Starting Sept. 1, service members of any rank or military branch will be eligible to apply for membership at the soon-to-be-renamed Fort Myer Officers' Club on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
Membership at the club is currently available for active and retired commissioned officers of the U.S. Armed Forces and DoD civilians of a corresponding pay grade, according to the club's website.
The new club will be an "all ranks club," meaning membership eligibility will be open to any active duty or retired members of the military, family members and federal civilian employees and contractors, according to Denise James, director of JBM-HH Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. The application process will remain the same, James wrote in an email.
In an interview with the Pentagram, JBM-HH Commander Col. Patrick M. Duggan said the joint base's values have changed throughout history, and the new O-Club is a way of honoring that history.
The Officers' Club, Bldg. 214 on Jackson Avenue at Fort Myer, served as the headquarters for Army Gen. George C. Patton from 1938-40, according to retired JBM-HH Historian Kim Holien.
In a speech for the Officers' Club Council, Duggan said Patton was assigned to Fort Myer four times throughout his career, making him an integral and inspiring piece of the joint base's history.
Patton was a steadfast believer and proponent of cavalry to mechanized, armored warfare, Duggan said, one willing to see the future.
"What made Patton unique and ahead of his time was his unwavering trust of advocacy of U.S. Army Soldiers," Duggan told the Pentagram. "Patton believed any well-trained Soldier, regardless of rank, could have monumental impacts in modern-day mechanized battle. Patton believed in Soldiers, not rank."
And like the change from cavalry to armor, the Army has changed and evolved in its "values and inclusive nature of all Soldiers," Duggan said.
The decision to open the club up to all ranks and services honors that change, he said.
"What makes the club exclusive is not the rank, but the quality of service," he told the Pentagram. "It's the values. It would be a stone-faced lie for me to just say, 'Officers only.'"
In addition to new membership, the club will also be getting a name-change.
"Starting Aug. 1, we're going to have a campaign to name it," Duggan said. "It's not going to be O-Club anymore; it could be the Patton Club or the Joint Base Myer Club… We're going to look at all the names and try to kick up some interest and see what else is out there."
Submissions can be made starting Aug. 1 by emailing jbmhhfmwr@gmail.com with the subject line "Myer Club Name Change."
Duggan also said the new membership policy would provide opportunities for different generations of service members to build relationships and share insight; for retirees and veterans to "impart their knowledge and lessons to a younger generation.
"There's a hunger for it," he said. "This is a good opportunity for them to connect. Why throw that away?"
For more information about the club and the membership application, visit www.jbmhhmwr.com/fort-myer-officers'-club or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Ft-Myer-Officers-Club/152656968093040.
Social Sharing