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They gathered to voice what is and isn’t working locally and Army wide and to recommend ways to make changes or improve what’s not working.
At the close of the conference Lt. Col. Paul Pfahler, U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder commander, thanked the delegates for all of their work and explained that the garrison would handle all issues that could be resolved locally. Issues having Army-wide impact would be forwarded to the next AFAP level for further discussion or action.
An abbreviated version of all the issues discussed at the AFAP conference follows. The full scope of the issues and the recommendations were edited for publication. A complete, unedited version is available online at www.baumholder.army.mil.
Medical and Dental
Downrange dental care
Deployed Soldiers experience a lack of dental care, including routine checkups and minor dental procedures. This lack of care results in a large number of Soldiers who develop extensive dental conditions. The understaffed dental clinics expend time and resources correcting the issues that developed downrange.
Recommendation
Appoint a dental professional on the Combat Logistic Patrols to provide a continuous mode of dental support for Soldiers.
Standard health care
Army families are experiencing difficulty in obtaining standardized care across the Department of Defense. Difficulties arise when family members and Soldiers seek services at non-Army facilities and later find out that the services provided do not suffice for Army-regulated processes.
Recommendations
Establish a Standing Operating Procedure for all branches across the Department of Defense.
Ensure that all Department of Defense medical providers can access the records of all DoD ID cardholders.
EFMP screening
Army families are experiencing difficulty in obtaining timely and accurate information regarding their dependents’ Exceptional Family Member Program screening information before their arrival at their OCONUS duty station.
Recommendations
Ensure all Soldiers with dependents are provided a mandatory briefing regarding the EFMP screening process before graduation from Advanced Individual Training, One Station Unit Training and Officer’s Basic Course.
Ensure all Soldiers enrolling dependents into DEERS be provided with an EFMP screening information packet.
Establish an electronic medium (i.e. Army EFMP website) for spouses and Soldiers to access regarding the procedures associated with completing the EFMP screening.
Teens
Student activity bus
There are limited off-post transportation options for those who need transportation to and from inter- and intra-post activities.
Recommendation
Establish subsidized activity bus services to outlying towns to take students home after activities and provide shuttle service to other area installations.
Quality information
Community information methods and access are limited and need to be directed toward teens. Teens want to be involved in communication and to have briefings on current issues.
Recommendation
Establish a Teen Community Information Briefing in correlation with teen town hall meetings. Establish a Facebook account. Email the daily bulletins to students. Regularly update Baumholder web page.
Benefits, entitlements
Pregnant Soldiers
Single pregnant Soldiers are not assigned to family housing until the birth of the child.
The current regulation requires the Soldier stay in the barracks until the birth of her child. Since she has not been authorized quarters, the Soldier and her baby depart the hospital with no home to go to.
Recommendation
The regulation should be changed to allow pregnant single Soldiers to obtain family housing at least by their fifth month of pregnancy.
Utility entitlements
Military personnel with dependents are forced to survive off of utilities based on a flat rate. The current regulation states that Soldiers with multiple dependents living off post are to receive the same utility rate as a Soldier with one dependent.
Recommendation
The regulation should be changed to allow military families to receive utility entitlements based on a tier system per number of dependents as opposed to a flat rate.
Pay as you go meal cards
Single Soldiers and Soldiers who are geographically single in the rank of E-5 and below are required to have meal deductions taken out of their pay.
Soldiers are getting charged meal deductions regardless of whether they use the dining facility.
Recommendation
Change the USAREUR policy so that Soldiers are charged only for meals they eat in the dining facility, i.e. the “pay as you go” system.
Consumer group
AAFES and consumers’ needs
AAFES is out of touch with its core consumer base. This is evident in the lack of personnel during peak hours, long turnaround time for products and poor quality of service.
Recommendations
Train and enforce employment standards to enhance professionalism.
Adjust work hours to meet the needs of consumers.
Standardize and post time frame for products or services rendered.
Enforce “Soldiers first” policy.
Bachelors, bachelorettes
Geographical bachelors and bachelorettes have no programming in terms of support groups or FMWR opportunities.
Recommendations
Institute FMWR trips geared toward geographically separated Soldiers, to include single parents. Create support groups for geographically separated Soldiers through Army Community Service.
JAG limitations
Soldiers experience limited legal assistance due to JAG lawyers’ individual state licensing and specialties. Many civilian legal issues are unable to be addressed by military attorneys. The result is large out-of-pocket expenses for the Soldier.
Recommendations
Institute an inter-military referral program to incorporate the state licensing and legal specialty.
Revise AR 27-10 to include a reimbursement program for civilian legal fees.
Family support group
OCONUS in-processing
The Total Army Sponsorship Program, AR 600-8-8, has been more specifically tailored to fit the needs of Soldiers PCSing from CONUS to CONUS and it neglects to address PCSing to OCONUS. The SGATE site fails to function properly and personnel do not receive a sponsor until after arriving overseas if they receive one at all.
Recommendations
Publish a change to AR 600-8-8 tailored specifically to PCSing overseas.
Sponsorship should be established as a permanent position, rather than an additional duty.
Child care policies
Spouses who pursue higher education during deployments are not able to gain any preference for full-time child care slots according to CYSS policy. Spouses who are able to use the Post 9-11 GI Bill benefits are limited by the lack of available full-time child care slots.
Recommendations
Change policy so full-time (12 credit hours) student parents are given the same priority preference as employed parents.
