Seven Army installations and their neighboring communities have been announced as the winners of the 2021 Army Partnership Awards.

This year’s winners were chosen for building “stronger community relationships” and “demonstrating partnerships that improve quality of life, enhance Army readiness and modernize Army processes,” according to an Army press release.

The awards will be presented Jan. 12 in a virtual ceremony.

The winners of the 2021 Army Partnership Awards are:

* Fort Benning, Georgia, and the Chattahoochee Valley for creating a hazard/emergency mutual aid partnership that brings together 22 military and civilian partner organizations to share emergency aid, information and resources.

* U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, Germany, and the German Host Nation Police for their longstanding partnership for enhanced emergency response, coordination and regular engagements with first responder and intelligence agencies.

* Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Nolin Rural Electric Co-op Company for their partnership to manage the post’s electric utilities, allowing Fort Knox to achieve energy resiliency and independence and save money. The effort has reduced Fort Knox’s power costs by 50% over the past six years.

* Fort Riley, Kansas, and Unified School District 475’s Demolition Intergovernmental Support Agreement, which eliminated an unsightly structure and safety hazard near a housing area, enabled an 83% reduction in procurement time, and generated savings for the Army of more than $190,000.

* U.S. Army Garrison Miami and the City of Doral, Florida, for their agreement to make city park properties available for physical fitness testing, unit physical fitness activities, unit field days and other events. The partnership also promotes recreational and athletic programs for families assigned to the area.

* Fort Carson, Colorado, and El Paso County for working together to bring the county’s Department of Human Services’ Center on Fathering curriculum to soldiers and families. The partnership aims to prevent child abuse by encouraging father-child relationships, cultivating bonds and building family resilience.

* Fort Polk, Louisiana, and Vernon Parish for providing enhanced educational programming and promoting community involvement and partnerships. The Vernon Parish School Board offers after-school programming such as extracurricular activities, tutoring and education enrichment, while Fort Polk offers active-duty military police soldiers to serve as School Resource Officers at on-post schools. The two partners also work together to provide counseling services to military members and their children.

The Army Partnership Awards Program “seeks to highlight examples of exceptional cooperation and diligence that will encourage continued collaboration to achieve the full potential of community partnerships,” according to the Army.

Partnerships were evaluated based on how well they improve quality of life for soldiers and their families, enhance readiness, modernize a service, system or process, increase efficiencies, save money, expand capabilities and improve community relations.

“Once again, we are excited to recognize these outstanding partnerships that create efficiencies, build resiliency, enhance readiness and improve the quality of life for soldiers and their families,” said Lt. Gen. Jason Evans, deputy Army chief of staff for installations, or G-9.