Sunday, February 26, 2012

40 years of service: a true home away from home.(Cover story)

The Navy Guest House Program was formed in 1961 to provide temporary housing for authorized personnel at installations where adequate and reasonable priced facilities were unavailable in the nearby vicinity. The transfer of temporary lodging facilities to the Navy Ship Store Office (NSSO) was originally called for by the Secretary of the Navy in 1961.

In those early days, the facilities went by many names--guest houses, Quonset huts, and the Navy Exchange Motel. In 1969, a shortage of Navy Housing still existed and the Navy responded to this situation by establishing a separate nonappropriated fund instrumentality for all temporary lodging facilities, thus the modern Navy Lodge Program was born.

Over the years, the Navy Lodge Program has changed with the times. In the 1980s, a centralized reservation center with toll free phone number was added to serve the traveling military with one call for all reservations. Throughout the 1990s the Navy Lodge Program continued upgrading and renovating its facilities and it established the "Green Earth" program to help save the environment. In 2000, family demands continued to expand the requirement of guest service to include suites, expanded kitchens, larger lobbies, internet connectivity, free local phone service and many other amenities and services.

One of the most popular was the pet policy which allows pets to stay with members while in the Navy Lodge. In addition, the reservation center, once only for Navy Lodges, is now the Department of Defense (DoD) Reservation Center providing guest service and reservation capabilities to all military services.

As the Navy Lodge Program enters the next decade, improvements continue to be made to improve the service it provides to its guests, including the Breakfast to Go program, Wi Fi hot spots and flat screen TVs.

"Navy Lodges today offer the price, location, cleanliness and guest service travelers are looking for when away from home," explained Mike Bockelman, vice president, Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) and director, Navy Lodge Program. "Navy Lodges are also conveniently located on or near the Navy installation for quick access to all Commands as well as other amenities such as the NEX and MWR restaurants and food courts, gyms and other recreation activities."

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Navy Lodges serve all branches of active duty military members, their families, retired military, members of the Armed Forces Reserves, Public Health Service and DoD personnel on official orders. To make a reservation, call 1-800-NAVY-INN, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or go online at www. navy-lodge.com.

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