Growth at JBLM fosters regional collaboration, increasing community support

STATE OF Washington — The southern sound is home to Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), the largest Army-operated base in the United States. It is the fourth largest military installation worldwide.

“Joint Base Lewis McCord is a large installation, and we call it a power projection platform. “In other words, this is where we project national power,” he said. JBLM Garrison Commander Col. Kent Park told KOMO News.

JBLM’s main mission is to deploy units overseas

“We go a full day faster by ship to any of the warmer regions in the Pacific than to the west coast of California. We are a full hour faster by air,” Colonel Park explained. A retired U.S. Army helicopter pilot talking to retired Richard Thompson in Lakewood stopped and listened as the military jet passed over him.

“I love this sound. “This is the voice of freedom,” he said. After tours in Vietnam, Korea and Germany and two stints at JBLM, Richard and his wife Rita retired here.

“We think we are lucky to be here,” Rita said.

“It’s such a diverse community. It’s wonderful,” Richard said.

As JBLM grew in power during the Global War on Terror, Pierce and Thurston Counties swelled with 100,000 soldiers and their families.

“This created a need for more regional collaboration,” Maria Tobin told KOMO News. Tobin is the program coordinator for the South Sound Military and Communities Partnership (SSMCP). SSMCP is now the main collaborator coordinating housing, jobs for spouses, child care, healthcare and more.

“Because all of these areas are impacted by the intermingling of our military and civilian communities,” Tobin explained. Seventy percent of the 40,000 people assigned to JBLM live off base.

“The challenge we face is that the installation is very expensive,” Colonel Park said.

“The military has to move farther and farther from the installation to find affordable housing,” Tobin That said. That can significantly increase the difficulty military spouses face in finding employment.

“The Department of Defense considered this a high-priority initiative to increase the ability of military spouses to find employment,” Tobin said. Surveys show that one in five service members are considering leaving the military based on quality of life factors, ranking spouse employment as the number one factor.

“We know that military spouses have difficulty finding lateral positions as transfers,” Tobin said. Maria Tobin and SSMCP are negotiating with education and healthcare unions so that licensed and certified spouses can start work immediately while complying with state regulations.

“Although we are making better progress in recruiting and retaining our service members, it is still a challenge,” Col. Park said.

Especially when it comes to deployments like the one the Stryker Brigade launched at Camp Casey in Korea. They will serve there for nine months.

“In order for them to do this and focus on the mission, family members need to know that their children are being well cared for,” Colonel Park said.

“It’s really remarkable why we decided to stay here at JBLM because of my military experience and the support of the community,” Tobin said. She told KOMO News she worked in the military for eight years, then worked as a military spouse for 20 years, so she knows what service members and spouses deal with.

Just being a neighbor, offering to drive the kids to and from activities, providing child care, or some other kind of gesture is enough.