CHIÈVRES, Belgium – Col. James Yastrzemsky, center, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, hosted Coffee with the Commander, a garrison town hall event, May 7 at the garrison headquarters at Chièvres Air Base, where garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Katrina Herzfeld, left, and Lt. Col. Anthony Rhea, right, deputy commander of nursing of SHAPE Healthcare Facility. (U.S. Army v
Notes from Coffee with the Commander, May 7, 2021
By the USAG 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, May 7 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; Clint Strutt, the chief of Army Community Services; and Stacy Perez, director of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
Several other garrison leaders and representatives called into the event.
---
Yastrzemsky opened the Coffee with the Commander by talking over a few accomplishments that have taken place at the garrison:
• The clinics have begun vaccinating personnel in the Tier 2 category, which means all U.S. personnel and their Family members who are stationed here and are eligible may take the vaccine. (More on this in the following section.)
• The Belgian air force paratroopers recently made training jumps at Chièvres Air Base.
• David Kalita, recently the director of the Logistics Readiness Center – Benelux retired after a 46-year federal career that began as a U.S. Army Ranger. For more information on that, visit the link here: http://go.usa.gov/xHasS.
• Yastrzemsky also thanked Rob Walraven, the fire chief at U.S. Army Garrison Benelux – Brunssum, the Netherlands, who retired after a 36-year career.
• The antiterrorism team with the garrison S3/5/7 received acknowledgement as the best antiterrorism team across Installation Management Command.
• The Directorate of Public Works team also hosted the Real Property Planning Board to showcase the work they have been accomplishing and the vision for the garrison into the future to become the “community of choice” in Europe.
• The garrison has also been taking part in DEFENDER-21, a multi-national joint defense exercise between partner nations ultimately to “deter any adversarial aggression in the European theater.” The exercise will also help gain efficiencies and improve interoperability between partner militaries.
Yastrzemsky next brought up Operation Better Together, the workforce development program.
“If we develop ourselves deliberately as a workforce, it’s not only going to benefit the individual personally and professionally, it’s going to benefit all of us,” he said.
You can read more about that program here: http://go.usa.gov/xHg9H.
Yastrzemsky also visited the Netherlands to help celebrate Dutch Liberation Day, the anniversary of the Netherlands’ liberation from occupation at the end of World War II.
The last thing he mentioned was Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the efforts the garrison is putting forth on assault response and prevention.
---
Yastrzemsky then asked of the audience a quiz question, challenging them to use the Digital Garrison to learn: What are the hours and days of the Bene Brew?
Answer: The Bene Brew Café and Pub is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
---
Lt. Col. Anthony Rhea, deputy commander of nursing of SHAPE Healthcare Facility, opened his segment by talking about the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Last month, 900 individuals received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Community members are getting their second doses now. More first doses are being administered now.
The SHAPE Healthcare Facility has also received doses of the Janssen or Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which is a single-dose vaccination.
Within the eligible population, 90 percent of eligible community members have had their first shots.
“There is the opportunity to get the vaccine,” said Rhea. “If you’ve received the vaccine, talk to your friends, talk to your Family, talk to your coworkers. Explain to them what your experience was. Explain to them what your side effects were. Don’t sugarcoat it.
“Spread your story,” he continued. “The quickest way we’re going to get out of this pandemic back to a life we knew before, is through vaccination.”
The Brunssum and tri-border community is receiving their vaccinations through the health care facility at Geilenkirchen NATO Air Base in Germany.
The Brussels Army Health Clinic is not handling vaccination schedules through a web portal like the SHAPE Healthcare Facility but through dialing into the clinic. You can find their contact information here: https://go.usa.gov/xHwdU.
The SHAPE Healthcare Facility is also receiving doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which will be available to 12- through 17-year-old community members. The ultimate aim of the new vaccines is to get to herd immunity, or more than 70 percent of the population vaccinated against COVID-19, which will protect those community members who cannot get it because they are too young or may have other medical complications.
Further good news concerning vaccination is that U.S. medical personnel have approval to administer the vaccine to host nation personnel in Belgium. SHAPE Healthcare is working with the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center to begin vaccinating host nation personnel as early as next week.
Because of the positive stories of vaccinations in the host nation, there have been a relaxation of prevention measures.
Any changes in prevention measures will be publicized through the garrison website.
One community member asked whether they can take the Moderna vaccine if they’ve had the first dose of AstraZeneca.
“The ideal situation is to get your second dose the same as your first dose,” said Rhea. “If you cannot get AstraZeneca for whatever reason, then the next option is to get Moderna or Pfizer as your second shot. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s allowed.”
Also, Rhea recognized the work of his nurses during Nurses Week.
---
Melissa Hayes, with the Department of Defense Education Activity – Europe, West District, joined the group by telephone next.
“It’s hard to believe we’re ending the school year,” she said.
The different schools have different early withdrawal dates, and parents should coordinate with the school if they are permanently changing station before the end of the school year. For the Brussels American School the early withdrawal date is May 12, for SHAPE it is May 18, and for AFNorth in the Netherlands it is May 19.
Graduations are coming up, and here are the dates:
• AFNorth: June 11
• Brussels American School: June 5
There may be three different dates for SHAPE to accommodate the large class size. Students, parents and guardians should reach out to SHAPE for more information.
Proms are also taking place for the different schools as well.
“We’ve been busy making plans to make it a memorable time for our high schoolers,” said Hayes.
---
Clint Strutt, Army Community Service, spoke next about the plethora of programs ACS has on offer to community members.
Strutt began by talking about transitions into the USAG Benelux footprint and the difficulty of moving to a new post into countries community members are likely unfamiliar with.
The newcomer orientation is available virtually at the garrison website to help incoming service members, civilian personnel and Family members navigate Army programs, garrison services and host nation issues.
ACS also conducts sponsorship training to help sponsors transition in new community members.
Strutt also brought up the “Mon Ami” program, with which spouses can interface to share informally a lot of information that could prove helpful to newcomers.
Host nation orientation programs are also available to teach how to live in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
There is also a shopper program for newcomers on restriction of movement due to COVID-19 prevention efforts. There is also a home-cooked meal.
Strutt also mentioned a volunteer recognition ceremony, scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. May 27 for on-post volunteers. More details to follow.
For those wanting to apply for a job, there is a virtual job fair taking place Tuesday May 11.
The Army Emergency Relief campaign is still taking place. Strutt mentioned that retired Soldiers are still eligible for AER benefits.
ACS is also conducting an AER bagging event at the Commissary, and tips will go to AER.
Yastrzemsky challenged future sponsors to do their best to improve upon the newcomer process, to think about their own experience as a newcomer and whether they had a good experience. He challenged new sponsors to think about how they might like to improve upon the process as they pay it forward.
---
Stacy Perez joined the group next to mention a few of the programs that the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation has on offer.
She started by recommending Families to contact the School Liaison Officer about challenges related to transitioning and schools.
The programs DFMWR includes the STRONG BANDS program, which stands for Strong Balance, Activity, Nutrition, Determination and Strength, which provides healthy recipes and other healthy living guidance.
Yoga classes are taking place at USAG Benelux – Brunssum May 29 and June 19.
There is also a Europe cycling challenge.
Coming up is a Benelux Everest Challenge, wherein community members log their steps.
As to the recent Tour de Benelux, the top two participants were Timothy Uecker with 3441.3 kilometers logged, followed by Michael Daniels, deputy garrison manager at USAG Benelux – Brunssum, with 3053 kilometers logged.
The libraries are doing story walks, and the summer reading program is beginning now.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math projects are also taking place now.
The Mother’s Day drive-thru special is taking place May 8, and customers can sign up through WebTracs (https://webtrac.mwr.army.mil/webtrac103/wbwsc/brusselsrectrac.wsc/wbsearch.h%20tml?wbsi=&xxmod=PS&xxtranscode=774103&xxsortoption=C)
The Bene Brew will be open an extra hour May 14 to accommodate the upcoming Spouse Appreciation Day event taking place at Chièvres Air Base.
The Auto Skills Center at Chièvres Air Base can help community members change their oil.
A virtual Rob Lake magic show is set to take place May 15.
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/
Perez also put out the call for new employees. All three communities are hiring, and she encourages community members to find out more at usajobs.gov.
She also encouraged parents of younger community members to sign up their children for the many Child, Youth and School Service programs available.
The last thing Perez mentioned was area beautification taking place across U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, wherein everyone is taking part in cleaning up the installation, improving the landscape, and more. Although this is something that all community members across the garrison workforce or Family members, the effort is spearheaded by the Directorate of Public Works.
“It’s about making this our home away from home,” said Yastrzemsky.
---
Yastrzemsky next talked about the recent closure of the fitness center at Chièvres Air Base. He said that the team is working with the host nation to find the best way ahead.
Yastrzemsky highlighted the importance of the fitness center as an important part of readiness, providing both physical and mental readiness.
He added that no COVID-19 cases within the community had been traced back to the fitness centers.
---
Nathan Rowland, the director of Public Works, joined the group by telephone.
He talked about recent road construction projects, such as the Gate 14 roundabout at Chièvres Air Base. DPW is approaching the end of that construction project.
The end of June is the target for the completion of construction near the garrison headquarters. There is also a M24 Chaffee tank as a static display at the lodge roundabout.
DPW is installing a barbecue pit at the barracks on post at Chièvres Air Base. Completion of that project is estimated for July.
Rowland also encouraged community members to use Army Maintenance Application (ArMA) on the Digital Garrison app to submit and track work orders.
---
Yastrzemsky began closing out Coffee with the Commander by reviewing the quiz question from the previous Coffee with the Commander. That question: What holiday the Netherlands was going to celebrate in April, specifically April 27?
The answer was King’s Day.
The question from this Coffee with the Commander was this: What is VE Day, and when is it?
---
As a surprise, USAG Benelux Command Sgt. Maj. Katrina M. Herzfeld joined the group to talk about Mother’s Day, which takes place May 9.
Yastrzemsky spoke about the importance of Mother’s Day, and hoped everyone had the opportunity to celebrate it in one way or another.