FORT HOOD, Texas - Several Soldiers from the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program here assisted the Courses of Clear Creek in a beautification project April 7.
From prepping and painting the pavilion, to landscaping the gardens and shrubbery around the main building, BOSS volunteers took a day to help out the local community with some much-needed area improvements.
“Last week we had the BOSS Soldiers out here, pressure washing the entire pavilion … and getting all the loose paint and preparation for the painting that is actually happening today,” Spc. Travis Boreni, Fort Hood BOSS treasurer, said. “We assisted with a bunch of tree-trimming and then pulling some of the foliage that was killed during the winter storm.
“All of this is literally just part of the quality of life and making the facility look much more appealing to the Soldiers and retirees and (community),” Boreni continued. “The BOSS Soldiers are able to accomplish something that the internal staff just doesn’t have the manpower to do in the short period of time that they have.”
At the end of the month, the golf course is hosting the Ben Hogan Classic, a golf tournament that is free for active-duty Soldiers. The work that BOSS is doing will help the courses be able to showcase the facility as best as it can during this tournament, and helps the volunteers feel like they are giving back to their installation.
“We couldn’t do this without the BOSS volunteers,” Lance Pooler, chief of the business division for Fort Hood’s Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare & Recreation, said. “We simply just do not have the staff to be able to accomplish all of the tasks that we need done around this time of year.”
“So we ask for volunteers, and we shoot it out to our BOSS reps who will shoot it out to all of the Soldiers on post,” Pooler remarked. “They will get with their respective reps, see what volunteer events are out there, and they can log their volunteer hours into the Army family web portal and get their volunteer service started.”
While out at the Courses of Clear Creek volunteering, the BOSS Soldiers were offered free lunch through the snack bar as a ‘thank you’ for their hard work. More importantly, however, as with any volunteer project they work on, active-duty volunteers are able to build up their volunteer hours and work towards the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Criteria for the MOVSM include three years and/or 500 hours of volunteer service. All services hours completed by active-duty Soldiers are logged into the Volunteer Management Information System (accessed through https://vmis.armyfamilywebportal.com), and are transferred through any duty station the Soldier may go to.
BOSS is a program designed for single Soldiers, but volunteering for community service with BOSS is open to any Soldier, single or married. When offered, any Soldier can volunteer for an event through their BOSS representative and be a part of supporting their local community. BOSS has numerous community service projects and events throughout the year.
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