'Take pride in your Army Hawaii home'

By Col. Douglas Mulbury, Commander, U.S. Army Garrison-HawaiiMarch 26, 2012

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(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Spring cleaning launches larger new campaign

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii -- March 27-29, Soldiers, family members and civilian employees on Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield will participate in a massive community spring cleanup.

Orchestrated by the 25th Infantry Division, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii, and other on-post organizations, the cleanup is much more than just throwing away unneeded items, trimming the grass, raking leaves or cleaning windows.

The cleanup signals a return by the installation community to take pride in its Army homeĀ­.

Under the theme "Hometown Schofield-Wheeler 'Ahahui Pride," the Army's leadership here is stressing that this spring cleanup is only the beginning of a much larger campaign to instill a sense of ownership, responsibility and pride in the installation. In fact, the Hawaiian word "'Ahahui" means "bringing a group of people together."

With the past 10 years of unit deployments and extremely high operational tempo, we -- as a community -- have tended to neglect some of the basic housekeeping practices on our installations.

All of us who work and live here can make a big difference in how our installation looks -- but even more importantly, in the quality of life and sense of well-being we feel here.

Many issues on the installation can be resolved or improved by community involvement, such as littering, profanity, speeding and illegal parking.

It's no secret that crime on our installations here, to include car and home break-ins, is caused largely by on-post residents. Just as in communities off-post, an aggressive volunteer neighborhood watch program and community-oriented policing of housing areas can help reduce these and other incidents.

As emphasized by both Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno and Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, commander, U.S. Army-Pacific, it's time to return back to the basics as our units return home.

There is no substitute for good order and discipline on our installations, from rendering military courtesies during reveille or retreat, to taking pride in our offices, homes, streets and facilities. Hometown Schofield-Wheeler 'Ahahui Pride will be more than just a cleanup, but an enduring theme for all our installation residents to remember and act on.