FORT EISENHOWER, Ga. – Fort Eisenhower leadership held an Information Knowledge Exchange (IKE) on Nov. 6 at Eisenhower Conference and Catering.
The forum was an opportunity for installation leadership to provide information and updates primarily related to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. It was the first of what will become a quarterly event intended to be “internal installation readiness focused."
“It’s kind of a new spin on the command information brief,” explained U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Eisenhower Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Starrett. “We’re going to talk about things that directly impact your readiness as an organization and your ability to conduct your mission.”
“As we work through our recovery efforts, we also realize it’s extremely important to include our community partners to provide a quick update for where they’re at in their recovery,” Garrison Commander Col. Anthony Kazor added.
Ten Fort Eisenhower leaders and three community partners briefed the audience on an array of topics including quality of life, facilities and resource accessibility post-Helene, cleanup and recovery efforts, employment and volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, and construction projects.
Touching on the latter, Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Durette said there are several ongoing projects that will impact readiness on the installation; one of them being Barton Field and another a walkway. Barton Field Main is completed, whereas the western mile loop is currently in design and work on it should begin late spring. Set to begin soon, a “sidewalk from 19th Street to the [U.S. Army Cyber Command] footprint should hopefully be starting mid-December with a late July 2025 finish so that we have that walking path for our Soldiers to get to and from work,” Durette said.
Brandi Bitetti and Larry Coggins, Directorate of Family and MWR, each provided updates on some of the nonessential services they offer and the recovery of facilities. One of the most popular amenities, Eisenhower Lakes Golf Club, suffered damage along the golf course due to fallen trees. However, the course is partially open with 18 of its 27 holes available for play.
“We will probably not be fully ready until January,” said Bitetti, Business Operations Division chief.
The club’s restaurant, pro shop, pavilion, and conference room are also available.
A few of MWR’s other facilities did not fare so well. The Presidential Dinner Theatre, Five Star Lanes, and the indoor swimming pool each sustained roof damage and are closed until repairs are completed. Pointes West Army Resort also suffered significant damage.
“Structurally, we did pretty well,” Coggins said of the latter. Much of the damage to Pointes West is electrical/utilities and remains closed due to safety reasons.
Coggins, Recreation Division chief, went on to share significant progress has been made at Overlord Fitness Center despite other setbacks.
“We are at the finish line for 24/7 fitness,” Coggins said. “The equipment is about 95%, and we’re fixin’ to go to a beta testing.”
As recovery efforts and reopening of facilities across the installation continue, planning for Holiday Block Leave has begun. Col. William Cherkauskas, 15th Signal Brigade commander, said the brigade has about 3,000 Soldier-trainees. All those Soldiers have an opportunity to take up 14 days of leave during the holidays, most of whom do. Those who opt to stay back and not take leave will be taken care of.
“We’ve got all kinds of fun things planned for them either in the local area or even some of them, we take up to Atlanta to do stuff out there … and a lot of that is actually taken care of by our community partners,” Cherkauskas said.
In the realm of medical readiness, Eisenhower Army Medical Center (EAMC) is fully operational and has good reasons to celebrate – one being its Pharmacy wait times.
“If you remember a year or two ago, it took three days to get a prescription filled,” said Col. James Pairmore, EAMC commander. “We are down to less than 20 minutes now, so the pharmacy has really mastered MHS Genesis and changed a lot of their processes to where they’re getting after it.”
Following Pairmore’s update, Robert Drumm, Environmental Division chief, gave an update on Fort Eisenhower’s training areas.
“We’ve identified over 5,000 acres of forest scattered across the installation where it’s completely flat on the ground, so because of that and complete lack of access, we have suspended all hunting and fishing, bike riding, outdoor recreational activities for the time-being,” Drumm said.
His division is working with multiple partners to get the areas back to operational, but it’s a complex process.
“The issue is all these operations require a lot of big trucks and a lot of really big heavy machinery that is driving up and down the roads, in and out of the training areas, and if you’ve ever been on a big piece of equipment like that, it’s hard to see what’s around you,” Drumm explained. “If you’re not actively involved in the cleanup effort, it is very dangerous and unsafe for you to be around out there.”
Closing out the forum, Kazor thanked everyone for attending and encouraged them to visit each of the community partners’ booths set up around the room.
In case you missed it
The following timeline was provided by Maria Blanchard, Fort Eisenhower Garrison Public Affairs.
Visit the Fort Eisenhower Facebook page for complete footage of the IKE.
Here are the start times of each section in the video so you can fast forward to the information relevant to you:
CCoE Command Sergeant Major: 20 seconds
Garrison Commander (Hurricane Helene recovery status): 3 minutes, 40 seconds
Garrison Command Sergeant Major: 11 minutes, 10 seconds
Garrison Commander (upcoming events): 14 minutes, 5 seconds
Business Operations Division: 19 minutes, 25 seconds
Child and Youth Services: 28 minutes, 50 seconds
Recreation Division: 33 minutes, 34 seconds
Army Community Service: 45 minutes
15th Signal Brigade Commander: 57 minutes, 58 seconds
Eisenhower Army Medical Center: 1 hour, 57 seconds
Environmental Division: 1 hour, 9 minutes, 52 seconds
Augusta/Richmond County (Community Partner): 1 hour, 14 minutes, 55 seconds
North Augusta County (Community Partner): 1 hour, 33 minutes, 46 seconds
City of Grovetown – (Community Partner): 1 hour, 42 minutes, 17 seconds
Social Sharing