Town hall meeting addresses on base safety and security

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Editor's note: This article is the second in a two-part series highlighting the 95th Air Base Wing commander's Town Hall Meeting.

Team Edwards and their families had an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns directly to the 95th Air Base Wing commander during a Town Hall Meeting Aug. 25 in the base conference center.

Col. Jerry Gandy welcomed all comments, questions and feedback during the Town Hall Meeting. He also informed the community about several safety and security updates to be made to the base in the near future.

Colonel Gandy began by telling the audience that he wanted to have an open dialog and he would be willing to address all questions they had for him.

He announced that blast drapes would be installed in the windows at the Child Development Center and the Base Exchange Food Court. These windows would be put in place to prevent injuries if the glass shattered.

"The drapes will go over the window and in the event of the glass shattering it is designed to minimize injury from flying debris," Colonel Gandy said.

The current problem of speeding in school zones and drivers not yielding to pedestrians in cross walks was addressed. This week members of the 95th Security Forces Squadron patrolled the cross walks in the housing areas to ensure safety. He committed to developing a long-term sustainable plan to minimize risk to pedestrians.

Construction and upgrades to all the gates is planned to begin late this fall and will take five months for each gate. The gates will remain open throughout the constructions but drivers should prepare for some delays.

"We got money to upgrade the gates and bring them up-to-date," said Colonel Gandy. "We will begin with the North Gate because it has the lowest traffic volume; that will help us make sure we understand the process before we start work on the highly trafficked West Gate."

He said this will provide all the things needed to get everyone on and off base in a safe and secure manner, including the addition of a visitor control center to the West Gate.

"We get funding because as a base we have a track record of effective use of the funding we received," said Colonel Gandy.