TOWER BARRACKS, Germany – U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria is among a select group of Army garrisons worldwide to participate in developing a new garrison installation app, created by Soldiers for Soldiers.
The access to relevant, timely and accurate information plays an important role in the quality of life for Soldiers and their Families. To facilitate this, the Army Software Factory, in coordination with Installation Management Command, is spearheading the creation of the new “My Army Post App.”
The app has launched at six Army installations worldwide as a pilot project. From those six installations, USAG Bavaria is the only one within Europe to participate.
“We appreciate that IMCOM selected garrisons from around the world to participate, because the app’s users will have very different needs, depending on where they are,” said Mark Heeter, Installation Management Command – Europe public affairs officer.
“Some of our overseas garrisons have literally dozens of smaller installations in their individual footprints,” Heeter continued. “And those in the U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria communities are just the right participants for the pilot. It's a very large garrison, with varying information needs, and we're anxious to learn from the Soldiers and their families what they’re looking for in a useful app.”
“The biggest difference between My Army Post and previous applications is that it is built by Soldiers for Soldiers,” said Maj. Benjamin Schiff, product designer with the Army Software Factory in Austin, Texas. “Our team is taking feedback directly from Soldiers, Family members, and civilians to make sure the app meets their needs.”
The goal of the new app is for community members to be able to quickly orient themselves to a new installation and its surrounding community with only a few clicks. To ensure the final product has the capabilities and flexibility to be an effective tool, the developers are taking direct input from Soldiers and Families.
The app will allow real-time access to relevant and community-specific information. Additionally, app users will be able to tailor their home screen based upon where they live and what services they use. App users can opt into notifications about resources they care about and not receive notifications about resources they don't. Additionally, garrisons will be able to send important updates to their communities with personalized notifications.
“As a single Soldier without children, I don't need to get a notification when Child and Youth Services is closed,” said Schiff. “But if I use that service, I want a push notification when it is closed. Also, having one app with all installations on it will allow Soldiers to get important information about other installations before they (permanently change station), reducing the unknowns during that stressful period.”
The end goal is an Army-wide rollout so users will be able to use this one app for all installations. A seamless experience across the entire Army by simply changing the garrison on the App setting.
“I'm excited that USAG Bavaria is representing all of Europe with this launch,” said Dwayne Key, deputy to the USAG Bavaria commander. “Even though we're Europe's sole representative garrison, we're not going at it alone.”
“We are talking with sister garrisons, their communities, and their staffs to learn what matters to them because every European garrison is unique in how they deliver services, geographic dispersion, and community makeup,” Key continued. “With communities spanning from Brussels to Poznan to Vicenza, we really do need as much input and participation from the community as possible. The app will only be as good as we make it!”
During a one-month development phase, the selected Army installations and their community members can actively help to create and influence the development of the new app. Users will be able to provide feedback within the app.
To download the app, search “My Army Post” in the Google Play or Apple App Stores or scan the QR-code below.
Even after the one-month development phase community members will have the ability to contribute to their community whenever information isn't accurate to ensure constant up-to-date information.
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