An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Article Display

Community members present concerns to leadership

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dennis L. Sloan
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Community members ranging from teens to retirees and everyone in between gathered at the Timmermann Center Oct. 29 for the Military Family Action Plan conference.

The conference allowed community members to discuss their concerns with subject matter experts before presenting them to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Commander Col. Gina M. Grosso.

"There are more than 42, 000 military, civilian, contractors and family members on this base and for us to be successful as a joint base we must start by addressing the needs of the community," said Grosso. "I have resources, but I need a better understanding of where these resources are needed and will have the greatest impact. That is why we are here today."

Seven different groups including civilians, military spouses, retirees, senior enlisted personnel, military, teens and exceptional family members plan discussed the distinct issues they were facing around base. Each group chose one problem and presented it to leadership.

"The participation of community members at all levels in all categories was critical to the success of the program," said Frances Booth, JB MDL MFAP program manager.

The teens came up with renovating the Teen Center on Dix so they would have access to a local hangout; where retirees asked for an easier DBIDS registration process.

Civilians asked for an Inter-agency Information showing and community members asked for an informational guide to locations of base organizations and contact information for each, either online or hard copy.

Military spouses presented the concern of limited availability for appointments at base clinics; senior enlisted personnel would like a Joint base instruction directive specifically for a joint base installation.

Military members presented the concern of limited support services for Sailors on Lakehurst. One support service in specific was an indoor pool for Sailors; Exceptional Family Member Program participants discussed the need for Military Family Life Consultants at the North Hanover School Districts, where there are presently none.

Along with seven issues presented to leadership, each group wrote down any other problems they discussed during the conference to bring to the leadership as well.

"The next step for leadership is to review all of the issues presented at the conference and respond to them prior to submission to the JB MDL commanders and her leadership," said Booth.

Last year, 26 issues were presented to the leadership and 25 of them are either resolved or are being resolved now. Only one issue could not be resolved by leadership here at JB MDL and required a higher head quarters for approval.

"With leadership like Col. Grosso and Brig. Gen. Waff, 99th Regional Support Command commander, supporting MFAP, it sends a message to all commanders, supervisors and community leaders that this is important and should be contributed to," said Booth.

Military Family Action Plan office is open to receive concerns or issues year round and has solicitation forms in their office located at Bldg. 5201, 8th Street and Maryland Avenue. For information on MFAP and what they do, call 562-3930 or e-mail frances.booth@mcguire.af.mil.