Photo By Jessica Dambruch | U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll Commander Col. Thomas Pugsley, left, receives the...... read more read more
The Kwajalein community town hall for Army Family Housing occupants convened Aug. 26, 2021 at the Island Memorial Chapel.
USAG-KA Commander Col. Thomas Pugsley hosted the meeting with members of the garrison command team and explored questions posed by community members. Following the meeting, the team will issue notes on topics and issues related to town hall questions.
COVID-19 Vaccines and Booster Shots
Booster shots for COVID-19 are not yet available on USAG-KA. As of Aug. 26, the Kwajalein Hospital had five doses of vaccine remaining. Pugsley encouraged residents who have not yet had the vaccine to use the remaining shots.
“It’s likely that vaccines will be required for contractors in the future,” said Pugsley.
“Once the Department of Defense and the Defense Health Agency have authorized booster shots for the public, we will be moving forward with that,” said Health Systems Specialist Suzanne Mosier. A vaccine shipment is anticipated for later this month.
Island Maintenance
An island resident thanked the Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5, Detail Marshall Islands, for their efforts to keep Kwajalein beautiful with a recent beach-clean up.
“It’s remarkable that the Navy is cleaning up an Army base,” he joked.
“Now, in the Army’s defense, you should have seen it when the Navy owned it back in the day,” said Pugsley.
USAG-KA Director of Public Works Derek Miller acknowledged a current shortage of homecare and touch-up supplies and materials at Self Help, the garrison’s home repair supply warehouse. Island residents can visit during hours of operation to pick up free supplies for pest control, yardwork, and other light maintenance tasks to assist in upkeep of Army Family Housing units.
“We have engaged the 413th Contracting Support Brigade,” said Miller. “We’re hoping to get timely resolution. We fully acknowledge we need to do better in the Self Help and supply area.”
MWR OR FMWR?
Kwajalein is unique. When they involve family services, school or hospital-related activities, services provided by Morale, Welfare and Recreation, are referred to as Family and MWR, or FMWR.
Chairs Secured
Though the Ocean View Club is a beautiful spot to watch the ocean during off-business hours, due to theft issues, club furniture has remained secured after closing. However, beginning this week, some chairs will be made available for island residents to utilize if they so choose.
Construction on the Richardson Theater
Reconstruction of Richardson Theater has been impacted by delayed materials shipments. When materials arrive, the U.S. Navy Seabees will finish the project - a gesture honoring the theater’s original Navy construction.
“The Seabees volunteered to do it again,” said Pugsley. “The last group put the pillars in place, but due to the timeline for materials ordering, the current Seabee group will not be able to carry out phases two and three of the construction. Steel is backordered by 10 months. We’re scheduled to get it in February or later. Because of the specifications we put on the steel—better coating—it took a special order, and it’s taking longer.”
The Playground in Left Field
“I don’t think a playground in left field is the safest place for small children,” said Kwajalein resident Dave Dethlefsen, of the new facility in deep left Brandon Field. He inquired about moving the playground, so children won’t wander into the field of play during sporting events.
“There are a lot of things we can do other than moving a concrete-embedded playground,” said Pugsley, adding that the ballfields are used for softball for a fraction of the year. “There is a reason it was placed there. It’s close, but not too close. Referees will be informed they must stop play if kids are in the field of play.”
Pugsley also reminded parents to police their children during community sporting events.
Please Be Kind to the Referees
In light of the recent shortage of soccer referees, the community is reminded to be kind to the island’s community sports referees, many of whom are teenaged employees.
Dwight Whitehead, LOGCAP Community Activities director, responded to the question.
“The problem we’re having is that some of the teenage referees we have feel beat up on,” he said. “We want to bring on refs who can referee more than one sport at a time. The tough part is keeping them on hand because they feel that they are getting beat up. We’re going to work through it, but that’s the current issue.”
Pugsley took a moment to remind the community about the team environment he hopes to create through self-policing of poor public behavior.
“We have teenagers feeling like they’re getting verbally abused in refereeing a community activity sport,” he said. “Community sports are supposed to be fun. If you’re going full speed and getting mad about something, you’re playing the wrong sport. I ask for any people who do play sports to keep that in mind. You’re out there setting examples for other people, other kids, other people. Do the right thing.”
Testing Equipment
Kwajalein Hospital does not currently have machines to complete mammogram tests or MRI scans. Pugsley confirmed that the machines will not be included in the LOGCAP V contract.
Pugsley acknowledged the limited capacities of the Kwajalein Hospital. The current base operations support contract was written before the pandemic, when travel to Honolulu for medical services could be accomplished without prolonged periods of quarantine.
“We’ll continue to look at it and to maximize what services can be available based on what we’re obligated to under the contract,” Pugsley said.
Eyecare
Kwajalein Hospital is exploring possibilities to provide eyecare to garrison residents. While a virtual ophthalmological solution was made available last fall, USAG-KA received its last visit from an optometrist in February 2019.
Kwajalein Hospital Senior Administrator Steve Kass is working on an optometry solution which would provide services for adults. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Bird has also explored the possibility of engaging services from a certified optometrist on Majuro.
Don’t Be Trashy: Please Retrieve Receptacles
Community members are reminded to put their trash cans away after cans have been emptied.
“It’s not an Army regulation, but it is common courtesy to pull trash cans back to the curb,” said USAG-KA Command Sgt. Maj. Ismael Ortega.
The Water in Building 1010
Island resident Dave Dethlefsen asked about updates regarding water safety at Building 1010, headquarters for the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, and where to pick up copies of the island water consumer confidence report. The document is free to the public and was advertised in late June. While supplies last, paper copies are available at the garrison’s libraries, post offices, air terminals and dock security checkpoints. Those with questions can contact the Environmental office to learn more.
“Hopefully you saw the consumer confidence report,” said Miller. “It’s distributed throughout the community as hard copies and located on Facebook. We talked about the lead-in-water situation. Specific to Building 1010, we’re working on it.”
Renovations to American Legion Post #44 Headquarters: The Vet's Hall
The pandemic has delayed construction on multiple facilities, including an intended renovation for the Vet’s Hall. Miller said the project is on hold, but not forgotten.
“That project was planned for troop construction by the Army Engineering Brigade—the Army element of the Troop Construction Program,” Miller said. “They built a lot of the facilities out here, historically, like the schools and PX. We’re trying to develop that relationship with them further. It’s dependent on a site visit for their reconnaissance. We’re still talking to them monthly. I’m ever the optimist that we’ll get them out here before the end of the year.”
What’s on the Menu
This week, USAG-KA will begin publishing the weekly menu for the Zamperini Cafeteria in The Kwajalein Hourglass. Menu data will also be available on the AFN roller channel.
“I don’t see that being hard,” said Pugsley. “We’ll look at it. That seems fairly easy.”
The community is reminded that all menu options are subject to change without advance notice. Based on delays, supply chain wait-times and other as of yet unidentified issues related to delays exacerbated by the pandemic, the menu is subject to change. One thing is certain: No matter what, you can always count on potatoes.
Phone Questions
There is currently no island program to provide residents with a telephone or a current phonebook. The last copies of an island-wide phonebook with full residential and business listings, safety and evacuation information were distributed before 2019. Newcomers to Kwajalein occasionally inherit an old phonebook: however, some data and numbers are no longer valid.
Pugsley promised an update on the phonebook question in the coming weeks. In the meantime, island residents can contact Veronica Moos at veronica.moos.ctr@mail.mil for a copy of the business listings. The company generates a business guide which is distributed annually to island project managers.
Additionally, though having a hardline phone number is a requirement for logging maintenance issues with ArMA, not all BQ residents have phones provided in their rooms and some BQs have no courtesy phones near common areas.
A community member recommended advertising phones as an item to bring to Kwaj and reminded attendees that power outages can affect in-room phone use.
Pugsley advised that in the coming weeks, the command team would explore how newcomers are informed of personal telecommunications expectations before arrival; whether the government is mandated to provide phones to all residents; and to verify that all BQ residents have access to courtesy phones in their building.
While USAG-KA Command does not have an email address for questions, community members are welcome to make use of the colonel’s open-door policy and to call the Commander’s Hotline at 5-1098. Messages will be relayed to the command team.
“Thank you for coming,” Pugsley said, in closing at the Kwajalein town hall. “It shows you care because you are active members of the community.”
| Date Taken: | 09.04.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 09.04.2021 01:25 |
| Story ID: | 404542 |
| Location: | MH |
| Web Views: | 976 |
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