Navy child care and fitness centers will have extended morning and evening hours throughout the forcefleet by the end of this year, in a move to boost fitness and improve quality of life, according to a Friday release from the Navy.
The program, which began last year with three large installations, is extending to 10 more bases in June, with an eye toward universal implementation by December, the Navy said in a Friday release.
"The need has been identified to extend hours to give families a better opportunity for things like flexible work schedules, more opportunities for education, fitness opportunities and things of that nature," Greg Young, Navy Child and Youth Program director, said in the release.
Starting in June, child care centers will be open from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. at these installations:
- Naval Support Activity Mid-South, Millington, Tennessee
- Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas
- Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida
- Naval Base Coronado, California
- Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada
- Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut
- Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia
- Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan
- Naval Technical Training Command Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida
- Metro San Diego Child Development Home Program (select homes)
Naval Base San Diego, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia and Naval Base Kitsap in Washington — the three installations piloted last year — have already implemented those schedules per findings from their test program last year.
"Approximately one fourth of the enrolled families have been using the extended hours," Young said in the release. "Between the hours of 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. are the most utilized."
San Diego, Little Creek and Kitsap also extended their fitness center hours last year, from 90 to 118 hours a week, or Monday through Friday from 4:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on weekends.
Since October, the release said, all Navy base gyms have been authorized to operate 118 hours per week to meet demand.
Providing more access to base gyms and child care centers was one of the many personnel initiatives Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced last year.
More hours "should mean that sailors won't have to worry about child care centers not opening early enough or closing too early," he said in his May speech at the Naval Academy.
Mabus has offered the example of a female sailor who needed to drop her child off at day care before work, but the center wasn't open until 7 a.m. — the exact time she was expected to report.
Similarly, extended gym hours give sailors working long days more time to get in a workout, a key part of SECNAV and the chief of naval personnel's push for year-round fitness.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
