Fort Eisenhower hosts first ‘IKE’ with recovery updates for Hurricane Helene | Article

FORT EISENHOWER, Ga. – Fort Eisenhower leadership held an Information Knowledge Exchange (IKE) on Nov. 6 during the Eisenhower Conference and Catering.

The forum was an opportunity for installation leadership to provide information and updates primarily related to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. It was the first of what will become a quarterly event intended to be “focused on internal installation readiness.”

“It’s kind of a new twist on command intelligence,” said U.S. Army Cyber ​​Center of Excellence and Fort Eisenhower Command Sgt. Major Michael Starrett. “We’re going to talk about issues that directly impact your readiness as an organization and your ability to execute on your mission.”

“As we work on our recovery efforts, we also realize that it is extremely important to engage our community partners so they can quickly update where they are in their recovery,” added Garrison Commander Col. Anthony Kazor.

Ten Fort Eisenhower leaders and three community partners briefed the audience on a range of topics, including post-Helene quality of life, facilities and resource accessibility, cleanup and recovery efforts, employment and volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and construction projects.

Regarding the latter, Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Durette said there are several ongoing projects that will impact the installation’s readiness; one is Barton Field and another is a walkway. Barton Field Main has been completed, while the western mile loop is currently under design and work on it should begin in late spring. Soon a “sidewalk from 19th Street to the footprint (US Army Cyber ​​Command) will hopefully begin in mid-December with a late July 2025 so that we have that walkway for our soldiers to get to and from work. Durette said.

Brandi Bitetti and Larry Coggins, Family Directorate and MWR, each provided updates on some of the non-essential services they are offering and facility recovery. One of the most popular facilities, Eisenhower Lakes Golf Club, suffered damage along the golf course due to fallen trees. However, the course is partially open and 18 of the 27 holes are available for play.

“We probably won’t be fully ready until January,” said Bitetti, head of the Business Operations Division.

The club’s restaurant, pro shop, pavilion and conference room are also available.

A few other MWR facilities didn’t fare as well. The Presidential Dinner Theater, Five Star Lanes and the indoor pool each suffered roof damage and are closed until repairs are completed. Pointes West Army Resort also suffered significant damage.

“Structurally, we’ve done pretty well,” Coggins said of the latter. Much of the damage to Pointes West involves electricity and utilities and remains closed for safety reasons.

Coggins, chief of the Recreation Division, went on to say that despite other setbacks, significant progress has been made at the Overlord Fitness Center.

“We are at the finish line for 24/7 fitness,” said Coggins. “The equipment is about 95%, and we’re about to go to beta testing.”

As recovery efforts and reopening of facilities continue throughout the installation, planning for holiday block leave has begun. Col. William Cherkauskas, commander of the 15th Signal Brigade, said the brigade has about 3,000 soldier trainees. All these soldiers have the option to take fourteen days of leave during the holidays, and most do so. Those who choose to stay behind and not take leave will be accommodated.

“We have all kinds of fun things planned for them, either in the area or even some of them. We go to Atlanta to do things there…and a lot of that is actually provided by our community partners,” Cherkauskas said.

In terms of medical readiness, Eisenhower Army Medical Center (EAMC) is fully operational and has good reasons to celebrate – one of which is pharmacy wait times.

“If you remember a year or two ago, it took three days to get a prescription,” said Col. James Pairmore, EAMC commander. “We now have less than 20 minutes, so the pharmacy has really mastered MHS Genesis and changed a lot of their processes in the direction they want to go next.”

Following Pairmore’s update, Environmental Division Chief Robert Drumm provided an update on Fort Eisenhower’s training areas.

“We have identified over 5,000 hectares of forest spread across the installation where it is completely flat on the ground, so because of that and the complete lack of access we have for the time being suspended all hunting and fishing activities, cycling and outdoor recreational activities suspended. being,” Drumm said.

His division is working with several partners to get the areas operational again, but it is a complex process.

“The problem is that all these operations require a lot of large trucks and a lot of very large heavy machinery moving on the roads, in and out of the training areas, and if you’ve ever been on a large piece of terrain, with equipment like that it’s difficult to to see what’s around you,” Drumm explained. “If you are not actively involved in the cleanup effort, it is very dangerous and unsafe for you to be out there.”

Concluding the forum, Kazor thanked everyone for attending and encouraged them to visit the stands of all community partners in the room.

In case you missed it

The following timeline was provided by Maria Blanchard, Fort Eisenhower Garrison Public Affairs.

Visit the Fort Eisenhower Facebook page for full images of the IKE.

Here are the start times of each section in the video so you can fast-forward to the information that’s relevant to you:

CCoE Commanding Major: 20 seconds

Garrison Commander (Hurricane Helene recovery status): 3 minutes, 40 seconds

Garrison Command Sergeant Major: 11 minutes, 10 seconds

Garrison Commander (upcoming events): 14 minutes, 5 seconds

Operations Department: 19 minutes, 25 seconds

Child and youth care: 28 minutes, 50 seconds

Recreation Department: 33 minutes, 34 seconds

Army Volunteer: 45 minutes

Commander of the 15th Signal Brigade: 57 minutes, 58 seconds

Eisenhower Army Medical Center: 1 hour, 57 seconds

Environmental Department: 1 hour, 9 minutes, 52 seconds

Augusta/Richmond County (community partner): 1 hour, 14 minutes, 55 seconds

North Augusta County (community partner): 1 hour, 33 minutes, 46 seconds

City of Grovetown – (Community Partner): 1 hour, 42 minutes, 17 seconds