24 multinational exercises, "the new normal," adding that it demonstrates the Army's commitment in providing landpower to combatant commanders and NATO's supreme commander.
"Our allies are going to continue to need to be assured that we are there, and nothing says commitment like American Soldiers standing (alongside) them," said Hodges recently during a speech at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's headquarters in Virginia.
Soldiers from Fort Stewart started arriving here last month to assume responsibility for a land forces training mission in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Members of the 4th ID Mission Command Element, from Fort Carson, Colorado, also deployed here in February to serve as the division-level headquarters under the Army's regionally aligned forces concept.
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