Commander’s Action line

Col. Don

Q I’m curious if there has been given any consideration to providing child care at the fitness centers. Since many servicemembers have children and deployments become a constant way of life, the military spouse is left with little options when trying to maintain a fitness routine.

Most spouses would rather skip a workout than have to go through the hassle of finding someone they trust with their child, drive to that person’s house and then proceed to go to the fitness center for however long they go for, drive and pick their children back up, and then go home, where as if at least one of the many fitness centers had on-location child care, more spouses would be there.
I know some of the fitness centers have a “parent’s room,” however, it does not provide the wealth of machines and access that would be desirable to most individuals looking for a good workout.

Even if money was an issue, I’m sure most parents would be willing to pay for the convenience.      

AI  realize trying to work out with young children while your spouse is deployed can be challenging. Unfortunately, child care service at the fitness centers is a service we cannot offer due to very stringent regulations and standards enforced by Department of Defense and Air Force regulations.

To provide child care service, we would have to meet all regulations to include  caregiver-to-child ratios and facility requirements. 

One avenue that we’ll continue to improve upon is our Parent-Child Area in the fitness center. Although it is not perfect, it does provide an alternative for parents. The area is set aside to allow parents to exercise while their child is directly supervised by them in a safe, clean environment, meeting all regulations.

Additionally, our Vogelweh Community Center offers Stroller-Robics. A possibly more convenient option for child care in close proximity of KMC fitness centers is to utilize the CDCs.

Army Child Care Centers offer drop-off child care services. Due to an extensive waiting list for full time slots, Air Force CDCs currently only allow drop-ins when daily vacancies occur.

If you are interested in utilizing Air Force CDC drop-in service, you can call 480-6011 for ages 6 weeks to 2 years, and 480-9276 for children ages 3 to 5 years old, after 7 a.m. the day you desire service.  
We’ll be expanding our CDC capacity this coming year, which will increase the number of drop-in openings.

The Commander’s Action Line gives KMC members a direct link to wing leadership and  is a way for KMC members to ask a question or express a concern on the policies and procedures of the base, as well as discuss safety and security issues. To submit an action line, e-mail editor@
kaiserslauternamerican.com with “Action Line” as the subject.