NAS Whidbey Island’s Quality of Life Council has made great strides since its inception in October 2009. The council meets on the second Wednesday of each month at NAS Whidbey Island’s Headquarters, building 385, in the commanding officer’s conference room.

The council’s permanent membership includes the NAS Whidbey Island Command Master Chief, NAS Whidbey Island Fleet and Family Readiness Director, a Naval Hospital Oak Harbor representative and NAS Whidbey Island command and tenant command representatives.

The council’s focus: provide a forum that emphasizes the communication of quality-of-life needs by Sailors. Each council member serves as a dedicated representative and quality of life contact for their command. Commanding officers and officers in charge appoint representatives who have proven to be enthusiastic about quality of life issues.

The council provides an opportunity for command representation to present items of interest, make recommendations, discuss issues and provide input on quality of life matters that represent the perspective of their command.

Each Quality of Life Council meeting follows a basic architecture that includes an educational brief to gain in-depth knowledge about a specific quality of life program; review of customer feedback received during the previous month; and an “around the room” portion, in which representatives address specific concerns with and/or commend outstanding work by quality of life service providers.

In lieu of service provider announcements at the meeting, as was the past standard, QOLC representatives have been asked to request informational presentations specific to their command’s needs, during timeframes that best meet the needs of their personnel.

At the March 10 meeting, Navy housing was a topic.

The council had questions about back road access to Crescent Harbor housing, status of recycle bins in housing areas, and control of trash. Members were advised that the PPV town hall meeting April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Nor’Wester as the right forum to address their questions/issues with Forest City.

Continuing the housing theme, the group heard information on the upcoming 2010 Census, movement of deploying personnel, illegality of BH staff handling personal mail (use command or post office for address), and the role of Resident Advisors (RA’s). Command Master Chief Darin Hand, NAS Whidbey Island, stressed the importance of RAs for successful BH operations. bachelor housing’s recent resident satisfaction survey highlighted the importance of communication between residents, RA’s and BH management.

A “Right Spirit Committee” has been established as a subunit of the QOLC. Membership will be a joint venture between all NAS Whidbey Island tenant activities. The QOLC will support the sub-committee through feedback and recommendations. The Right Spirit Committee has developed Right Spirit Rides, formerly known as the Tipsy Taxi.

Right Spirit Rides maintains a strict “no questions asked” policy and offers free rides home to anyone, DoD, military and their guests, to residences between Deception Pass and Coupeville. AT1 Gerald Hill chairs the committee and invites those interested in the committee to their next meeting Tuesday, March 30 at 2 p.m. in Back Alley Bar.