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’m curious about our civilian work force wearing nametags with the first and last name displayed. Is there an Air Force Instruction that governs this? If civilians have to wear name tags, can they list either the first or last name?

We are living in the days of identity theft and I’m not sure if civilians displaying their first and last name is necessary. Our military counterparts only display their last names on their uniforms and I know this is for identification purposes.

A. Thank you very much for your question. There is no AFI that governs the use of name tags for civilian employees. The use of name tags and the data depicted is left to the discretion of supervisors and managers of each organization.

Although there is no AFI, there may still be regulations you must comply with based on the type of work you are currently performing. We will discuss with the Civilian Personnel Office as well as OPSEC experts.

In the meantime, I encourage you to discuss further with your supervisors as you bring up a great point in terms of personal and operational security. Thanks for looking out for our JBSA personnel!

Q. Do you know when the Job Fair targeting Schedule A candidates will be held?

A. Your timing is spot on! The Schedule A Job Fair date is still in the works, but we will make sure our team advertises the date as soon as it is confirmed.

Installation and Facilities

Q. I’ve been going to the Jimmy Brought Fitness Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston for more than a year and noticed that almost all TVs are tuned to politics on Fox News and CNN.

Could those channels be changed with other channels such as entertainments and sports? Is there any reason why politics on TV matter in a gym? One more thing is please fix the closed captioning glitches.

A. Thank you for your questions and recommendations. JBSA hosts 11 Fitness Centers and we strive to feature a variety of TV channels to include news and sports. We will confirm with our staff that the TVs throughout the Jimmy Brought Fitness Center are tuned to different television networks to provide for a variety of patron viewing preferences.

Unfortunately, the fitness center no longer offers integrated cardio equipment which used to allow individuals to choose their own programming on individual cardio machines, as it was cost prohibitive.

However, our fitness team will reach out to the cable provider to request resolution of the closed caption problems, and we’re confident this problem will be fixed in the near future.

Thank you again for your input, and I look forward to seeing you at the Jimmy Brought Fitness Center!

Q. On some Saturdays (I assume family visitation days), traffic at the JBSA-Lackland Luke Gate is backed up several hundred yards onto Military Highway. Most are visitors, and it takes the guards extra time to read their paperwork, IDs, and answer questions.

If manpower is available to have two extra guards at the gate, just for an hour or two, they could speed up the process and take turns checking IDs. This would give the visitors a much better, happier, start for the day.

A. Thank you for your suggestion on weekend hours at our Luke Gate. Basic trainees are on “Town Pass” on Saturdays, which increases gate traffic from approximately 7-9 a.m.

In an effort to maximize throughput, two Defenders are posted – one in each lane – to filter traffic entering the installation.

On an as-needed basis, the area supervisor assists them, barring any responses to other real-world incidents. Additionally, the Valley High gate (open 24 hours) and Growden gate (Saturday-Sunday, 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.) are available, as an alternative to the congestion at the Luke East gate.

Q. Could someone please look into the situation of the JBSA-Lackland Airman’s Attic and either help with repairs or help find them a new home? They provide a valuable service to the enlisted ranks of all branches (members and dependents).

Recently, they experienced water damage in their current location, which caused the floors to be severely damaged and they’ve been unable to open as usual since. The Civil Engineers temporarily fixed the three big holes in the floor, but they don’t have time to fix all of it, so if it rains the night before or on the day they’re going to be open, they cannot open for safety reasons.

The manager is so dedicated to the military community she serves that earlier this month, they opened in the parking lot on a Saturday, even though it was drizzling. Because they can’t open normal hours, they’re also unable to accept as many donations as normal, which means they’re unable to help as many families.

A. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’m happy to share that our Civil Engineers began the floor repairs last weekend. The project entails replacing large areas of flooring currently patched up with wooden boards. The estimated completion date is March31.

Please be on the lookout for a new and improved Airmen’s Attic. Importantly, I’d like to thank all of our selfless volunteers who support our Airman’s Attic by donating their time and household goods to help enlisted Airmen and their families.

Q. One weekday evening at approximately 8:30 p.m., I saw a Yellow Cab at the gas pump of the AAFES Gas Station on the Corner of Schofield Road and Winfield Scott Road at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. Is this authorized?

A. Thank you for actively using our “See Something, Say Something” policy! We definitely encourage all of our personnel to voice their concerns. According to AAFES guidelines, Yellow Cabs are authorized to use our gas stations, as long as the driver is a Department of Defense ID card holder.

Miscellaneous

Q. I was curious if it would be possible for Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center and/or Brroke Army Medical Center or the JBSA-Randolph clinics to stand up an empty pill bottle recycling/reuse program? They currently accept unfinished or leftover medications, but not the bottles or empty bottles themselves.

I know there have been a lot of changes with the recycling program due to recent global/international changes, but most CVS and Walgreens still accept empty bottles for recycling/reuse.

I would imagine WHASC could have such a capability and potentially save the Air Force money, as well as reducing JBSA’s waste and impact on our environment.

A. Thank you very much for your suggestion. Unfortunately, the San Antonio Medical Health System, or SAMHS, market pharmacies are not currently setup to collect empty prescription bottles for reuse or recycling.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, prevents the casual disposal of prescription packaging that carries sensitive patient information. HIPAA privacy rules require that physical safeguards be put in place to protect private patient health information in any form.

Another concern for reusing a disposed prescription bottle is the health risk it poses to other patients. There is not a safe process to reuse any prescription bottle that was dispensed from the pharmacies and not allowed at any of our market pharmacies.

That said, patients can safely dispose of their unused and expired medications in the blue MedSafe drug return bins located in some of the SAMHS market pharmacies.