CAMP RED CLOUD -- Ensuring that Warrior Country provides robust counseling services for Soldiers and families and that military units have the facilities and other support they need are among the top priorities for Col. John M. Scott as Area I's new commander.
Scott assumed command of U.S. Army Garrison Red Cloud and Area I July 13, beginning what is normally a two-year assignment.
In an interview with the Morning Calm newspaper, Scott outlined some of the key areas of effort he'll emphasize during his command.
They amount, he said, to three key aims: supporting the 2nd Infantry Division and other military units with the facilities and services they need to meet their wartime mission; ensuring the Soldiers and families of the Area I community have the right type, amount and quality of services they need; and maintaining good ties with the local Korean community.
"And so, if you focus on those three things," said Scott, "I think that's kind of where I want to take the Red Cloud team and the Area I garrison. To make sure that we take care of what the commanders need, the Soldiers and the families, what they deserve, and then what these communities expect."
The garrison manages base operations on Area I installations, mainly in support of the 2nd Infantry Division.
Much of the garrison's effort would continue to be on giving such units the support they need, Scott said.
That would include providing proper barracks, motor pools, training facilities and other support.
"They are our principal customer," Scott said of the 2nd Infantry Division. "They have a huge responsibility on this peninsula to 'Fight Tonight.'"
But along with supporting commanders, the garrison will continue to focus heavily on the needs of individual Soldiers and their families, as well as civilian members of the Area I community, Scott said.
This will mean an especially close look at Army Community Service, he said.
"I'm going to be paying attention a lot to ACS. Make sure that counseling services are provided, that we have the right mix of counselors."
The number of military families in Area I continues to grow, Scott said, many of them facing the challenges of being young couples with small children.
"So, family-style counseling, that helps them cope with life" is a key part of the counseling services Scott wants to be sure are available, he said.
"I try to think back to when I was a newlywed and I understand that life can be stressful.
"But when you try and do that in an international setting, like we are in Korea, there's going to be other challenges."
Scott will eye what types of counseling are currently available, and whether there are enough counselors to meet the community's needs, he said.
"If it looks like we need more, we'll take a look at that," Scott said.
Besides family-oriented counseling, Scott wants to make sure that Soldiers themselves have the kinds of counseling they need, especially because so many have served in war zones in recent years and may be under the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
"Coming off 14 years of combat, as an Army, we do have Soldiers who rotate with the potential of having PTSD-type cases, where it's the unseen injuries that may be out there, that we have to pay attention to and take care of," Scott said.
"I've done two combat deployments to Iraq," he said. "I've done one to Afghanistan. I've buried Soldiers.
"So I'm sensitive to some of the challenges that our Soldiers have gone through and that they'll probably continue to go through.
"Another priority will be making sure the Area I community has the right services, Scott said. Area I installations include child care, youth programs, commissary and other retail shopping, libraries, bowling alleys, movie theaters, and restaurants, sports and recreational programs, as well as housing, public works and medical services, among many others.
The garrison leadership, Scott said, will "Really focus on the service -- what kind of service? The quality of it, is it the right kind? Do we have enough of it?"
But such considerations will be subject to the tight financial conditions that have arisen in the current period of national economic austerity, Scott said.
"We're gonna be working under a lot of fiscal constraints and that's the challenge that I have to take on personally -- to balance that, because there's not an endless pot of money. We already know that."
The Army's relations with the Area I's Korean communities will also continue to be a high garrison priority, Scott said.
"Right now, I'm just trying to get a chance to know all the names and faces," Scott said. "And have a chance to meet them and just reinforce our commitment to being good neighbors, and doing the right thing by the Korean people."
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