JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
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. When will the reclassification for base level engineers be implemented? The memorandum was sent out Oct. 25, 2018, and it states the previous GS11 Standard Core Personnel Documents, or SCPD, are replaced with the new GS12 SCPDs, and each SCPD Number has a different effective date for the particular discipline. The intention of this reclassification process is to help recruitment and retention efforts across the Air Force.
A. Hiring and retaining a quality workforce is critical to the Wing, particularly for our high demand Civil Engineer Group team members. The 802d Civil Engineer Squadron is working with the 502d Force Support Squadron on this matter and has requested that all RPAs for developmental positions be accomplished by the end of April.
Part of this process involves evaluating each position to ensure all engineering requirements are met and that the employee is performing at the GS-12 level before making the classification change. CE leadership is eager to get this change made along with many other personnel actions in order to bolster up its mission essential workforce.
Installation & Facilities
Q. Has anyone considered the installation of the “red – closed, green – open” signs above the entrance lanes at the Harry Wurzbach East Gate at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, similar to what is above the entrance lanes at the Walters Street Entrance? It is impossible to see if one lane or two is open until you get right on top of the entrance at Harry Wurzbach.
A. Terrific suggestion … great minds think alike! Last month, our Security Forces and Civil Engineer experts started putting together the required details to purchase lane signs for the Harry Wurzbach East and Brooke Army Medical Center/I-35 Gates. As CE and Security Forces continue planning our next round of gate improvement projects, we will certainly take this idea into consideration for Harry Wurzbach East gate.
On a related note, the 502d ABW is currently working with the City of San Antonio on a potential project to provide improved signage and lane open/closed indicators further out on Walters Street to better inform drivers as they enter this busy gate.
Q. Why does it appear that JBSA-Medina base housing is of less concern than main base housing on JBSA-Lackland? It’s clear which side gets more attention.
A. Ensuring quality living quarters for service members and their families is of great importance to the Wing.
Although maintenance and improvements of JBSA-Lackland and JBSA-Medina homes is managed by Balfour Beatty Communities, or BBC, our Wing has the critical responsibility to advocate on your behalf.
We’ve shared your concerns with our Lackland Government Housing Office Team Lead, James Fisher (210-671-1840), to ensure we address any discrepancies between JBSA-Medina and main base JBSA-Lackland housing.
In addition, this past week, Wing Leadership, myself included, performed numerous home inspections with residents who have concerns with their living accommodations. We are using that feedback to work with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the privatized housing companies to better meet the needs of our service members and their families.
We encourage residents to continue to raise their concerns with BBC as well as our Wing’s Government Housing Office.
Q. Thank you for extending the traffic hours for the JBSA-Randolph East Gate to 5:30 a.m. It has helped tremendously, but there seems to be another time of concern. At 6 p.m. all the gates are closed with the exception of the West Gate and traffic extends all the way from the gate back to the commissary. In fact, traffic is coming from all roads leading back to the West Gate making traffic backed up into the BX. Is it possible to relook at keeping the East Gate open for exiting traffic only till 6:30 pm to depart either left or right? This would also eliminate a lot of illegal U-turns on Highway 78 (going back west) and would be a great effort to reduce the elimination of traffic for individuals that work until 6 p.m. Thank you for looking into this and your consideration.
A. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will definitely consider this suggestion for the future, but I have good news that we just learned yesterday … construction at the Lindsey Gate has been completed … ahead of schedule. The gate reopened at 3 a.m. March 11, with all other gates at JBSA-Randolph returning to their normal hours and days of operation. This should reduce the back-up at the West Gate. But, our Security Forces will monitor the traffic next week and be prepared to revisit the issue.
In the meantime, it’s been a little while since we have had normal gate operations at JBSA-Randolph, so I’m including the regular gate hours.
As a quick reminder for next week:
Lindsey Gate: 24/7 (starting 3 a.m. March 11)
West Gate: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday; closed weekends and holidays
East Gate: 6-8:30 a.m. inbound only, 3-5:30 p.m. outbound only, Monday-Friday; closed weekends and holidays
South Gate: 6-8:30 a.m. inbound only, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. inbound and outbound; closed weekends and holidays
Q. The JBSA-Randolph BX Pharmacy system is broken ... it needs immediate attention, so there is not an everyday occurrence of three-hour waits for prescription pickup, or lost en route which require 1/2 day revisits.
A. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced at the JBSA-Randolph BX pharmacy. As a direct result of ongoing process improvement efforts regarding patient-centered health care, the 59th Medical Wing began installing an upgraded pharmacy robotic-refill modernization system in January to support all 59 MDW pharmacy locations.
Unfortunately, during this effort, some locations have intermittently experienced an increase in wait times. However, as the system is refined, the 59th MDW expects those wait times to improve.
In the meantime, the new processes are being monitored and adjusted and are improving on a daily basis. To reduce your wait time, we recommend calling in all refills in advance.
Additionally, if using another location is an option, the Gateway Bulverde Clinic, located at 25615 US-281 #215, San Antonio, TX 78258, currently has the shortest wait time. We appreciate your patience as we continue to improve our healthcare delivery processes at JBSA-Randolph and across the greater San Antonio area.
Q. There are various dining facilities and fast food restaurants which are not maintaining proper fire codes. Why are they not corrected?
A. Thank you for asking this question as safety of our customers and workforce is of high importance. The JBSA Fire Department has an active Fire Prevention force that seeks out vulnerabilities in all government owned facilities, to include dining facilities and fast food restaurants.
Without knowing your specific concerns, we can share that when Fire Prevention inspects kitchen fire suppression systems, if hazards are identified, they then employ mitigation strategies as possible. Often this includes "red tagging" equipment that cannot be used until the condition is corrected. The Civil Engineer Group then works to correct the issues either through in house efforts, service contracts, or larger projects.
Of note, there are currently several projects in the works to improve dining facilities including Lackland's Mesquite Dining Facility which is scheduled for a $4 million full facility renovation in Fiscal Year 2020. In the case of AAFEES owned facilities, they take fire deficiencies into consideration for facility repairs and investments. If you have further concerns on potential unidentified fire risks please reach out to the Fire Protection Team POC, the Assistant Chief Fire Prevention, Darrin Tannert at 210-671-0227.
Miscellaneous
Q. Why are children (no minimum age) permitted to operate motorcycles (that sometimes exceed the 15 MPH housing speed limit) without any road knowledge/training, when the base requires motorcyclists to take a motorcycle safety course?
A. Thank you for taking the time to bring this issue to our attention. The safety of our children is a top priority, and I have consulted with my leaders in Security Forces to address these concerns.
The current JBSA traffic supplement authorizes the operation of a motorized (gas or electric/battery) bike on the roads as long as the child is wearing a helmet. While riding on the road, the operator is required to ride as far right as possible and obey posted street signs (e.g. stop signs), no different than riding a bicycle. Additionally, these "toy-like" bikes/mopeds/ scooters operate at less than 2250 watts.
Because of the lower capacity, the Air Force motorcycle safety course is not required. Our School Resource Officer (SRO) and routine patrols (when available) are present in specific areas around the community during the times kids are traveling to and from school. This effort helps with the overall safety of both our children and motorists. Additionally, at the end of every school year, our SROs host bike rodeos, focused on teaching children proper bike and a road safety.
As we continue to develop and grow the SRO program, we will look for other opportunities to address bike safety. My desired end state is the safety of our children and all personnel who live, work, and play on JBSA and I can't thank you enough for being an active contributor of our community in achieving that goal.
Q. What does the 502 ABW CC think of the Management Internal Control Toolset?
A. Thank you very much for your question! I know MICT is a useful tool that if we use it properly can enable transparency of unit compliance. However, MICT has become strictly a communication tool in recent years versus a compliance tool. Nevertheless, we have the ability to alter MICT to increase its usefulness for the assessor and the unit.
When we all do our part, MICT will help us stay compliant and find areas where we might be able to waive requirements that are no longer required or necessary for the unit to function effectively.
Lastly, MICT is only one tool in our toolbox for staying mission ready, we all must still follow the requirements we find in governing directives.