Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph –
The Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Visitor Control Center is one of several facilities that play a vital first-defense role in the security of installation members, missions and assets across JBSA through a system that ensures those who could threaten that environment are denied base access.
When in need of services from the JBSA VCC facilities, Mary Brice, JBSA-Randolph Visitor Control Center lead, said many people skip over the word “control.”
“The Airmen and civilians that work at the various visitor control centers are first and foremost security forces defenders tasked to ensure security of the installation,” she said. “Our challenge is to balance customer needs with the access requirements set forth by the Department of Defense and our senior leaders to ensure the safety and security of our communities. We must ensure that the personnel that access our base are who they say they are, that they have the eligibility to enter, and that they meet the appropriate level of character and conduct to do so.”
In a system standardized across the three main JBSA locations in February of this year, visitor control center members perform a background check on every individual requesting base access using nation-wide and local crime databases such as the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System to learn if individuals requesting access have a criminal background or outstanding warrants for misdemeanors or felonies.
Criminal background disqualifiers for installation entry range from theft to drug trafficking convictions, with a specific length of time that the individual will be disallowed base access after the date of their last conviction. Severe charges such as murder will bar that person from all JBSA locations indefinitely.
“Crime rates have significantly dropped since February when we implemented the background check policy for all individuals requesting base access across JBSA,” Staff Sgt. Marcus Bernard, NCO in charge of the JBSA-Randolph VCC, said. “So far for 2015, the JBSA-Randolph VCC has performed over 9,000 background checks and nearly 300 of those were disqualified for base access.”
Members with an active want or warrant who attempt to gain base access are immediately detained by security forces members until the appropriate law enforcement office can be contacted to pick them up.
Other reasons an individual could be denied access include a lack of affiliation with the installation, a lack of invitation to visit, not having a valid form of ID or current vehicle insurance.
Recently, the process to submit an Entry Authority List for special events for six or more nonmilitary guests at JBSA locations has been updated, Bernard said. The JBSA-Randolph VCC processes an average of six event request lists per week, adding up to several hundred guests.
Authorized military sponsors must submit an EAL and typed guest list for special event requests no later than 10 days in advance of a visit in order for visitor control center members to begin processing each guest on the list, he said. Sponsors with foreign guests must submit their request no later than 20 days prior to the event due to the extra coordination that takes place for those individuals.
“Each background check for each guest takes 30 minutes on average and there are sometimes hundreds of guests per list with other EAL forms already being processed as well,” Bernard said.
In addition to verifying an individual’s past, JBSA VCC members issue thousands of Defense Biometric Identification System cards to nonmilitary members that don’t qualify for Common Access Cards but still need regular access to JBSA locations.
“Using DBIDS alerts the gate guards to fraudulent use of the card or whether that individual is barred from base access,” Bernard said. “We can immediately enter authorization information into that system if there is a change and determine through scanning your ID card if you have base access or not. So far in 2015, we have performed over 98,000 scans at JBSA-Randolph.”
JBSA VCC’s also issue Geneva Convention cards to military medical and religious members who are covered under the Geneva Convention when they are deployed, and temporary guest passes to individuals visiting that location for up to three days.
While the weekly and monthly flow of visitors for Air Force Basic Military Training and medical technical school graduations provides the visitor control center members at JBSA-Lackland and JBSA-Fort Sam Houston a large volume of customers, missions at JBSA-Randolph also create a high demand for base access.
“Aside from the normal customer traffic, a unique flow of customers takes place at the JBSA-Randolph VCC in the form of general officers, members participating in various boards, foreign nationals in instructor pilot training with the 12th Flying Training Wing and their families,” Maj. Julia Jefferson, 902nd Security Forces Squadron commander, said. “Ultimately the job of the visitor control center is to keep JBSA-Randolph a safe environment for the Air Force mission to happen and the 902nd SFS defenders serving there do so by making sure those disqualified for access do not get on base.”
Between the requests of normal customers and Air Force BMT graduate’s families, the JBSA-Lackland VCC processes over 10,000 passes for base access on average per week. So far for 2015, the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston VCC has served nearly 16,000 customers.
Required documents when utilizing JBSA VCC services, the gate hours for each JBSA location and downloadable visitor forms are available at http://www.jbsa.mil. Hover over the Home tab in the top left corner and click Visitor Information in the drop down menu.
For more information, call the JBSA-Randolph VCC at 652-3939, JBSA-Lackland VCC at 671-1457 and JBSA-Fort Sam Houston VCC at 221-9205.