Col. James Yastrzemsky, center, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, hosts Coffee with the Commander, a garrison town hall event, June 10 at the garrison headquarters at Chièvres Air Base.
Notes from Coffee with the Commander, June 10, 2021
By the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux Public Affairs Office
CHIÈVRES, Belgium – Col. James Yastrzemsky, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, hosted Coffee with the Commander, a garrison town hall event, June 10 at the garrison headquarters at Chièvres Air Base.
Joining Yastrzemsky in the headquarters’ Resiliency Room were Lt. Col. Anthony Rhea, deputy commander of nursing of SHAPE Healthcare Facility; Kent Worford, superintendent of Department of Defense Education Activity – Europe, West District; Patrician Wilkinson, the new chief of Housing at the Directorate of Public Works; Frenz Slayton, housing manager at DPW; Romina Ruszin and Sophie Bugg, two exceptional SHAPE High School students; and Retired Lt. Col. Bill Bergman, president of the Benelux Retiree Council.
Several other garrison leaders and representatives called into the event.
Below are the notes from the meeting:
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Yastrzemsky opened the event by talking about the staying hydrated, and he challenged participants to drink water throughout the meeting.
He reported several items of good news, including the relaxation of COVID-19 prevention measures throughout the host nations. The recent celebration of Mother’s Day brought him to mind of the recent Spouse Challenge held at Chièvres Air Base. Volunteers over the past two years saved the garrison more than $600,000 (and you can read more about that here). Even though the Army Emergency Relief campaign has concluded, he encouraged generosity. Graduations and proms at local schools took place even while adhering to COVID-19 prevention measures.
The recent recipients of the lunchpail, Ashley Dean, chief of the Administrative Services Division, and Kyle Dean, operations specialist for S3/5/7, returned the lunch pail with a Lego model mail plane built by them and their children, symbolizing the importance of taking time off and doing projects together with the Family.
Further good news included the recent area beautification day across the garrison. He encouraged every community member to continue ensuring our communities are nice to keep this a community and workplace of choice.
Yastrzemsky also mentioned the ongoing joint exercise Defender 21 and the garrison’s base operation support thereto.
Andrews Federal Credit Union was recently recognized as a distinguished credit union across Installation Management Command.
Yastrzemsky also said farewell to many of the garrison and partner team members who were leaving the community.
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Lt. Col. Anthony Rhea, chief nurse at SHAPE Healthcare Facility gave an update on COVID-19: It’s improving. The infection rate is dropping within the host nations. The medical facility’s vaccination campaign continues, and he encourages eligible community members to get their second doses.
What has been locally known as “the green giant” has been shut down, and the acute respiratory clinic has been opened in its stead for COVID-19 testing. The ARC is available for testing for travel, if community members are feeling sick, and so forth. It is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon.
The next vaccination event, which takes place June 11, is on the second floor of the clinic. It is the last opportunity to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccination. The Moderna vaccination will also be available.
There is a Pfizer vaccination event taking place Saturday June 12, and children ages 12 to 17 should be able to get their second dose if they received their first dose three weeks ago. This event takes place at Chièvres Air Base.
On June 14 and 15, Pfizer is being administered at the SHAPE Theater.
Fridays for the rest of the month, the clinic is offering the Moderna vaccine.
There is an immunization clinic inside the SHAPE Healthcare Facility, and COVID-19 vaccinations are going to transition to there.
The Brussels Army Health Clinic at Sterrebeek Annex continues to have events, and community members there are encouraged to contact them to find out more.
Yastrzemsky mentioned that while the numbers have been trending downwards as far as new infections go, within the USAG Benelux footprint there have been no new cases. Also, 65 percent of the U.S. population has been vaccinated.
For those interested in traveling, Yastrzemsky mentioned that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) vaccination card has sufficed for border travel.
The theater at SHAPE is opening soon, and more details are likely to follow.
Both Yastrzemsky and Rhea encouraged everyone to continue practicing other COVID-19 preventive measures such as washing hands and maintaining physical distance.
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Kent Worford, superintendent of Department of Defense Education Activity – Europe, West District, followed Rhea with an update on schools.
He began by thanking and presenting certificates to both Rhea and Yastrzemsky for their hard work during a difficult year and for the support they provided in ensuring the education of their students.
Many of the schools in DoDEA-Europe West held graduations and proms. The Brussels American School held its graduation last week, which they had face-to-face.
The graduation ceremony for AFNorth in the Netherlands is an outdoor ceremony. The upcoming SHAPE High School graduation ceremony is to be an indoor ceremony.
As the school district looks ahead toward autumn, the staff continues to look at mitigation efforts, vaccinations and more. They look forward to offering sports, and more details on this are forthcoming. The hope is to move things back to “normal.”
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Worford then introduced two exceptional students from SHAPE High School, Romina Ruszin and Sophie Bugg.
Ruszin is graduating from SHAPE to study international and European law at The Hague, the Netherlands.
Bugg, whose parents are DoDEA teachers, is becoming a high school senior next year. She also looks forward to graduation and is considering the possibility of attending the University of Tennessee. The way in which students and teachers worked together during a difficult year was a highlight of the past year.
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Ruszin and Bugg were followed by Patrician Wilkinson, the new housing chief for the Directorate of Public Works, and Frenz Slayton, housing manager for DPW.
Wilkinson said she looks forward to support and provide adequate, safe and affordable housing to the USAG Benelux community’s civilians, service members and their Families. She also said that as Americans, community members should set their expectations differently and to be good stewards to their houses.
Slayton followed up with some details. At Family Housing, community members will receive watering cans to take care of the plants they have.
She encouraged everyone to do what they can to keep their housing areas as beautiful as possible.
The Self-Help Issue Point provides lawn mowers to keep yards trim.
DPW is placing disinfection / sanitization stations at the playgrounds.
DPW expects to finish the barbecue pit either by the end of June or the beginning of July.
Residents from off post are not allowed to bring their trash on post. Community members can, however, bring their recyclables to the SHAPE recycling centers.
Slayton thanked the SHAPE Healthcare Facility in helping get Belgian local nationals vaccinated.
She also reminded sponsors that single Soldiers who are staff sergeant or junior are going to be in the barracks.
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Joining by telephone after the quarterly housing update was Shawn Ticho, who briefed the participants on Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation updates.
Child, Youth and School is doing a virtual teen hiring fair, and he encouraged everyone to get their resumes ready for a June 16 interview.
The BeneBrew Café and Pub is open this Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for those taking part in the vaccine drive.
June 15, community members are encouraged to thank a teacher by making signs and banners.
There is a concert on the lawn at Chièvres Air Base June 17 with live music.
In anticipation of Father’s Day, there will be a royal tea party at Chièvres Air Base June 19.
On Father’s Day June 20 at USAG Benelux – Brussels, the Three Star restaurant is hosting a Father’s Day barbecue.
The Royal Tea Party takes place at USAG Benelux – Brunssum, the Netherlands June 26.
There is a cars and coffee event at Chièvres Air Base June 26.
Summer camp registration is open now, as are summer sports clinics and fall sports clinics.
July Fourth is being celebrated July 3 at the Brussels site and July 4 at Chièvres Air Base and the Brunssum site.
For these and many, many more programs DFMWR offers garrison community members, visit one of their three sites:
- Chièvres / SHAPE community: https://chievres.armymwr.com/
- Brussels / Sterrebeek community: https://brussels.armymwr.com/
- Tri-border community: https://brunssum.armymwr.com/
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Clint Strutt with Army Community Services followed Ticho.
Permanent Change of Station season is upon the garrison now.
Sponsorship is difficult, especially in a pandemic environment. ACS is working on how to integrate into the community. In the Chièvres / SHAPE community, the Mons tours have resumed.
Play groups and home visits are opening back up. The Tots and Toddlers program has resumed in the Chièvres / SHAPE community.
Community members can look forward to a new Facebook page from ACS.
For further information on Army Community Service, visit their web page here.
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Retired Lt. Col. Bill Bergman followed Strutt.
Bergman, who is the president of the Benelux Retiree Council, was recently recognized as the 2019 volunteer of the year (see more here).
Bergman also reminded Soldiers who are transitioning out of service that they are Soldiers for Life, and there are many programs available to them.
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USAG Benelux Command Sgt. Maj. Katrina Herzfeld talked about the Army birthday June 14 and how Soldiers at Chièvres Air Base, the Brussels site, the Brunssum site and Army Prepositioned Stock Site Dülmen in Germany are all doing physical training as part of the celebration.
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The trivia question for this session: What do Americans also celebrate June 14?
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June is also National Safety Month, and the Colonel reminded the audience to continue drinking water.
He also mentioned that President Joe Biden is scheduled to arrive at Brussels in the coming month.
And he encouraged everyone to stay vigilant.