Iwakuni residents voice concerns at forum

[unhappycamper]

Iwakuni residents voice concerns at forum
By Travis J. Tritten, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, October 24, 2008

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — Jennifer McCarthy tried nine times in October to get her daughter into air station day care, but on only two of the days was there room for her.

Now, because the service is unreliable, McCarthy doesn’t make doctor or salon appointments unless her husband can spend his lunch hour with their daughter.

"Child care on the base is bursting at the seams," she said Wednesday during a rare town hall meeting here.

Base child care, Internet service, food options and individual augmentee deployments all have been on the minds of Iwakuni residents since the last town hall a year ago, according to comments submitted for the public forum. The meeting drew about 150 people to the station chapel and was broadcast on TV and radio.

Air station commander Col. Michael O’Halloran and base staff fielded the questions and concerns, which were collected during weeks of advertising the meeting.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58344