FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Nearly 200 viewers and listeners tuned in to the first ever, completely Virtual Housing Town Hall at the Sandy Basin Community Center on June 16. Due to COVID-19 precautions, those in attendance included only a handful directorates and leaders, although all Housing representatives were present to provide information and respond to questions and concerns from the virtual Fort Irwin community.
The event is hosted each quarter by the Garrison Command Team, although the March 2020 event had to be canceled, due to the onset of Coronavirus.
Adrena Sheriff, Community Director for the Villages at Fort Irwin, as well as Adam Hay with Michaels Management presented slides on the Housing Bill of Rights, a breakdown in how and where a soldier’s BAH is spent throughout the housing community, a comparison in off post versus on post housing, a look at perks and amenities, along with current and future improvements.
Housing reps and Garrison leaders took in pre-submitted questions from the community, which ranged from work orders to carpets and flooring, and shading for playgrounds. Those were answered by Housing and posted with responses to the Fort Irwin Garrison Facebook page at Facebook.com/FtIrwin.
The questions that came in live, surrounded the topics of neighborhood speedbumps, street lighting, fencing, doors and blinds.
Brig. Gen. David Lesperance, Commanding General for the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, was also on hand to respond directly to the community questions and concerns and also inform incoming residents of all of the new amenities and upgrades that are on their way to Fort Irwin.
Following the portion focused on Housing, there was also a brief section on PCSing and Sponsorship.
To date, the live event has received about 4,900 views and can still be viewed on Facebook.com/FtIrwin. The full slide deck that was presented can be viewed on the main NTC website at home.army.mil/irwin.