Survivors of fallen soldiers now have full post access

Survivors of fallen soldiers who want to come on Fort Belvoir for any number of reasons no longer have to worry about access to the installation if they don’t have a military identification card.

Survivor Outreach Services now issues decals to survivors, which makes access to Belvoir easier for them.

“They come to me and I’ll send them the application, which is a standard SOS Decal Application and DA Form 3626, (a vehicle registration/driver record) form,” said Maria Rodriguez, the SOS support coordinator. “Both forms are filled out by the survivor and submitted, together with a photocopy of their driver’s license, car insurance and registration.”

Rodriguez said after the forms are completed, the decal application is submitted for a background check. Pending the results of the background check, she accompanies the survivor to Belvoir’s Vehicle Processing Operations Center with the completed forms for the vetting process. Then, the survivor’s vehicle registration and information are entered into the Fort Belvoir system before the SOS support coordinator issues the SOS decal.

Survivors are asked to put the decal on the lower left of their front windshield so the gate guards can easily see it. The decal is in addition to a sticker that is Fort Belvoir-specific. Survivors then only have to show a copy of their decal registration form to the gate guards, as well.

Rodriguez said, in order for the SOS decal to be properly distributed to the Survivors, collaborations have been made between the SOS office, the Directorate of Emergency Services and the VPOC.

Rodriguez said SOS continues to receive full support from the DES and from the VPOC as minor changes and updates are being made to the SOS decal’s distribution procedure. She specifically thanked the efforts of Frank Hentschel, DES deputy director; and Lee Pierce at the VPOC.

“Without the support of these agencies, the SOS decal program would not be fully operational and as successful as they are right now,” Rodriguez said. 

“We’ve gotten some comments from survivors saying every time they approached the gate without the installation decal, they had to explain why they were coming on the base and reliving the story over and over again. It’s a little traumatic for them sometimes, so this is kind of eliminating some of that stress,” Rodriguez said.

She said the program has issued more than 20 SOS decals since it started at the beginning of the year and that those who have received the decals have come on post more frequently and with no known issues.

Rodriguez felt it was the responsibility of the SOS to get the issue resolved, as part of the fulfillment of the Army Family Covenant, which is to continue to provide assistance to families of fallen soldiers.

“If we’re saying that we are taking care of the families, we want to make sure they are comfortable going to the base and participating in the various Fort Belvoir post and installation events,” said Rodriguez.