Army recognizes garrisons for outstanding community partnerships

By U.S. Army Public AffairsNovember 23, 2021

The Department of the Army announced today the winners of the 2021 Army Partnership Awards. The awards will be presented in a virtual ceremony on Wednesday January 12, 2022.

The Army selected seven installations and neighboring communities for demonstrating partnerships that improve quality of life, enhance Army readiness and modernize Army processes, while building stronger community relationships.

This year’s winners include the following partnership initiatives:

·        Fort Benning Hazard/Emergency Mutual Aid Assistance with Chattahoochee Valley: Fort Benning partnered with the Chattahoochee Valley “Tri-community” for an All Hazard/All Emergency Mutual Aid Assistance Memorandum of Agreement.  This partnership creates and codifies a systematic approach in which 22 military and civilian partner organizations exercise local and regional mutual aid assistance, share information and rapidly share and sustain emergency aid and resources.

·        U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Emergency Services Partnership with German Police: USAG Wiesbaden has a longstanding partnership with the German Host Nation Police (Polizei) for enhanced emergency response, coordination and rehearsal of training events and regular engagements with various first responder and intelligence agencies.  This partnership is critical to health, life and safety/security for the Wiesbaden Military Community which includes more than 15,000 personnel and 14 sites in two German states. Notably, the partnership was imperative to the success and safety a multi-day international event with 50,000 visitors; the partnership expands both the response operations and mission related capabilities of the garrison and the Polizei.

·        Fort Knox Energy Utility Partnership with Nolin Rural Electric Co-op Company: Fort Knox partnered with the Nolin Rural Electric Coop Company to manage Fort Knox electric utilities. This partnership allows Fort Knox to achieve energy resiliency, independence and save money.  By working with Nolan Electric Fort Knox reduced its power costs by 50% over the last six years. This program also cut Fort Knox electric bills by more than half over the last decade and provides Fort Knox a micro grid distribution system for “zero” system wide power outages.

·        Fort Riley Demolition Intergovernmental Support Agreement with Unified School District 475: Fort Riley and Unified School District 475 entered into the first Army Demolition IGSA. This partnership eliminated an unsightly structure and safety hazard near a housing area, enabled an 83% reduction in procurement time, and generated cost savings to the Army of more than $190,000. This agreement expanded operational capabilities, maintenance and staffing resources.

·        USAG Miami Service and Family Member Readiness with the City of Doral: USAG Miami and the City of Doral Parks and Recreation developed a Memorandum of Agreement to make Doral park properties available for physical fitness testing, unit physical fitness activities, unit field days, command activities and Army Birthday 5k Run/Walk. The partnership also promoted recreational and athletic programs for families of USAG Miami. This provides service member and family member readiness at no cost for USAG Miami all while building closer relations between the U,S. Southern Command and the City of Doral.

·        Fort Carson Family Advocacy Program with El Paso County: Fort Carson and the El Paso County Department of Human Services (DHS) brought the Center on Fathering curriculum to Fort Carson Soldiers and families under the Army Community Service Family Advocacy Program. This partnership aims to prevent child abuse by encouraging father-child relationships, cultivating bonds, strengthening attachment, encouraging communication and building family resilience. Ninety fathers have graduated from the 15-week course, and the program has received overwhelming positive feedback from participants showing the need and importance for programs specifically designed for fathers.   

·        Fort Polk Education Enhancement Initiatives with Vernon Parish: Fort Polk partnered with the Vernon Parish School Board (VPSB) to provide enhanced educational programing and promote community involvement and partnerships. VPSB improves readiness by ensuring parents and their children are in a safe, positive learning environment and offers after-school programming with extracurricular activities, tutoring and education enrichment. Fort Polk and VPSB work together to provide counseling services to military members and their children. Fort Polk offers active-duty military police officers as School Resource Officers for security to on-post schools and to provide positive role models to students.

The Army Partnership Awards Program seeks to highlight examples of exceptional cooperation and diligence that will encourage continued collaboration to achieve the full potential of community partnerships. LTG Jason Evans, Deputy Chief of Staff, G9 (Installations), said, “Once again, we are excited to recognize these outstanding partnerships that create efficiencies, build resiliency, enhance readiness and improve the quality of life for Soldiers and their families.”

Awardees included partnerships signed in fiscal years 2018-2021 by garrisons, reserve centers and armories. Submissions were evaluated using the following criteria:

·        improves Soldier/family quality of life

·        improves or enhances readiness

·        modernizes a service, system or process

·        provides cost savings or other efficiencies

·        expands capability

·        improves community relations

For additional information contact Ivan Bolden at ivan.g.bolden.civ@army.mil, or David Leinberger at david.j.leinberger.civ@army.mil.