Troop Talk
I attempt each week to answer questions asked by Soldiers
and family members as I visit them around the installation. This week
I met with Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course students, and they
had the following questions.
Q. Does Fort Bliss use the ICE system like the Air Force does
to allow soldiers to voice their concerns and praises in the form of
customer comment cards for particular post services and organizations?
A. All members of Team Bliss are encouraged to use the Fort Bliss ICE
site. You can find additional information about this site at www.bliss.army.mil/
Q. What is the current status of the THAAD program?
A. THAAD is well on its way to becoming reality. The projected fielding
date for the first fire unit is less than three years away and is projected
for second quarter FY09. After fielding, it will undergo an operational
test before being declared ready for combat operations. A second fire
unit is planned to be fielded in mid- to late FY10. THAAD flight Testing
is ongoing now with flight test 2 planned within the next 30 days at
White Sands. Soldiers from 6th ADA Brigade have formed the initial THAAD
test unit and are operating the equipment on a daily basis as part of
our development efforts.
Q. Can the ID Card office designate one afternoon, one day,
or even just one workstation to active-duty soldiers that need to renew
their ID card?
A. I have asked the director of Human Resources to consider your suggestion
and see if a specific time can be implemented for active-duty Soldiers.
Normal operating hours for the ID section are from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday, and it is open the 3rd Saturday each month from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The employees stagger their lunch times so the section
does not close for lunch. Few patrons show up after 4 p.m. except for
mobilization and demobilization Soldiers. I suggest patrons take advantage
of that time to obtain their cards. There are many users that compete
for the services of the section, i.e., unit mobilizations/demobilizations,
deploying personnel from the CONUS Replacement Center, Common Access
Card PIN reset personnel and normal card replacements. Family members
may not realize that they can renew their ID cards 30 days before the
expiration date on their card.
Q. Are there plans to increase the infrastructure on Fort Bliss
to support the growth that will come as a result of BRAC moves?
A. There will be a three-fold increase in infrastructure on Fort Bliss
and Biggs. Three Child Development Centers are under construction, a
mega-complex shopping facility will be built on the same site as the
current one, and will be the largest in DoD, plus additional shoppettes
in the troop areas at Biggs. Additional medical and dental facilities
are to be built, along with a variety of recreational facilities.
Q. Will the new AMD Korea rotation plan prohibit soldiers from
extending their tour in Korea if they want to volunteer to do so?
A. Several questions concerning ADA Soldiers and Korea were answered
in the April 6 issue of The Monitor. Because the rotations to Korea
are unit rotations, individual extensions are hard to fit in because
the CONUS unit that is replacing the one in Korea is forming teams,
training and certifying at the same time the individuals desiring an
extension are in Korea. That being said, there may be opportunities
for an individual to extend to fill a slot on battalion or brigade staff.
Additionally, if there is a team of individuals desiring to extend,
and that is identified early enough, we could replace soldiers scheduled
to deploy with those already deployed. We need to work this a little
bit more, but in all cases the right approach is to take your request
to the chain of command.
My schedule does not allow me to visit units and organizations as much
as I would like, so if you have questions or concerns please send them
to: monitor@bliss.army.mil and the questions will be forwarded to me
for a response. I appreciate your interest in Troop Talk and encourage
your comments.
Brig. Gen. Robert
P. Lennox
Fort Bliss Commanding General