Commander's Corner

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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 Col. 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

Brandon Branstetter - I live in the dorms and my friends and I were wondering how we can work on our vehicles. We can't work on them in the parking lot or anywhere on base besides the hobby shop and for those of us that work day shift we have no way of being able to work on our cars at the hobby shop because it is only open till 2 and we do not get off work until 3.
Col. Glen VanHerck
Col. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Brandon - Good news - the Auto Hobby Shop is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday - Friday, and the first and third Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m, giving you a couple hours to work on your car during the week once you get off of work and two weekend days. All of the bays are open for your use as long as there are no appointments previously scheduled by customers. The Auto Hobby Shop also has a contracted mechanic on duty who is allowed at any given time to use four bays. If he doesn't have any customers, those bays are available to anyone authorized to use the Auto Hobby Shop. I hope you give this terrific resource a chance. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact them at 696-4179. Also, I'm exploring other options for the folks in the dorms to be able to work on vehicles in other on-base locations. Once I have an answer I will pass it along to my Public Affairs office who will get in touch with you. Thanks for your question.
 
QUESTION

Lacey Lyde - Hi there! I have a question about the main gate intersection: there have been many times I've seen people crowd the intersection and interfering with through traffic as well as people constantly running yellow AND red lights when they did not have adequate time to make a safe entry. I have asked Security Forces a few times who watches that area and never get a clear answer if it's military or Abilene authorities jurisdiction. I'm tired of people being reckless and would hate to see someone get into an accident so needlessly. Is there something that can be done about this? Thank you for reading!

Col. Glen VanHerck
Col. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Lacey - thank you for you for bringing this to my attention. Driving safe doesn't begin or end at the front gate for Team Dyess--we all have a responsibility to be good neighbors to Team Dyess and to the Abilene community, so I expect all of our Airmen to be safe and courteous drivers 24/7 no matter where they are. The area you're asking about is under the jurisdiction of our partners in the Abilene Police Department. While this area is out of our jurisdiction, our 7th Security Forces Squadron meets monthly with our local law enforcement agencies and has a great working relationship with APD. At their next meeting, our SFS leadership has informed me that they will certainly bring up your concern about the traffic congestion at the intersection of Arnold and Diversion Roads. Thank you again for highlighting this important safety issue.
 
QUESTION

Birgit Strobel - Good evening. Is it possible to visit the Dyess AFB and to make photos of the military jets? my brother 'military photographer' (we are from Germany) is on vacation in the area of San Francisco, San Diego, Texas, ecc. It would be fantastic if you see any possibility. Please be so kind and let me know. Thank you so much. Best regards, Birgit Strobel
Col. Glen VanHerck
Col. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Birgit - I hope you and your brother enjoy your visit to the United States, and of course your time here in Texas. Unfortunately, for security concerns we do not normally grant access to our flightline to private citizens for tours. If you are in the Abilene, Texas, area we do want to welcome you to visit our museum. Located just north of our main gate, it is free and open to the general public from 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. I'm sorry we are not able to accommodate your request, but I wish you safe travels while you are here.