FORT HOOD (Now designated Fort Cavazos), Texas — In a press release issued Jan. 10 on Army.mil, the Department of the Army announced the winners of the 2022 Army Community Partnership Awards.

Of the seven community partnerships recognized, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) was awarded three. One for a partnership with the City of Killeen, Texas, Fire Department; one for a partnership with the City of Killeen Regional Airport and one for a partnership with the Central Texas Emergency Management Working Group.

“The partnerships recognized here are great examples of the unmatched level of support and cooperation that our installation enjoys with the Central Texas Community,” Col. Chad R. Foster, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) commander, said. “Our community partnerships play a key role in building a safer, better quality of life where we all live, work, and play. I want to thank our partners for what they do every day to support the Soldiers and Military Families at the Great Place.”

The seven awards will be recognized during a virtual Pentagon awards ceremony from 10-11:30 a.m. Feb. 21. The installations and their community partners are being recognized for forming innovative partnerships to improve quality of life for Soldiers and their families, enhance readiness, modernize services, provide efficiencies, expand capabilities, strengthen community relations and contribute to reform initiatives throughout the Army.

The Army deputy chief of staff for installations and the assistant secretary of Army for installations echoed Foster’s sentiment for all Army installations including the four other partnerships recognized today. The other awards went to Fort Riley and the Unified School District 475, Kansas; USAG Daegu, and the Gyeong-Sang Buk Do Province, South Korea; Rock Island Arsenal and the City of Rock Island, Illinois; and Fort Carson and the City of Fountain, Texas.

“These partnerships are an outstanding opportunity for the installations and their communities,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, deputy chief of staff for installations (G-9).

“These transformative partnerships will improve the quality of life for our Soldiers, families and neighbors in surrounding communities, with whom we interact daily, and will simultaneously increase our level of readiness,” said Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of Army for Installations, Energy and Environment.

The seven awardees are:

Fort Riley and the Unified School District 475: Fort Riley submitted the first Design-Build Capital Improvement, Repaired and Maintenance Intergovernmental Support Agreement with their partner, Unified School District 475. This IGSA expands mission capability and improves training capabilities through a cost-effective modernization of facilities required to train and prepare units to conduct multi-domain operations. This IGSA creates a 49% cost savings for the Army and stabilized the contract workforce supporting USD 475. This resulted in an 83% procurement time savings that expands operational capabilities and improves community relations.

Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) and the City of Killeen Fire Department: The City of Killeen Fire Department and the Fort hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) Directorate of Emergency Services are partnered with a mutual-aid agreement for emergency management, structural emergencies, wildland fires and swift-water rescue support. This agreement responds to initial fire suppression protection to all of Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos)’s non-continuous housing villages, where nearly 1,500 Soldiers and families live. KFD recently provided substantial mutual aid assistance to help extinguish a 33,000+ acre wildland fire. This collaboration has evolved into a seamless partnership between the two communities that resulted in combined training in live fire structures, as well as swift-water and boat operator training on Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos).

USAG Daegu and the Gyeong-Sang Buk Do Province: USAG Daegu Fire Department and Gyeong-Sang Buk Do Province, Republic of Korea, have worked together through a mutual-aid agreement to protect over 20,000 square miles of the most geographically separated garrison, protecting 11,000 U.S. personnel and over 5 million Korean nationals. The two communities have joined forces and conduct monthly recon meetings to bring both fire departments together and integrate their capabilities to provide reciprocal resources. Quarterly meetings are held with mayors, staff and emergency responders to prepare for upcoming events, including 30 fire station tours for students, work with local orphanages and schools, and hosting fire prevention week activities for children.

Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) and the City of Killeen Regional Airport: Robert Gray Army Airfield and Killeen-Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) Regional Airport signed a joint-use agreement in 2001, and an intergovernmental support agreement is now in place to share responsibility for the maintenance of all airfield infrastructure at RGAAF. This enhances operation and mission capabilities to sustain and upgrade airfield infrastructure. This IGSA has decreased pavement maintenance timeliness, and added efficiencies such as increased response to identify pavement deficiencies. Additionally, as payment in kind for the initial investment by the City of Killeen, Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) provides all air-traffic control and crash rescue support to K-FHRA. Between 50-60% of KFHRA traffic is Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos)-centric.

Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) and the Central Texas Emergency Management Working Group: This partnership improves training capabilities by bringing together emergency management subject matter experts from Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) and the Central Texas community. This working group partnership includes Bell County, Coryell County, the city of Killeen, the city of Copperas Cove, the Killeen School District, the American Red Cross, and the United Services Organization for Emergency Management Preparedness. This working group is instrumental for USAG Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) to provide targeted preparedness information to Soldiers, families, civilians and contractors. This partnership improves the ability to anticipate resource requirements and incident impacts during real-world emergency response.

Rock Island Arsenal and the City of Rock Island: This 10-year intergovernmental support agreement pertains to water treatment and distribution system plant operations and maintenance, waste-water collection, waste-water treatment and exterior electrical lighting maintenance. This partnership gives Rock Island Arsenal the ability to leverage the City of Rock Island’s experience and expertise in providing these municipal services. This partnership also created a revenue stream for the City of Rock Island, which allowed them to purchase a bucket truck to be used on and off post for electrical services. This IGSA has promoted a bond of mutual trust and confidence in each partner’s ability to communicate, plan and execute mutually beneficial partnerships.

Fort Carson and the City of Fountain: Fort Carson has established two 10-year IGSAs with the City of Fountain for general facility construction and pest control. This partnership significantly shortens the bidding and contractor selection process for small projects or repairs, allowing for faster delivery of services and capabilities to our Soldiers, civilians and family members. The general facility construction partnership allowed for the completion of an electrical project inside a hangar to provide a reliable electrical source to power a downdraft table. These partnerships with the City of Fountain have streamlined the work-order process and made staff more timely and efficient, allowing Fort Carson to maintain its mission and readiness initiatives.

The Army Community Partnership Awards Program seeks to highlight examples of exceptional cooperation and diligence that will encourage continued collaboration to achieve the full potential of community partnerships.

Awardees included partnerships signed in fiscal years 2019-2022 by garrisons, reserve centers and armories. Submissions were evaluated using the following criteria:

• improves Soldier/family quality of life
• improves or enhances readiness
• modernizes a service, system or process
• provides cost or other efficiencies
• expands capability
• improves community relations

For additional information, please contact David Leinberger at david.j.leinberger.civ@army.mil.