{"id":254550,"date":"2024-08-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=254550"},"modified":"2024-08-15T06:14:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T06:14:56","slug":"putting-people-first-us-army-in-japan-leaders-hold-forum-focusing-on-community-quality-of-life-readiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=254550","title":{"rendered":"Putting people first! US Army in Japan leaders hold forum focusing on community quality of life, readiness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n The commander of U.S. Army Japan hosted a forum with command teams and community leadership at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 6 to share information and community updates to enhance the overall readiness and quality of life of the Soldiers, civilians and local national employees.
\n (Photo Credit: Courtesy Image)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 The commander of U.S. Army Japan hosted a forum with command teams and community leadership here Aug. 6 to share information and community updates to enhance the overall readiness and quality of life of the Soldiers, civilians and local national employees.<\/p>\n

Maj. Gen. David Womack thanked command teams and Soldier\/Family Readiness Groups leaders in attendance, telling them the Community Leader Information Forum was designed to be an inclusive, two-way conversation coordinated by the U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s Directorate of Plans, Training and Mobilization and Security team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, this is about information and ensuring that we set the conditions to care for our organizations and our community,\u201d Womack said.<\/p>\n

Womack emphasized the direct connection between information and readiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaring for our community enables us to be ready,\u201d Womack said.<\/p>\n

He also encouraged attendees to ask questions and to start conversations about the issues they think need to be discussed based on their unit\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

The CLIF featured several briefings from various installation and garrison agencies, including USAG Japan\u2019s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Emergency Services directorates, along with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.<\/p>\n

Eric Hill, DMFWR director, explained how his organization offers qualify-of-life programs directly supporting readiness. He opened with a quick overview of the network of MWR programs and services offered over the next 90 days, ranging from Commander\u2019s Cup sporting events and live music at the community clubs, to community bazaars and fun runs.<\/p>\n

Hill also spoke about the Warrior Adventure Quest program. He explained that the program started out as an Army RESET training tool designed to introduce Soldiers to post-deployment coping outlets but has evolved into a sustaining program that every unit can participate in annually to build resiliency.<\/p>\n

The program combines high adventure activities with leader-led action debriefings as a comprehensive method to deal with the challenges Soldiers might be facing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is completely free for your units,\u201d Hill explained.<\/p>\n

Brittany Franklin, an MWR Army Community Service division chief, spoke about how the ACS team serves to facilitate commanders in providing comprehensive, standardized, coordinated and responsive services to support the entire community.<\/p>\n

Franklin briefed the importance of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and invited the entire community to attend the following events:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Proclamation Signing Ceremony: Oct. 1, from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Bldg. 102 second-floor large conference room<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Family Unity Night: Oct. 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Camp Zama Youth Center<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Strike Out Domestic Violence Bowling Night: Oct. 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Camp Zama Bowling Center<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Candlelight Vigil and Walk: Oct. 22, from 6 to 7 p.m. starting at the Torii Gate near Camp Zama\u2019s Gate 1 and Camp Zama Community Recreation Center<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Purple Pumpkin Event: Oct. 25, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Camp Zama Army Community Service building parking lot<\/p>\n

Franklin also stressed that ACS teams would be conducting engagements across the installation, and she hoped to see as many people as possible wearing purple on Fridays in October to raise awareness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to spread awareness; to build a community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Capt. Elias Esparza, USAG Japan chief of police, discussed the importance of traffic safety and reminded everyone that installation day passes issued at the gate expire at midnight.<\/p>\n

He also asked for help in reminding community residents about the current youth curfew, showing a slide that spelled out each category, including:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Children under 7: Cannot be unsupervised, cannot be unaccompanied<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Children 7 to 9: Must be within sight of a guardian; curfew no later than 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Children 10 to 12: Can be unsupervised up to four hours; curfew no later than 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Children 13 to 15: Can be unsupervised up to six hours; curfew no later than 10:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Children 16 to 18: Can be unsupervised with a curfew until 10:30 p.m. on school nights and midnight on weekends.<\/p>\n

Esparza said the current curfew policy is being reviewed.<\/p>\n

Col. Marcus Hunter, USAG Japan commander, added that community feedback would be incredibly important when reviewing the curfew.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth our attention as a community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nick Cucinello, Camp Zama Army and Air Force Exchange general manager, explained some of the ongoing and future changes in the AAFES facilities.<\/p>\n

He explained that the Taco Bell in the Sagamihara Express store building had closed, and that Hunt Brothers Pizza is now open for business.<\/p>\n

Cucinello also said the Camp Zama Exchange\u2019s Power Zone will be upgraded, the military clothing store will be relocated to the Home and Garden Store, and the alterations shop will eventually be moved into the concession mall.<\/p>\n

Billie Hogan, the MWR school liaison officer, closed out the forum with a discussion on back-to-school activities at Arnn Elementary School and Zama Middle High School.<\/p>\n

She urged attendees to help make the first day of school special by being on-hand to cheer on students.<\/p>\n

Hogan also provided information on other key school dates, including:<\/p>\n

Aug. 15<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, AVID information and enrollment night from 5-7 p.m. at ZMHS<\/p>\n

Aug. 16<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 New Student and Parent Orientation: 11:30 a.m. to noon at Arnn<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Sneak Peek: Noon to 1 p.m. at Arnn<\/p>\n

\u00b7 New Student and Parent Orientation: 1 to 2 p.m. at ZMHS<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Sneak Peek: 2 to 3 p.m. at ZMHS<\/p>\n

Aug. 17<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Unlocking the Lock to Middle School: 9 a.m. to noon at ZMHS<\/p>\n

Aug. 19<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 First day of school for kindergarten through fifth grade at Arnn, and sixth through 12th grade at ZMHS<\/p>\n

Sept. 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 First day of school for pre-kindergarten at Arnn<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Open House: 4 to 5 p.m. at Arnn<\/p>\n

Sept. 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Open House: 5 to 7 p.m. at ZMHS<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain \u2013 please come out and help us welcome our youth back to school,\u201d Hogan said.<\/p>\n

During closing remarks at the end of the hourlong forum, Womack expressed his appreciation for the discussions and putting the focus on the families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is time well spent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The commander of U.S. Army Japan hosted a forum with command teams and community leadership at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 6 to share information and community updates to enhance the overall readiness and quality of life of the Soldiers, civilians and local national employees. (Photo Credit: Courtesy Image) VIEW ORIGINAL CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254552,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254550"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254553,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254550\/revisions\/254553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/254552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}