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. Why are we not enforcing that motorcycle riders wear their orange vests on base?
A. Thank you for your question! Safety is extremely important for all Joint Base San Antonio personnel, especially for our motorcycle riders.
Regarding your question on motorcycle riders not wearing orange vests, none of the governing standards, Department of Defense Instruction 6055.04, AR 385-10, OPNAVINST 5100.12J, and AFI 91-207, mandate wearing them.
AFI 91-207 and AR 385-10 does state “Riders are encouraged to select PPE that incorporates fluorescent colors and retro-reflective material,” but orange vests are not required.
Please continue to ride safely as we enter summer riding weather. If you are a non-rider, ensure that you are on the lookout for motorcycles on the roads to keep all JBSA personnel safe.
Installation & Facilities
Q. Is it possible for the Gateway Club hours at JBSA-Lackland to be extended for the Sunday brunch hours? They are currently from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
A. Thank you for your question. While the JBSA-Lackland Gateway Club currently offers a Sunday Breakfast Buffet, we have not offered a traditional Sunday brunch for some time. This decision was based off of customer demand that was expressed in a survey conducted.
The findings of the survey told us that customer usage of the 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. hour was very low. While the breakfast buffet is served from 9:30-11:30 a.m., our staff may extend service until 12:30 p.m., based on customer demand for the specific day.
We will continue to evaluate our hours of operation to ensure we meet customer needs and desires, along with our established financial goals.
Q. Is it true residents that live on JBSA-Medina Annex will start getting paid to live there and/or will rent prices be lowered for member who stay on JBSA-Medina?
A. Thank you for your inquiry. We are always interested in hearing questions and concerns pertaining to our family housing.
The rumor of residents being paid to live in JBSA-Medina Annex housing is not true.
All military housing residents receive their respective Basic Allowance for Housing rates and then have their agreed upon rent taken out as an allotment.
JBSA-Medina Annex housing, however, is a market rent community. This means that rents are based on comparable market prices for housing in the surrounding area.
Rent prices can fluctuate and often times are less than BAH. Any difference between rent and BAH is retained by the resident. The good news is that even if area rent becomes higher than BAH rates, the rent for military housing will never exceed BAH.
If you have further questions on rent rates, please reach out to your respective privatized housing office for more information.
Q. There is a big crater by Stewart Street and Carlswell Avenue at JBSA-Lackland. It has been there for months. It is so big that you have to drive through it! When will this be fixed?
A. Thank you very much for identifying this concern. Our Civil Engineer pavements team were scheduled to have this pothole repaired May 8, weather permitting. In the meantime, we will fill in the hole with gravel to reduce the impact to vehicles and their occupants until the permanent fix is made.
On another positive note, CE has a number of larger road repair projects across all of JBSA scheduled for this year and next year. We will continue to strive to provide smooth and safe roads for everyone who lives, works, and plays on JBSA.
Miscellaneous
Q. When is the Band of the West going to play Metallica songs for us?!?
A. Thank you for your request! You are in good company … Chief Lantagne is a Metallica fan too.
We usually pick our tunes for commander’s calls and special events based on the capabilities of the band and the requirements of our missions. We haven't included any Metallica yet because we haven't found a need or requirement for one of their songs in the types of shows we've done.
However, now that we know we have some interest from our valued customers, we will keep that in mind as we move ahead with future song selection and set lists.
We can't guarantee that we can meet every request, but you never know … “Enter Sandman” may make an appearance on a set list soon.