Commander's Corner

Published Oct. 29, 2013

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Commander's Corner is a forum for the Dyess community to make suggestions or voice concerns about Dyess directly to Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck, 7th Bomb Wing commander. Each week the Dyess Public Affairs office solicits questions via the official Dyess Facebook page, offering people an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers directly from the wing commander.

QUESTION

Shari Drattlo - Jordan Clark of 7th Medical Group was promoted to Staff
Sergeant August 9, 2011. I have never been able to find any photos of that
promotion. Can you please send me a link for his promotion? We are so very
proud of him. Thank you.

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Shari - I completely understand you want to locate photos from that
occasion--each promotion marks an important step in a servicemember's
career, but promotion to staff sergeant is a particularly meaningful one, as
entry into the NCO Corps signifies the Air Force's confidence in the
member's ability to perform at the next level of leadership and
responsibility. I spoke with our Public Affairs staff, and they do post
promotion ceremony photos online so that they are available to our Airmen,
their families and friends, but in order to operate within their file size
limit, they can only keep event photos from the four most recent months
posted at any given time. However, I have been told they retain the last two
years' worth of photos on file in their office, so you may be in luck. You
can contact them at (325) 696-2863 to request that these photos be emailed
directly to you, if they still have them. Thanks for your question.

QUESTION

Sandy Seward Fish - No question I just want to thank Dyess for the
support I have had this deployment. It has been amazing this year and I am
very thankful.

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Sandy - That's fantastic news and I'm very pleased to hear that! We have
some incredible helping spouses and agencies at Dyess, and for those who
take advantage of them, they can truly help to ease the challenges of a
deployment. The sense of community here is unparalleled--members of Team
Dyess never fail to impress me with their willingness to lend a hand to a
friend or family in need. If you get the chance, please let the people who
have helped you out know how much you appreciate their support. When your
spouse returns home, I hope you both get some well-deserved time together.
And when his next deployment comes around, be sure to return the favor by
taking care of some of the other spouses and families in his squadron.
Thanks so much for sharing this positive note with me!

QUESTION

Stanlee Sammee - Sir, As I went through the front gate last week I
noticed that the car next to me went through the gate without showing their
ID. When I questioned the SP about this, she stated that he was a cop and
did not need to show their ID. I was just wondering if the 100% ID check
only applies to everyone else?

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Stanlee - Thanks for bringing this matter to my attention. As I've
mentioned in previous posts, I've directed a 100-percent I.D. check
requirement at Dyess. Security Forces Airmen and DoD gate guards have no
discretion on this matter. Protecting the base and its resources begins with
controlling access at the gate, and the safety of those who live on, work
at, and visit Dyess is too important for me to allow our gate guards to make
any exceptions to this policy. 100 percent ID checks, mean exactly that -
100 percent - either visual inspection of the ID or with the added
capability of the Defender using the Defense Biometrics Identification
System. The only person who can issue an exemption to this policy is myself.
I take following simple processes like this very seriously, because if were
not following this process what other processes are we failing to comply
with? I've brought this issue to the attention of my Security Forces
Squadron commander and you should not see this happen again.

QUESTION

Carly Rose - First I'd like to mention, I enjoy Commander's Corner. It's
a nice way to reach out to people, espically spouses. Thank you.
I'm with Stanlee, I have seen cars in front of me pass through the gate
without showing an ID, today (the 25th) as a matter offact, and numerous
times in past weeks. I've never asked as to why, but assume they are friends
with the SFs working the gate.
I have another question, it seems recently that out-going traffic at the
main gate has been stopped for at least 15-20 minutes, specifically last
Thursday (the 17th), and several other times before that. What is the
cause/reason for stopping traffic leaving base, but allowing traffic to
continue to come onto base?

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Carly - Thanks for the compliment. I enjoy interacting with our Dyess Airmen and families and Facebook is just one more avenue that I can use to reach out. I hope I was able to address your concern regarding ID checks in my response to Stanlee. To answer your question regarding the traffic stoppage, our Security Forces were likely conducting what is called a "stop, check and pass." These types of out-going traffic stops are typically conducted when our Security Forces members are looking for a suspect or when we have an intrusion alarm in one of our facilities on base. The safety and security of Dyess Airmen and families and the preservation of our resources is of the highest importance to me and I thank you for your continued patience during these necessary stops.

QUESTION

Brittany Czekalski - My first question has been on my mind for a while,
but I always forget it. What exactly dictates the number of assigned parking
(more specifically, the number of CMSgt, Gen/Col, etc.) at the major
buildings such as the BX and gym and others? I've seen differences, drastic
ones, at various other bases -- from different branches of service, even --
and it baffles me that we have so many assigned spots while other bases have
so few.

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Brittany, Air Force Manual 31-116 grants the Installation Commander the authority to allocate the number and type of reserved parking spaces, which is why you've seen the varied numbers at other bases. Interestingly, the number and type of reserved parking spots was a topic of recent discussion between myself, my Mission Support Group and Civil Engineering Squadron commanders. I've asked them to take a closer look at the parking spots at the BX and the Commissary, specifically to ensure that we are best allocating our reserved spots. In the coming weeks, our civil engineers are going to potentially reallocate the parking spots and types at those two areas and present their thoughts to Col. Yates, my Mission Support Group commander. Once he makes his decision, based on their recommendations, I'll have the final say on any changes that we make to the assigned parking spots. Hopefully this answers your question.