USAG Ansbach opens new Storck Community Activity Center

By Gini SinclairJune 27, 2011

U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach opens Col. Louis J. Storck Community Activity Center
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U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach opens newly renovated Col. Louis J. Storck Community Activity Center
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ILLESHEIM, Germany - “Today marks one of the most important days in Storck Barracks,” said Col. Christopher M. Hickey, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach. “Today is a day when the military community connects to its past and the day a daughter connects with her father.”

Hickey said these words at the dedication ceremony and grand opening of the Colonel Louis J. Storck Community Activity Center, Storck Barracks, on June 14. Molly Storck, daughter of Colonel Storck, was the special guest at the opening.

Hickey and Storck uncovered a commemorative plaque that will be mounted in the building. The plaque bears Col. Storck’s likeness and a brief description of his life and Army career.

Denise Blazer, widow of Sgt. Darren Blazer, who was assigned to D Company, 3d Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, presented Storck with a gold star lapel pin, signifying the loss of her father in World War II.

“It took me too long to get here and I am going to come back,” Storck said. Storck thanked everyone who had anything to do with the renovation and thanked the Soldiers for serving their country.

This was the first visit Molly Storck has made to Storck Barracks despite the fact the installation was named after her father in December 1961. Hickey said the June 14 ceremony corrects an oversight, since Storck was living in Frankfurt, Germany, at the time the installation became Storck Barracks.

The Colonel Louis J. Storck Community Activity Center houses the Storck Barracks Army Community Service which includes Army Emergency Relief, Army Family Team Building, Army Family Action Plan, Deployment and Family Readiness, Employment Readiness, Exceptional Family Member Program, Financial Readiness, Family Advocacy Program, Information and Referral, New Parent Support, Relocation Readiness, and the Volunteer Program.

The Tax Relief Office, Child and Youth Services Central Enrollment, a Yellow Ribbon Room (meeting room), an indoor playground for children, the Women Infants and Children Program and a teaching kitchen are also in the new CAC.

The community activity center has been open since April, when the $7 million renovation project was complete. The more than 36,000 square foot facility features a bright open reception area on the ground floor with offices along the back wall and in the loft.

The building was redesigned and renovated through a partnership between the Army Corps of Engineers, Installation Management Command, USAG Ansbach, Directorate of Public Works, Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, USAG Ansbach and private contractors.

Col. Louis J. Storck joined the U.S. Army in 1918 and served in World War I. Following the war he was discharged and attended West Point in 1919. Storck was not gifted academically and was nearly expelled for poor grades. But as a star on the football team he was saved by West Point Superintendent Brig. Gen. Douglas Macarthur and in 1922 Storck kicked the winning field goal against Navy. In 1943 he went to England to prepare for the invasion of Europe. In 1944 he was killed when his jeep ran over a mine. Storck was awarded the Silver Star, posthumously, for gallantry in action near Raids, France. Storck also was the recipient of the Purple Heart and a Legion of Merit.