Edwards community holds town hall meeting

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Edwards community gathered at the Airman and Family Readiness Center Oct. 15 for a town hall meeting.

The first speaker, Mark Nettles, Corvias Military Living communications manager, gave an update on the new community center scheduled to open the summer of 2015.

The new 10,000-square foot facility will house an indoor half-basketball court, a workout room with child playroom, an entertainment room, full-size kitchen and 5,000-square foot pool.

"For Corvias, this is kind of our flagship thing that we do at every base. It's our place where we can give the community itself some facilities they can use and bring their neighborhoods together," said Nettles.

Nettles also gave an update about the Department of Defense-implemented meter installation. Gas and electric meters will be installed on 741 homes by mid-October. Residents should expect a five minute interruption for electric meter installation and 45 minutes for gas. The first year with the new meters will be used to establish a baseline for billing. Mock billing will let people know what to expect the following year when actual billing begins.

Representatives from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service gave an update on the Military Star Card, the new product search engines on the Shop My Exchange website and customer satisfaction surveys. The Exchange was able to give Edwards back $481,116 in 2013 Morale, Welfare and Recreation contributions to help in community entertainment.

Capt. Garcia, 412th Security Forces Squadron, director of operations, gave an update on the new Visitor Control Center to be placed outside of the West Gate. The center will provide a single point of contact for all visitor processing and issues. First time visitors will be assisted at the VCC to avoid delays for employees with regular base access.

"This is a good thing, this will alleviate the issues I've heard of people calling the gate and getting three different answers to unique circumstances because the reality is there are about a million different combinations of people to events, to times, to locations, as to what you have to do to get on base," said Garcia. "It's designed that way; it's designed to make sure only the right people are getting to the right places at the right times to keep the base safe and the population safe."

The soft opening for the center is scheduled for December.

According to Garcia, the daytime base population is up to 14,000 individuals and only around 2,000 of those actually live on base. Bringing in 12,000 people each day through three entry control points is a "small miracle every morning."

Security forces is also hard at work to reduce speeding on base by dispersing their patrols and increasing the number of personnel certified on traffic and radar enforcement.

"People say we have a speeding problem on base," said Garcia. "I would disagree; we get lots and lots of practice of speeding on base."

The consequences are serious for speeding on base, including the points added to the individuals driving record. Twelve points in a 12-month period will result in a driving suspension on base.   

In regards to recent juvenile misconduct and vandelism at the base schools, Teen Center and laundry center, juveniles have been identified following an investigation by security forces, the Muroc School District and Kern County Sheriff's Department. The 412th Test Wing commander is currently reviewing each case for potential action.

The 412th Medical Group reminded residents to take advantage of the flu vaccination for the 2014-2015 flu season. They also gave an update on the Ebola crisis re-assuring them that the risk of Ebola spreading in the United States is "extremely low."

Ebola is not spread by air, water or in general, food. Once a patient recovers from Ebola they can no longer spread the virus and it can only be spread when a patient is exhibiting signs and symptoms of the virus.

Lt. Col. Christopher Budde, 412th Communication Squadron commander used his time to share how they are making it easier to stay informed on what's happening at Edwards. Within the next 30 days, the new Edward's AFB News and Information webpage will be up and running. The page can be accessed via the Edwards AFB homepage at www.edwards.af.mil and will provide links to the top sites for information.

For those unable to attend the town hall meeting, a video recording will be released on the Edwards AFB official Youtube channel in the near future https://www.youtube.com/EdwardsAirForceBase. Please stay tuned for further updates.