European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday november 2.1, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 support services to be More outgoing ". "/. Army programs Hope of reach More soldiers families by Chuck Vinc Washington Burea Washington with the need for family sup port programs More critical than Ever the army wants to transform the army Community services from a re Active Agency to one that aggressively reaches out to soldiers and their families. A restructuring Effort has begun that will push acs staffers out of their centers and into the action at army units said it. Col. Griffin David Lockett chief of acs. The restructuring is built upon lessons Learned i family support services after operation desert storm in 1991 the largest deployment since the Vietnam War As Well As other research and customer feed Back. / v.".,. / /. / As they Analysed that information army officials detected a number of problems with acs which has 120 centers worldwide and 1,200 full and part time staff members along with As Many As 14,000 volunteers a year. A ,/ surveys showed that Many soldiers and family Mem Bers recognize individual programs and services family advocacy financial assistance spouse employ ment and others but often fail to realize that those Are acs initiatives. There were also complaints about variations in of Equality of programs from one base to another which fed a continuous Cycle of dashed expectations and in difference among acs customers. That situation is heavily tied to the level of local command support. We Don t say you must staff and configure your acs Center this Way there s a lot of guidance but it the commander s Call As to How the guidance is implemented Lockett said. The restructuring Effort emphasizes a new Mission statement that positions acs As the commanders partner in acs already plays a major role in providing family support across the spectrum of contingency operations from mobilization and deployment to redeployment and reunion. But were surprised to find that Man commanders did t know what the Agency could do for them. So the Cornerstone of the restructuring is a new outreach Effort to show commanders How acs can enhance readiness and also to make the Agency a More visible presence in. Soldiers lives. The initiative focuses on training acs staffers to be unit service in addition to handling their own program specialities acs staffers will also reassigned As representatives to specific units probably beginning at the brigade level. / that entails moving out from the centers and going to where the customers Are Lockett said. That makes it incumbent upon them to understand the train ing schedule the operating Tempo the environment that the soldiers and families work and live unit service coordinators Are responsible for tailor ing the services commanders need most to Deal with the concerns of the soldiers and families in their partic ular units he said. The outreach program also improves service in an other Way by giving every staffer a Basic working knowl Edge of All acs programs. In the past it was not unusual for a customer to be turned away because theaus representative who handled a specific program was unavailable Lockett said. Regardless of my specially when i go out to the unit i m Able to Tell the commander competently and confidently about All the acs programs and service that Are available to help them act their soldiers and families he said. In May All acs directors were brought to washing ton to be briefed on the restructuring and trained in the concept of unit service coordinators. At this Point we would Hope the directors have no trained their own staffs in All program areas Lockett said. / the second phase of the restructuring begins in two weeks with the development of an improved information and referral system under which acs staff will refer customers to other military and civilian agencies for More specialized services when necessary. The army wants to Complete the restructuring Effort by fiscal 1997. Although the response so far from sol Diers commanders and most acs staffers has been enthusiastic Lockett acknowledged that the changes Are not going Over Well with every acs employee. That s understandable he said. We re shaking up the Way acs has done business for Many years. But most of them think it s great because it gets them outto where the customers Are. I m convinced that staffers absolutely want to pro vide the Best service they can he said. But in the East they be had to work under some constraints that ave sometimes created a negative image among customers. We re changing log of me 1 7 set for new All ranks club at by Marc . Bureau Raf Mildenhall England with $250,000 Worth of renovations Pav ing the Way Raf Mildenhall s firs sports bar will open for business wednes Day. / -., the opening of the marauder sport lounge also Marks another first for Mildenhall said John Finelli the base s enlisted Complex manager. This is Mildenhall s first attempt atan All ranks club Finelli said. We Are breaking Down that rank Finelli who worked As a club manage rat Rhein Mai Nab Germany before coming to Mildenhall in March has handsome experience with sports bars. We had an airman s club at Rhein main that was underutilized he said. And knowing that sports bars and sport lounges have really been popular in the states we shut Down that airman s Clubland opened up a sports bar in its place. It was tremendously successful. Coming Here we had much the Sam situation where we had an no top four club that was underutilized. There was talk of just shutting it Down. So we decided to try and give the Community something Mildenhall spent $250,000 to renovate the old top four club which closed june 1. Outside of needing a few More sports posters on the Walls the club will be ready for business wednesday. Customers of the new facility must be dues paying members of their Parent club such As the no club. The sports bar concept is a Combina Tion of Many things Finelli said. You have to have Good audio and visual entertainment systems in order to be a Suc to entertain patrons the club will have six 52-Inch televisions and several smaller is Marc Mcfann Brian Granger plays a Quick draw Arcade game while Michael Peterson watches at Raf Mildenhall s new marauder sport lounge which opens wednesday. Both men work for Mildenhall s enlisted Complex. Televisions linked to the sky sports Andes Gosport channels and multiple cd and video tape players with 35 sets of speakers throughout the club. In the Middle of an important game it should sound like you re sitting in the Center of the stadium Finelli said. The club also has 21 new state of the Art amusement machines. And since those types of machines Are so popular with the children we Are looking for this club to be very family Friendly Finell isaid. We want to offer a place where the family can come in on a saturday afternoon after shopping. This will be a perfectly acceptable place for in addition to entertainment the club will offer the base another dining eatery s menu will lean toward South of the Border specialities with snack and fast food Bent Finelli said. We also Hope to specialize in the Chicken and rib business and offer a com plete selection of sandwiches and appetizers to round out the menus he. of the things we have done that is a Little unique is that instead of having specially designated lunch and dinner periods we will have continuous food serv ice from 11 . Until 11 ., monday through of the new sports bar s potential patrons predict it will succeed. With the special operations Guys com ing Down Here from Raf Alconbury i think it should do real Well said staff sgt. Todd Cogdil of the 352nd special operations group. Those Guys Are sports fanatics. I most definitely will go there. As Long As they Are showing football. But any professional american sport will be a big thing Over think it s a pretty Good idea said capt. Edward Swanson from the 351strefueling so especially with. The big screens. We be got a lot of people who live out in the Economy and they Don t have a Chance to watch All the big foot Ball games Back Home. That s my big thing. I miss All my games on saturday Sand sundays so i would definitely go just to pick up some of the think it will go Over quite Well said staff sgt. Michael Jones from the 627thair mobility support so. I think a sports lounge is a very Good idea even though i m not a sports fanatic. I be been in Europe a Long time and there Are a lot of sports minded peo ple Here. A lot of my friends love football and basketball. I think it s an excellent sports lounge will open at 4 Wednesday. Free food will be offered from 4 To 9 On wednesday and thursday and All the interactive vide games will be set in the free Mode. Operating hours will be monday through wednesday from 11 . To mid night thursday and Friday from 11 .to 1 . Saturday from 4 To 1 . And sunday from 4 To Midnight. Forbore information those in the United kingdom can Call 638 542323
