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JBSA News
NEWS | Nov. 6, 2012

Pensacola Regional Comm Team unveils new home

By 2nd Lt. Keenan Kunst 12th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

The 479th Flying Training Group's communications flight cut the ribbon on their brand new 3,400 square-foot facility, Wednesday.

The opening of the new space is a big moment for the office, which had humble beginnings at NAS Pensacola.

When the shop's superintendent, Master Sgt. William Irvine, arrived at Pensacola in September 2009, a six-person communications team was working out of a 300 square-foot office. As the team grew and evolved to meet the network and communications needs of the growing Air Force presence at NAS-Pensacola, so did the need for space. By December of 2010, the then 17-person shop was dispersed across three office spaces, totaling a mere 650 square-feet.

Now with a staff of 23, the Pensacola Regional Communications Team (PRCT) has a new home that puts everyone under one roof. Irvine says the new space will better facilitate a lot of the team's work, noting that prior to this new space things such as simply having a staff meeting were an ordeal.

"Moving into our newly renovated facility puts 23 members under one roof. This makes a huge difference when managing both military and contractor personnel. We can do many daily operations more efficiently and effectively as one team under the same roof," says Irvine.

The new facility is the result of a $750,000 renovation project and ensures PRCT can effectively support its network's 1,600 Air Force users, which span 10 units and a maintenance directorate, while also maintaining accountability for more than $8 million in assets.

Just as important, though, is the new sense of pride this space brings.

"I feel when a guy has the ability to sit at 'his' desk and call his space 'home' he takes more pride in ownership," says Irvine, "while we are all professional, there's usually a better sense of pride when you can call it your own."

It's a landmark event for one of the 479th FTG's most critical teams and will ensure their communications systems will continue to be maintained and operated with the utmost care and professionalism, according to Irvine.

"I like to say, we do communications, because no one else can. Meaning, the CSOs, instructors, and the Commanders and staff are here to learn and perform their job, they shouldn't also need to worry about why their network works the way it does, but that it works at the moment they need it."