FORT EISENHOWER, Ga. – Fort Eisenhower leadership hosted an Intelligence Knowledge Exchange (IKE) Nov. 6 at the Eisenhower Conference and Catering.

The forum was an opportunity for installation management to provide information and updates primarily related to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. It was the first of what would become a quarterly event intended to be “focused on internal installation preparation.”

“It’s kind of a new twist on command intelligence,” explained U.S. Army Cyber ​​Center of Excellence and Fort Eisenhower Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Starrett. “We’re going to talk about things that directly impact your readiness as an organization and your ability to accomplish your mission.”

“As we work through our recovery efforts, we also realize that it is extremely important to include our community partners to provide a quick update on where they are in their recovery,” added Garrison Commander Col. Anthony Kazor.

Ten Fort Eisenhower leaders and three community partners briefed the audience on a range of topics, including quality of life, facilities and accessibility of post-Hellenic resources, cleanup and recovery efforts, employment and volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and construction projects .

Touching the latter, Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Durette said there are several ongoing projects that will affect the preparation on the installation; one of them being Barton Field and another a footbridge. The Barton Field Main is complete, while the western mile loop is currently in design and work on it should begin in late spring. Set to begin soon, a “sidewalk from 19th Street to the footprint (US Army Cyber ​​Command) should hopefully begin in mid-December with an end in late July 2025 so that we have that walking path for our Soldiers to get to and from work,” Durette said.

Brandi Bitetti and Larry Coggins, Family Directorate and MWR, each provided updates on some of the non-essential services they provide and facility recovery. One of the most popular facilities, Eisenhower Lakes Golf Club, suffered damage along the golf course due to fallen trees. However, the course is partially open, with 18 of the 27 holes available for play.

“We probably won’t be fully ready until January,” said Bitetti, head of the business operations division.

The club restaurant, pro shop, pavilion and conference room are also available.

Several of MWR’s other facilities did not fare so well. The Presidential Dinner Theater, Five Star Lanes and the indoor pool each sustained roof damage and are closed until repairs are completed. Pointes West Army Resort also sustained significant damage.

“Structurally, we’ve done pretty well,” Coggins said of the latter. Much of the damage to Pointes West is electrical/utilities and remains closed for safety reasons.

Coggins, head of the Recreation Division, said significant progress has been made at the Overlord Fitness Center despite other setbacks.

“We’re at the fitness finish line 24/7,” Coggins said. “The hardware is about 95% and we’re getting ready to go into beta testing.”

As recovery efforts and the reopening of facilities at the facility continue, planning for the holiday has begun. Col. William Cherkauskas, commander of the 15th Signal Brigade, said the brigade has about 3,000 trainee soldiers. All those soldiers have the opportunity to take 14 days off during the holidays, most of which they do. Those who choose to stay back and not take leave will be taken care of.

“We have all kinds of fun things planned for them, either in the local area or even in some of them, we go to Atlanta to do things there … and a lot of that is actually taken care of by our community partners,” Cherkauskas said.

On the medical training front, Eisenhower Army Medical Center (EAMC) is fully operational and has good reason to celebrate – one being pharmacy wait times.

“If you remember a year or two ago, it took three days to get a prescription,” said Colonel James Pairmore, EAMC commander. “We’re under 20 minutes now, so the pharmacy has really mastered MHS Genesis and changed a lot of their processes to where they end up after that.”

Following Pairmore’s update, Robert Drumm, chief of the environmental division, provided an update on the Fort Eisenhower training areas.

“We’ve identified over 5,000 acres of forest scattered across the facility where it’s completely flat to the ground, so because of that and the total lack of access, we’ve suspended all hunting and fishing, biking, outdoor recreation for now- being,” Drumm said.

His division is working with several partners to bring operational areas back, but it’s a complex process.

“The problem is that all these operations require a lot of big trucks and a lot of very big heavy machinery going up and down the roads, in and out of the training areas, and if you’ve ever been on a big piece of equipment like that, it’s hard to see what’s around you,” Drumm explained. “If you’re not actively involved in the cleanup effort, it’s very dangerous and unsafe to be out there.”

Closing the forum, Kazor thanked everyone for attending and encouraged them to visit each of the community partner booths set up around the room.

In case you missed it

The following timeline was provided by Maria Blanchard, Fort Eisenhower Garrison Public Affairs.

Visit Fort Eisenhower Facebook page for full footage of IKE.

Here are the start times for each section in the video so you can fast-forward to the information relevant to you:

CCoE Command Sergeant Major: 20 seconds

Garrison Commander (Hurricane Helene recovery status): 3 minutes, 40 seconds

Garrison Command Sergeant Major: 11 minutes, 10 seconds

Garrison Commander (upcoming events): 14 minutes, 5 seconds

Business Operations Division: 19 minutes, 25 seconds

Children and Youth Services: 28 minutes, 50 seconds

Recreation Division: 33 minutes, 34 seconds

Army Community Service: 45 minutes

Commander 15th Signal Brigade: 57 minutes and 58 seconds

Eisenhower Army Medical Center: 1 hour 57 seconds

Environmental division: 1 hour, 9 minutes, 52 seconds

Augusta/Richmond County (Community Partner): 1 hour, 14 minutes, 55 seconds

North Augusta County (Community Partner): 1 hour, 33 minutes, 46 seconds

City of Grovetown – (Community Partner): 1 hour, 42 minutes, 17 seconds