Mountain Post housing residents and Soldiers living in on-post barracks learned, Feb. 17, 2021, that they’ll soon have some new tools to report issues and schedule maintenance.
During the quarterly housing town hall update, conducted virtually from the Joel Hefley Community Center, Maj. Gen. Matthew W. McFarlane, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, covered several of the most important topics to Mountain Post community members.
“In October, the Army switched up its priorities and made people our No.1 priority,” he said. “The mission associated with that change is that, as an Army, we continue to build cohesive teams, built on a foundation of trust — teams that are trained, disciplined and fit, ready to fight and win for whatever reason our nation asks. It’s not about (providing) more time off, it’s about ensuring that we are taking care of each other, not just leaders taking care of Soldiers, but Soldiers helping take care of each other on our small unit teams and in our squads. It requires everyone — leaders and Soldiers to work together to ensure every squad is as cohesive and highly trained as possible. We need to look after one another, talk to each other, and if we are worried about someone — regardless of whether they are a peer a superior or subordinate — over communicate to ensure people are tracking and helping people make it through some of the tough times in life.”
Joined by Command Sgt. Maj. Adam Nash, senior enlisted leader, 4th Inf. Div. and Fort Carson, McFarlane relayed the Mountain Post’s latest COVID-19 status, trends and vaccine updates, including capacities at Ivy Warrior Restaurants, physical fitness formation restrictions and mask policies.
Following his vaccine update, the commanding general announced that the 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., deployed to the greater Los Angeles area to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s vaccination center at a California State University campus.
He also announced Fort Carson’s Child and Youth Services (CYS) child development centers and school age centers will resume normal operations March 22, 2021, for Families who were enrolled in CYS prior to the installation going into critical readiness status last spring.
“(Parents) will receive a call from your servicing child care facility to determine your current and future child care needs,” McFarlane said. “If you do not plan to return to your space, please let your center management team know that you wish to withdraw from care, so that we can open that up to someone who would like child care.”
As part of the CYS announcement, McFarlane said CYS will begin signing up new enrollees beginning March 29, 2021. Those who have not been receiving services are urged to contact Parent Central Services at 719-526-1101 or 719-526-8220. All facilities will be practicing COVID-19 mitigation precautions including entry screenings, hand-sanitizer stations, increased cleaning of frequently touched surfaces and limiting group sizes.
While announcing CYS’s reopening, McFarlane said the organization will also start up youth sports and fitness programs again beginning in April 2021.
“We’re excited to get our kids back out on the playing fields here,” said McFarlane. “The CYS sports staff will be conducting various sports clinics and are also planning a sports season during the summer months. The CYS workforce was prioritized by the installation command and provided the opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Staff who opted for the vaccine will be fully immunized upon return to normal operations.”
As leaders transitioned into the housing segment of the town hall update, Col. Nate Springer, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson announced that Fort Carson Family Homes (FCFH), the post’s housing management partner, will launch a new 24-hour call center March 1, 2021.
“We’ve heard from people who call FCFH and say they can’t reach anyone,” he said. “This new call center is going to fix that. Calls will not go unanswered and we can schedule our maintenance issues in real time. It’s going to be a great thing.”
While housing residents learned about their new issue-reporting capability, Soldiers living in the barracks also heard that they’ve gained a new system to report issues and log maintenance requests. The Army Maintenance App (ArMA) allows Soldiers to communicate directly with the Directorate of Public Works (DPW).
Finding the ArMA app is simple. Since QR codes have been posted in barracks buildings, all Soldiers need to do is take a photo of the QR code with their cell phone. The QR code then takes users to a registration portal, where they can enter their information and report any issues or requests.
“This is a new Army enterprise initiative and it’s going to really help us here at Fort Carson,” Springer said. “We encourage Army leaders to get their Soldiers signed up with ArMA. It’s going to increase our responsiveness for DPW to get to our barracks.”
Addressing community members for the first time since arriving on post last month, Command Sgt. Maj. Marcus W. Brister II, senior enlisted leader, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson, relayed leaders’ plans for the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s barracks area.
“We have started our quad-project renovations for 2021 and have complete two of our 2250 series buildings (at the 1st SBCT area),” he said. “Starting in March, we’ll begin renovation of the 2070 (buildings) quad and also begin the 1950 series (buildings) for the swing space, which is going to open up another 140 beds for the installation, as well as three other projects. We’re also working on a gutter solution for other barracks in the brigade and we’ve we worked with DPW and other services on post to find a solution we believe everybody can live with.”
Springer and Christy McGrath, FCFH community manager, then capped the townhall with a few updates.
Beginning in April 2021, FCFH will begin demolishing 239 existing units in the Cherokee West village. The demolition project takes place ahead of a replacement project that will add 160 new units to the village.
While discussing neighborhood improvements, McGrath said FCFH plans to replace five playgrounds in 2021 in the Pawnee, Shoshone, Sioux and Apache villages and will continue road paving to increase parking in Pawnee village. She also said the continued Radon-testing program and a project to replace windows, gutters and roofing following last year’s hailstorm. She ended by explaining the importance and impact of FCFH’s soon-to-be-opened call center.
“The cool thing about this is, for the past several months, we’ve been working with this call center, training the team, giving them scenarios and troubleshooting problems,” she said. “As residents call in there will be someone on the line who can troubleshoot their issue and schedule a service technician to immediately come out, instead of sending a message to management.”
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