FORT IRWIN, Calif. — The NTC Commanding Brig. General, David Lesperance, laid out his top priorities for the National Training Center and Fort Irwin in front of about 50 people at the monthly Community Service Council Meeting on Feb. 25 in the Sandy Basin Community Center.
The 10 priorities included housing, barracks, health care, education (teacher to student ratio and high school distance), childcare, spousal employment, dining and attracting/retaining talent.
“There are a lot of things that need to be solved holistically,” Lesperance said. “Some will be years in the making and there are some short-term goals too.”
Fort Irwin is one of three installations across the Army that is being assessed for Quality of Life upgrades, improvements and changes.
“We have problems but they are different than the Army’s problems and unique to Fort Irwin,” Lesperance said.
The CG agreed with many in the community who said housing has a capacity problem and it’s affecting soldiers’ finances, once temporary living expenses (TLE) expires after soldiers arrive.
Many families are forced to stay in on-base and off-base hotels and foot the bill after the allotted ten days of coverage under TLE.
“We have some soldiers who are still in debt from last summer,” Lesperance said.
There is a short-term plan to fence off some housing units in Coyote Springs and the RV Park, to provide temporary housing for those who have long-term waits on permanent housing.
There’s a long-term housing plan to demolish and re-build in certain areas on post to provide more housing accommodations. There is also a long-term plan for another post hotel.
He praised the Housing team for the new application system where those who are relocating to Fort Irwin can pre-apply, as well as hiring more employees to assist with maintenance and still bringing on more staffing.
“My worst fear is having one of my soldiers be forced to live off base and have a 150- mile round trip drive after they’ve been in the box, then get killed on the highway,” Lesperance said. He mentioned the 100-plus crosses along Fort Irwin road are a reminder of the danger.
When it comes to barracks on post, Lesperance said half of Fort Irwin’s barracks are below Army standards.
“There’s a barracks at Fort Irwin that is one year younger than me and we still have soldiers living in them,” he said.
When it comes to healthcare, the CG referenced his own ankle injury and the complicated process he had to get proper care for it.
He would like to work on cutting down on the referral process length of time to get processed off post.
“Although we’re within the Army standard of 30 days, it’s still too long,” Lesperance said. “We’re at 28 days. We’re working with Tricare to see if there are alternate and better providers.”
The CG then went on to what he said is one of his top issues- education.
Lesperance said the distance of the high school from Fort Irwin leads into a problem in getting people to relocate and work at Fort Irwin.
“If we’re going to attract and retain talent, we cannot ignore this issue,” he said. “We shouldn’t force families to make a decision on whether or not to bring families here. We have enough deployments that keep us from our families.”
Lesperance said attracting and retaining talent is his number one priority and he hopes that taking action on the school concerns will help in that area.
The CG then touched on child youth services and spousal employment, recognizing that the two matters are connected.
He acknowledged that NTC is not a “9 to 5, 5-day-a-week installation” and the need for extended child youth service hours is greatly needed. Both he and the MWR director, Marion Taylor said there is space for extended care but the problem is hiring employees. There are additional incentives being considered to court more employees and help fill the gap.
A community member brought up that the childcare issue, in turn, becomes a job issue for spouses who can’t work because they can’t find childcare.
“We recognize that there are limited opportunities for spouses to work here,” Lesperance said. “We’re looking at more spousal preferences, length it takes to hire from CPAC and credentialing assistance.”
One of the final topics discussed was lack of dining options on post. Lesperance let the community know that Garrison heard the requests for a Texas Roadhouse restaurant and representatives visited Fort Irwin to assess the feasibility. The result showed that, overall, Fort Irwin does not meet the threshold for their business model. Based on the installation’s total population, the financials didn’t work well for Texas Roadhouse. The MWR is looking at other options with them, though.
“We need more options and we shouldn’t have to hit the road to do it,” Lesperance said.
Lesperance, the Garrison Commander, Col. Jeanette Martin and Garrison directors took several questions from spouses and post employees, ranging from healthcare and childcare, to youth activities and a time change in the Community Service Council meetings.
The NTC Commanding General and Garrison Commander said improvements and the conversation with the community will continue and they appreciate the feedback.
“We need to demonstrate something new to the community to show that we actually care,” Lesperance said.
The next Community Service Council is scheduled for April 21 at 10a.m. at the Sandy Basin Community Center.
In March, there will be a Housing Town Hall on the 24th at 10a.m. in the same location.
Community Service Councils and Housing Town halls are tentatively scheduled for the following dates at 10a.m. in the Sandy Basin Community Center:
• March 24, 2020 (Housing Town Hall)
• April 21, 2020
• May 19, 2020
• June 16, 2020 (Housing Town Hall)
• August 4, 2020
• September 1, 2020