Public Hearings Set for JBLM's Joint Land Use Study

The Joint Land Use Study for Joint Base Lewis-McChord is nearing completion, and open houses will be held in July to seek public input.

The JBLM JLUS is a collaborative process among federal, regional, and local governments and agencies; tribes; the public; and the south Puget Sound region’s military installations, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) and Camp Murray. The study is designed to create a collective regional dialogue around sometimes complex issues of balancing military operational demands and mission changes with the region’s and local communities’ land use plans, economic development and infrastructure needs, and goals for environmental sustainability. The study area generally encompasses those communities within two miles of the JBLM boundary.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend -

Public Hearing Dates and Locations:
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Joint Land Use Study
20-22 July 2015, Various Locations, 5:00-7:00pm
South Sound Military & Communities Partnership and AECOM (contractor) staff will be on hand to answer questions and receive feedback from the public on the currently ongoing Joint Land Use Study.

Three open-house style meetings will be held at:
• Monday, 20 July, 5-7pm at the Sprinker Recreation Center, 14824 C St S, Tacoma, WA 98444
• Tuesday, 21 July, 5-7pm at Yelm Public Safety Bldg., 206 McKenzie Ave., Yelm, 98597
• Wednesday, 22 July, 5-7pm at Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main St SW, Lakewood, WA 98499

For more information, check out the JBLM JLUS Website.

Veteran & Spouse Networking Event July 17 at The Great American Casino in Lakewood WA

Veteran Networking Event July 17 2014. The networking event is a great opportunity to meet area businesses and discuss current career openings and opportunities for Veterans and their family. The event is for Veterans and their spouse.

(Click on Image for a larger and complete view)



About the Buffalo Soldiers' Legacy

The Lakewood Historical Society will present The Legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (7 p.m.) at St. Mary's Episcopal Church (10630 Gravelly Lake Dr SW, Lakewood). (Click on Image for a Larger and Complete View)

Lakewood Will Welcome 4-2 SBCT Home

The City of Lakewood, Washington, is hosting a community-wide celebration on Sunday, September 15, 2013, for the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division (4-2 SBCT).  This unit is the city’s military “Community Connector” partner at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).  The events of the day focus on the theme “Raiders Return,” as the unit—known as the Raider Brigade—just completed a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan, where they provided security force assistance to the Afghan National Security Forces.

2,000 soldiers and more than a dozen of the unit’s military vehicles, including 11 different variants of the Stryker, will march in a parade departing at 9:00am from Lakewood Police headquarters and ending at City Hall.  Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson and the 4-2 SBCT Commander, Colonel Michael Getchell, will provide brief remarks.  After the conclusion of the parade, all are invited to a community festival at Fort Steilacoom Park, which will run until 6:00pm.  The festival, sponsored in partnership with the Captain Meriwether Lewis Chapter of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), will offer food, musical entertainment, games, a petting zoo, car and motorcycle shows, military and emergency response vehicle displays, and more.

Lakewood has been 4-2 SBCT’s “Community Connector” since 2006.  The city’s elected officials have maintained strong relationships with the Brigade’s leadership, and Soldiers and their families have received broad support from residents, businesses, city staff and other community members.  The Lakewood-Raider ties became especially close-knit starting in 2007, when the unit made its first deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Community members sent care packages to the unit while they were overseas, checked in on their families and provided comfort kits for single soldiers in their barracks rooms upon redeployment.

4-2 SBCT holds the distinction of being the last combat brigade conducting offensive operations to leave Iraq, which occurred during its second deployment to the region, from 2009-2010.  In the fall of 2012, it also became the last Stryker Brigade Combat Team to deploy from JBLM to Afghanistan.

In June 2013, the Department of the Army announced that 4-2 SBCT would inactivate as part of the Army’s plan to complete post-war downsizing and force restructuring by the year 2020.  4-2 SBCT’s transition is slated to begin later this year.

Please join the soldier partners and their families on this special day to commemorate the “Raiders’ Return,” and to honor 4-2 SBCT’s brief but storied history as it prepares to permanently case its colors.