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Soldiers42
Legal Forum
 
42
InformationPreparationCustomer Service
Steven Chucala is chief of client services in the Office of the Staff JudgeAdvocate at Fort Belvoir, Va.
 by
 Steven Chucala
provide electrical, water and sewer services; runairfields; and maintain training areas and recreationallands — and the list goes on from there.Problems
 
surface as people seeking services ona military base fail to navigate efficiently, resultingin frustration and even failure to satisfy theirneeds. This pitfall is often the result ofseeking information or action based onundefined goals presented to officesthat are not responsible for the areaconcerned. That in turn results inpeople receiving referrals,speculative advice andincorrect or incompleteopinions. Quite often, “Ihave a problem!” is not aproblem at all, but rather a personseeking information about a program or benefit.
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A Simple Solution?
Before contacting offices, determine what isneeded to accomplish your objective. This soundslike a simple act, but often it can’t be translated into aconcise goal for resolution. If several issues areinvolved, recognize them and be ready to identifyeach of them and their relationship to each other, andrealize the possibility that they may require separatepoints of contact for resolution.Once the goal (what needs to be done) andrelated issues are identified, focus on what office orperson within an agency, post, command, organiza-
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T’S a complaint every receptionist has heard:“Please don’t send me elsewhere; I’ve alreadyspoken with neighbors and left messages on threevoice machines; the operator gave me yournumber as the office to handle this, and you’re theonly live person I’ve been able to reach.”
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Welcome to the Community
Those of us who live and work on militaryinstallations often overlook the fact that these basespossess the characteristics of a small town or city,and that a garrison commander is like a town mayorwith many supporting activities. Our bases operatefire and police departments, swimming pools, daycare centers, gymnasiums, youth clubs, hospitals,community clubs, craft shops and chapels. They are“landlords” to post exchanges, offices, schools,commissaries, movie theaters, post offices andprivate quarters. They also publish newspapers;
NavigatingCustomerServices
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