Who let the dogs out:Year-long effort culminates with dog park opening

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William A. O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The opening of the Team Edwards "Bark Park" was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 12.

This attractive park offers base residents a unique amenity, which enhances the quality of life for base residents and their pets.

"If you build it, they will come. And here they are," said Chief Master Sgt. Mark Brejcha, 412th Test Wing command chief master sergeant. "A lot has gone into this. We've labored well over a year working with the 95th Civil Engineer Directorate, the SABRE contractors, community planners, the veterinarian, legal, safety and others. It was a long road," he said, "but it's finally here and we couldn't be happier."

Chief Brejcha said this high-quality dog park is based on various aspects of many different parks he's visited with his family and Labrador "Ebony." He said the amenities of the park were carefully thought out and placed where they could be most effectively used.

"We took the best ideas of several dog parks and morphed them into what we thought would be the perfect park here," said the chief. "There's kind of a science to constructing a dog park. Like for example, we have fenced isolation chambers at the entrances so that the dogs don't take off when the door opens. Also, the park is split into two sections. One section is designated for small and older dogs and the other section, for much bigger and active dogs. We also have a water source; we've got hoses so when it gets warm out here the dogs can get a shower to get cooled down; the park also includes pick-up stations."

"Just as important as the park itself is the location where it was constructed," said Chief Brejcha. "This location is perfect. It has grass, it has water, it's got shade, it has parking and it's not out of the way per se, but it's also not in an area where traffic will interfere."

The process of opening a dog park took a basewide effort that was led by both Command Chiefs; Chief Master Sgt. Mark Brejcha and former 95th Air Base Wing Command Chief, Chief Master Sgt. Eric Jaren, and culminated with this grand opening.

"My teammate, Chief Jaren, and I partnered on this and I'm glad to see it come to fruition today," said Chief Brejcha. "This park was birthed with a vision first of all -- a vision to bring a dog park to Edwards. Next, we went around with community planner Michelle Perry and Melody Couch from the housing office and selected this area from several places we considered."

Once they had a plan, the two chiefs had to find the means to fund the park.

"Then came the funding for it. We obtained end-of-year quality of life funding from Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney's office (Air Force Materiel Command Chief at the time), and from there, it went to contracting and finally to the construction phase," said Chief Brejcha.

As a dog owner, Russell Hinrichs, Edwards AAFES general manager said that he likes the park and he is excited to bring his dogs there.

"Having the dog park will benefit the dogs because it gives them a place to exercise," said Mr. Hinrichs. "I plan to use the park quite often - about once or twice a week--to let them get out and run. I haven't seen a dog park on any other base and it's kind of neat to have something unique to Edwards."

Chief Brejcha thanked everyone for their efforts and said the park wouldn't have come together without the support and efforts of many people.

"Contracting, SABRE, and the construction crews did an outstanding job putting this park together," he said. I also want to personally say thanks to Sammy Edwards at (95th) CE for working issues every day for the last two weeks to put the finishing touches on the park. We couldn't have done it without him."

"My former teammate Chief Jaren and I are extremely happy for the families at Edwards AFB and the dogs they love," said Chief Brejcha.