United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

On May 2, the News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) reported on a Lakewood forum that saw local government leaders and Army representatives sign "a document called the Army Community Covenant with the goal of making life better for the post’s soldiers and their families."[1] -- Reporter Brent Champaco explained that the Army already has a "community connector" progam that links Army units to particular city or local governments. -- Lakewood, for example, is the connector to the 4th Stryker Brigade now in Iraq. -- "Mayors, city council members, and representatives of other South Sound communities — from as far south as Tumwater, and as far north as Auburn — signed the covenant," Champaco said. -- "Lakewood Mayor Doug Richardson, a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, spoke about how proud and honored the communities outside Fort Lewis are to help soldiers and their families. 'They live among us as friends and neighbors,' he said. -- Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and Congressman Adam Smith also spoke." -- The Suburban Times of Lakewood and surrounding communities touted the event,[2] taking its tone from an official news release from the Army in which the word "soldier" is always capitalized on the initial Apr. 17 ceremony in Columbus, Georgia, with "the Fort Benning community."[3] -- COMMENT: Militarism has been defined by Alfred Vagts in his classic A History of Militarism: Civilian and Military (1959) as "a vast array of customs, interests, prestige, actions and thought associated with armies and war and yet transcending true military purposes." -- The "interests" underlying the "prestige, actions, and thought" apparent in the Army Community Covenant program are not far to seek. -- On Sat., Apr. 26, the News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) reported that the annual payroll at Fort Lewis topped $1bn in 2006, according the Census Bureau's Combined Federal Funds Report.[4] -- That's almost twice what it was ten years ago, Mike Gilbert said, and was up $64m (or 6.6%) from 2005. -- The growth is attributed by a spokesperson for the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce entirely to "the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." -- "Fort Lewis has grown by some 10,000 soldiers since the late 1990s, with 28,924 stationed there now," Gilbert reported. -- "Another 3,000 or so will arrive in the next couple of years." -- "A total of 43,964 family members — spouses, children, and others — live on and off post with those soldiers, post spokeswoman Catherine Caruso said." -- The U.S. Navy payroll in Washington State for that year was $1.06bn, and the Air Force payroll in Pierce County was $195m." ...

A who’s who of Fort Lewis officials joined local government leaders today to reaffirm the close ties between the base and the South Sound.

They all signed a document called the Army Community Covenant with the goal of making life better for the post’s soldiers and their families.

At a Clover Park Technical College ceremony, they offered real-life examples of how the base and its neighbors are intertwined.

They told stories about how a Rotary Club from Lakewood gave roses to wives of soldiers overseas. They spoke of the tens of thousands of hours that Fort Lewis families volunteer in local churches, as Little League coaches, and other activities.

Lt. Gen Charles Jacoby, the commanding general of Fort Lewis and I Corps, offered an example of how much community support means to soldiers: Fort Lewis’ rate of re-enlistment is twice the Army’s average.

The Army will hold similar signings at military posts around the country the rest of the year. Columbus, Ga., and New York state already have signed covenants.

The event in Lakewood had a notable no-show. Secretary of the Army Pete Geren had mechanical problems with his plane in California, officials said.

In his place, Jack Creighton, the state’s civilian aide to Geren and former CEO of Weyerhauser, read a prepared statement from the stranded secretary.

“Partnerships like these are essential to the community and the Army,” growing together, Creighton read to the crowd.

For Fort Lewis, the covenant felt like a reaffirmation of the post’s strong ties to the South Sound. In 2000, it established a program in which commanders of each of the post’s 15 major active-duty units teamed with a city or local government for mutual support.

From Gig Harbor to Puyallup, from Seattle to the Nisqually Indian Tribe, “community connectors” are formed. Commanders from the assigned units try to be visible in those communities and lead civilian tours of the Army post.

Lakewood, which is the connector to the 4th Stryker Brigade now in Iraq, hosted today’s event. Mayors, city council members, and representatives of other South Sound communities -- from as far south as Tumwater, and as far north as Auburn -- signed the covenant.

Lakewood Mayor Doug Richardson, a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, spoke about how proud and honored the communities outside Fort Lewis are to help soldiers and their families.

Smith, a Tacoma Democrat, said neighbors can best serve Fort Lewis families in two ways: recognize their sacrifices and vow to help them whenever they can.

Maj. Rich Amadon, an operations officer with the 5-3 Field Artillery Battalion, said he sees community support every time he steps outside his front door.

Amadon, 39, lives in Puyallup with wife, Val, and two daughters, Katie, 16, and Meagan, 13. He recalled standing in line at the store and showing the clerk his military ID card.

Immediately, the clerk and the customers behind him thanked him for his service.

“It shows the soldiers that the local community really does care about us,” he said. “It’s a very welcoming feeling.”

THIRTEEN MUNICIPALITIES, THE STATE, AND ITS CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ATTEND THE ARMY COMMUNITY COVENANT
By Ed Kane

** Sharon M. McGavick Student Center on the campus of Clover Park Community College is again proving to be an important asset to the community. With its spacious facility and double screen media capability it was ideal for the Army Community Covenant ceremony. **

Civilian and military leaders, dignitaries, and families attended the Army Community Covenant at Clover Park Technical College’s new Sharon M. McGavick Student Center on Friday, May 2nd. The covenant is designed to enhance the already strong ties between military personnel form Ft. Lewis, the local U.S. Army Reserve, and the National Guard and their families with the surrounding Puget Sound municipalities. Ft. Lewis, in large part due to the successful relationships with local communities, is among the most popular duty stations among soldiers and their families.

The Army Community Covenant has also been enacted at Columbus, Georgia, home of the sprawling Fort Benning, and will be signed at communities throughout the U.S. by the end of the year. The covenant reads as follows:

"... The strength of the Community comes from the support of Employers, Educators, Civic and Business leaders, and its Citizens.

"... Building partnerships that support the strength, resilience, and readiness of Soldiers and their Families.

Mayor Douglas Richardson, who also serves in the Army Reserve with the rank of Brigadier General, represented Lakewood, host of the event. Speaking of the pride felt by the numerous surrounding communities, Richardson introduced a number of officials who later were invited to the stage to sign the official covenant. A total of 23 individuals committed their signatures to the document and their communities to the covenant. The featured speaker, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren, was prevented from attending the ceremony by mechanical problems with his aircraft. Speaking in his stead was Jack Creighton, Washington State Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army. Also speaking was Congressman Adam Smith, Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen and Steilacoom Mayor Ron Lucas.

Kimberly Wooldridge, the wife of a soldier at Ft. Lewis, spoke of the assistance she received from the local communities when she and her children were driven from their home by fire in her husband’s absence. The support from the community was especially critical because her husband was serving in Iraq at the time.

[PHOTO CAPTION: Kimberly Wooldridge of Ft. Lewis related a story of how the community came to her aid when her house on the base burned, driving her and her children out. Her husband was serving in Iraq at the time.]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Children lined the stage singing and waving flags at the start of the ceremony and for a group photo at its closing.]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Mayor Ron Lucas of Steilacoom signs the covenant in his turn, along with mayors and other community and state leaders.]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Mayor Douglas Richardson of the event’s host city, Lakewood, opened the ceremony to a room full of civilian and military leaders and families at the Sharon M. McGavick Student Center on the campus of Clover Park Community College.]

The U.S. Army kicks off nationwide the Army Community Covenant April 17, a new campaign formalizing community support for Soldiers and their Families. Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston will participate in the first Army Community Covenant signing ceremony in Columbus, Ga., today with members of the Fort Benning community.

"We continue to invest in our centerpiece -- Soldiers -- and their Families, who support them," Geren said. "Of the million Soldiers in uniform, over half of them are married, with more than 700,000 children. The Army Family Covenant, the Soldier Family Action Plan, and the Army Medical Action Plan are examples of our commitments to caring for our Soldiers and their Families in these challenging times. The Army Community Covenant formalizes the American public's continued commitment to its Army at the national, state and local level."

The Army Community Covenant is a formal commitment of support by state and local communities to Soldiers and Families of the Army, Active, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. It is designed to develop and foster effective state and community partnerships with the Army to sustain and improve the quality of life of Soldiers and their Families, both at their current duty stations and as they transfer to other states. The Army Community Covenant is tailored to the local community.

"... The strength of the Community comes from the support of Employers, Educators, Civic and Business leaders, and its Citizens.

"... Building partnerships that support the strength, resilience, and readiness of Soldiers and their Families.

Communities, organizations, civic and business leaders, and others across the country already support Soldiers and Families through a number of programs and initiatives. This Army campaign recognizes that effort and formalizes it between the Army and its surrounding communities. Many of these programs and organizations are featured in the Community Covenant web site at www.acsim.army.mil/community_covenant

Similar ceremonies will be conducted between April and December 2008 recognizing the strength of Soldiers and their Families, as well as the support of the communities in which they live and work.

--For more information, contact is Ms. Laura DeFrancisco, Army Community Covenant Public Affairs, at (703) 604-1459.

Lots of numbers measure the growth that’s taken place at Fort Lewis the past several years, but one in a new report of federal government spending stands out.

The federal government paid $1.041 billion to active-duty soldiers in Pierce County in 2006, according to figures released this week in the Census Bureau’s Combined Federal Funds Report. The report breaks down how $2.45 trillion in federal funds were spent across the government.

“That’s a pretty good benchmark,” said Gary Brackett, an official with the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce who for years has followed the military’s role in the local economy.

It’s nearly double the $544 million paid to active-duty soldiers in Pierce County a decade earlier, in 1996, and up $64 million from 2005.

Brackett and others attribute the payroll growth to the increased numbers of soldiers at Fort Lewis, pay increases for service members over the past six years, and large outlays for hazard pay, family separation allowances, and re-enlistment bonuses.

Though figures for individual companies weren’t available, officials said few other entities in the state likely had as large a payroll.

The Army payroll in Pierce County also is the largest of all the military installations in Washington state.

The Navy, with big bases in Kitsap, Island and Snohomish counties, had a total statewide payroll of $1.06 billion, according to the report. The active-duty Air Force payroll in Pierce County was $195 million.

The new federal report, released Wednesday, comes ahead of a week when state and local leaders will gather to assess how best to cope with the growth at Fort Lewis over the past half-decade.

Gov. Chris Gregoire will headline the half-day public forum Thursday in Lakewood to assess the effects on schools, housing, and transportation.

Other pressing issues -- such as health care and employment for spouses of military service members -- will have to wait for another day, said Brackett, one of the organizers.

And on Friday, Army Secretary Pete Green will meet in Lakewood with representatives from Pierce County and local cities to sign the “Army Community Covenant.”

The civilian communities surrounding Fort Benning, Ga., and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., held similar signing events earlier this month to reaffirm strong ties with the local military installations.

Fort Lewis has grown by some 10,000 soldiers since the late 1990s, with 28,924 stationed there now. Another 3,000 or so will arrive in the next couple of years.

The post has received units from other installations in the United States and from Germany and South Korea, as well as units being created as part of the Army’s growth.

A total of 43,964 family members -- spouses, children, and others -- live on and off post with those soldiers, post spokeswoman Catherine Caruso said.

The growth has been hidden somewhat by so many Fort Lewis soldiers going on deployments over the past four years. About 8,000 are deployed now, down from a high of about 12,000 in mid-2007.

But the impact will be hard to miss this summer, when nearly all of the post’s units will be home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The post is bracing for what some planners are calling the “summer surge.”

“For all intents and purposes everybody is going to be home, and we have not seen that. . . . We have not been faced with that so far,” said Scott Heinze, Gregoire’s homeland security policy adviser. That’s one of the reasons the governor wants to get out there, is to have those conversations.”

All three Stryker brigades will be home and competing for training resources. Officials are getting ready for everything from long lines at the commissary and post exchange to heavy traffic coming onto and off the post in the morning and evening commutes.

The post has also been working local school districts and the state Department of Transportation to prepare for the impacts.