Feedback Fridays

Feedback Fridays is a weekly forum that aims to connect the 502d Air Base Wing with members of the Joint Base San Antonio community. Questions are collected during commander’s calls, town hall meetings and throughout the week.

If you have a question or concern, please send an email to RandolphPublicAffairs@us.af.mil using the subject line “Feedback Fridays.” Questions will be further researched and published as information becomes available.

Personnel Issues

Q. I am a Work Series 2210 and the Air Force requires us to have a Department of Defense 8570 Information Assurance certification as a condition of employment. However, if we want to go to an IT Boot Camp, we have to pay for it out of our own pocket. Recently, I heard the Army pays for these boot camps. What can the Air Force or 502d ABW do to fund security training? If the DOD requires the certification, I think the DOD should help pay for it.

A. Thank you reaching out with your question. Per Air Force Instruction 36-401, employees are responsible to maintain necessary competencies to accomplish duties within their assigned positions, which also includes conditions of employment. The Air Force does provide civilian training dollars each year for mandatory training. However, these requests are ranked according to priority due to severely limited funds. Additionally, the guidance for ranking these requirements states federal government entities must be the first consideration for sources of training.

There is an awesome resource just for this purpose and it is completely free! The AF E-Learning resource offers more than 100 courses in the IT/2210 field alone. You can also find training on a variety of other subjects such as engineering, government, business skills and soft skills.

Please visit the site at:

https://usafprod.skillport.com/skillportfe/main.action#whatshappening and browse the library for courses that will help you attain your career goals!

Installation & Facilities

Q. The official mailroom on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston has a new building, but personnel cannot move in. Why can’t they move in? The current building is rat, roach, and ant infested, with holes in the ceiling, etc.

A. Thank you very much for your question. I spoke to our Civil Engineer team and learned that the project was on hold, pending an approved fire suppression plan and completion of new facility restrooms. Good news though, the fire suppression plan is a contract effort that was recently awarded and is in progress. Contractor will be pressure testing the system next week, and CE is expected to complete the restroom installation on or before Jan. 18, 2019.

Q. Has there been any thought of building another fitness center at JBSA-Randolph? The current one seems to not have enough equipment for the amount of personnel that utilize the facility.

A. The Rambler Fitness Center is a very popular place to work out, so it would look as if another facility would be warranted. Unfortunately, JBSA-Randolph is not being considered for another fitness center at this time.

Based on the usage, the staff have done an amazing job of "leaning forward" to better meet the demand. The center is operational from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends, not to mention they added 24/7 access which allows more options for customers to vary their workout time to alleviate the crowds.

Management also converted underutilized space such as racquetball courts to expand fitness space with additional equipment, classes or in support of functional fitness needs. A "Beaver Fit" box was installed next to the track which supports additional functional fitness workout outside, again expanding options. Thank you again for your question and continued use of our Fitness Center.

Q. If our goal is to be the premier joint base in the DOD, how can we achieve our goal if "other than priority facilities" have to wait months to have a toilet repaired or a light fixed? Civil Engineer craftsmen work hard, but they need help.

My suggestion is to have a list of screened/approved local plumbers and electricians who a facility manager can call (with CE's approval) and use their Government Purchase Card to pay when CE cannot respond in a reasonable amount of time, to be determined by leadership. Our local craftsmen would only be used when CE is overwhelmed taking care of priority facilities. If this becomes the norm, I hope it would signal the need to increase CE manning.

A. Thank you very much for your timely question. Our Civil Engineer Group is in fact pursuing the ability to have additional contract capacity in the form of Blanket Purchase Agreements, or BPAs, to support work that exceeds workforce capacity, particularly for backlog work.

Additionally, we are working hand and hand with the 502d Contracting Squadron to bring additional large project contract vehicles on hand, which will further alleviate the heavy workload executed by our amazing CE craftsmen. This will allow our CE team to focus on preventive maintenance and service calls. These new contract vehicles will take some time to bring entirely on board, but it is a top priority for our wing to improve our support to mission needs.

Q. My question is pertaining to the conditions of the streets. Specifically on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston by Brooke Army Medical Center. The main street traversing through the BAMC campus has some large – and getting larger – potholes, especially near the emergency room drop-off turn in. This pot hole is at the point where it will cause damage to someone's vehicle if they aren't paying attention. Will these damaged streets be repaired soon? If not, and damage occurs to one's vehicle, can they file reimbursement claims with the legal office for damage repairs caused by these potholes?

A. There are several large potholes/road failures on Beach Avenue which have been identified by Civil Engineers and damaged asphalt on that sections have been removed. CE has repaired and black topped one area and the second area has been filled with base material only due to a water leak which is compromising the sub terrain.