Courtesy Photo | Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Commander Col. Mike Henderson browses scrapbooks of...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Army Community Service on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall celebrated 50 years of service to the installation with an employee open house that brought current and former staff members and volunteers together July 8 at the community center on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base.
Ringing the room were displays – including photographs and uniforms - that told the ACS story on the joint base for half a century.
“ACS opened up here at Fort Myer in the spring of 1966,” said joint base ACS Chief Laurie Brown. “We have had wonderful volunteer historians since then and they have kept records.”
The event was open exclusively to current and former ACS employees and volunteers as a means to recognize decades of service to service members and their families. Army Community Service was designed to provide a framework for the operation of a viable system of social services within the Army community.
On July 25, 1965, Gen. Harold K. Johnson, then-Army chief of staff, sent a letter to all commanders announcing the approval and establishment of ACS, according to an article on Army.mil. By 1967, a majority of continental U.S. installations had initiated ACS centers. By 1969, ACS centers and points of contact were established Army wide.
Jerry Catlett has a total of 41 years of federal service. For 27 of those years, Catlett was a staff member at ACS, where he has volunteered for an additional 13 years.
“It’s about helping Soldiers and their families,” he said. “My field was financial counseling. It’s refreshing to see people that you knew a long time ago and they’re doing well.”
Catlett said one of the major changes he has seen during his time at ACS is the prevention training that Soldiers now receive.
“I enjoyed my staff time and volunteer time at ACS,” he added. “I’m still enjoying it.”
Between her service at Fort Belvoir and the joint base, Doris Jackson has spent 10 years working for ACS.
“Our goal is to make families self-sufficient,” she said.
ACS will hold an open house July 24 from 8 to 10 a.m. in Building 201 on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base.
Editor’s note: Additional coverage of local and Army-wide celebrations of the 50th birthday of ACS in next week’s Pentagram and on our social media platforms: facebook.com/jbmhh and @jbmhh on Twitter.
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.16.2015 17:42 |
| Story ID: | 170253 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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