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7 April 2004 |
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http://aia.lackland.af.mil/homepages/pa/spokesman/feb04/atc7.cfm |
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It's been more than 29 years since the Air Intelligence Agency has been in the business of operating installations. In a time of cutbacks and downsizing it is unique for any DoD organization to gain an installation, but that is exactly what AIA has been tasked to do with the transition of the unique, occasionally controversial, RAF Menwith Hill Station. Situated, conspicuously, on one of England's areas of natural beauty, MHS is a 560-acre facility owned by the British Ministry of Defense, overseen by the Royal Air Force and occupied by a multi-service cadre of U.S. and UK intelligence, communications and support personnel. "It was a big opportunity for AIA to get the job of transitioning MHS to an Air Force installation." Col. Randy Roberts, Menwith Hill Station commander said. "Since the Air Force has the primary responsibility of operating several other installations in the UK it was deemed appropriate to have us take over this one." From the beginning, the primary focus of the AIA transition team has been to raise MHS to the facility and quality-of-life standards required at all Air Force installations worldwide. For the past eight years, the Army and National Security Agency had the responsibility for operating the station jointly. "We received word from Gen. Hayden at the NSA that MHS needed to follow the "one base one boss" philosophy," Colonel Roberts said. "Over time, the administrative problems that go along with having several owners caused the installation to fall behind the Air Force in many facility and quality of life areas." "It's no secret that Air Force people have the highest living standards in the military. It was decided collectively by Congress, NSA and the Air Force that making MHS "look and smell" like an Air Force installation was a good thing for the people and the mission," he added. The AIA Plans and Programs division handed the challenge of making it work. It's not very often that you come into work and find out that you will be responsible for running a base, but that is exactly the challenge the AIA Plans and Programs Division faced in April of 2002 when the MHS task was initiated. Based on the findings of an initial study by AIA/XP; the Air Staff, AIA, NSA Central Security Service, and USAFE Plans and Programs collectively decided, in December 2002, that AIA would continue the job of transitioning the base and begin providing base operating support. The long-term goal is to bring MHS up to standards acceptable to the Air Force Corporate Board. At that point, USAFE is expected to assume responsibility for the installation. Once this tasking was officially announced, a team of functional experts was established and led by Mrs. Teresa Sanchez, AIA Plans and Programs. This integrated process team was made up of groups from AIA, USAFE, ACC and NSA/CSS. "The goal was to transfer base operating support of MHS from INSCOM by Oct. 2003," Ms. Sanchez said. "To say the least, it was a huge team effort to get this thing going as quickly as we have." It was identified very early on that MHS did not fit the profile of any other installation in the Air Force. One of the biggest challenges has been coming up with a model/plan that will work specifically for MHS and having the ability to adjust it to suit the unique characteristics of the operation. "When we found out we were going to be doing this, we knew it wasn't going to be easy," Jay Lewis, director of Base Support for MHS said. "It's been 29 years since AIA has run a base, and we didn't have much to start with." "The idea here is for AIA to oversee the transition of the base and get it ready for 3rd Air Force and USAFE to take responsibility in October 2005," Lewis added. "We've had to rely on a lot of cooperation from people back at AIA, the NSA people here and in Maryland, the British MoD, as well as local employees, to get things moving quickly." The facility is geographically separated from any other Air Force installation by more than four hours, and the majority of the operations at the base are classified, which create numerous challenges in security and support issues. The base is also a regular target of local, national and international protesters and saboteurs. Some of the most obvious changes during the first six months of transition are the massive number of capital improvements and civil engineer projects initiated. In Fiscal Year 2003, more than $41 million in improvements and constructions were approved including fire station upgrades, a new 40,000-square foot mini-mall, as well as new housing units just to name a few. "A lot of emphasis has been put on bringing this place up to the Air Force standards," MSgt. Mimi Ducane, superintendent of Plans said. Every person on the initial transition team and everyone who joined the team since last July has been required to learn about building an Air Force base. You won't find many people doing just one job at MHS. Making this place look like the Air Force has required a lot of flexibility and long hours by everyone, Sergeant Ducane added. The tentative plan for MHS is for as many as 146 new Air Force positions to be either created or converted in the next 18 months. "We've had to look at every single person, building and job title and determine how to meet the requirements," Sergeant Ducane added. Another almost immediate improvement for the station has been the improvement of medical services. Until recently, active-duty people stationed at MHS were attended to mostly by British physicians from the UK's National Health System. "The level of healthcare at MHS has never been poor, however, there are some differences between our practices of medicine." Maj. Mike Shipman, MHS clinical director said. "In the past there were a substantial number of military members put on profile here. One of our big accomplishments has been to drastically reduce the absenteeism by having an Air Force physician here permanently on station," he added. The goal by October 2005 is to have a fully functional and fully staffed medical clinic available to both military members and dependents for all but major medical services. "By having our own treatment facility on station we have lowered our dependence on the NHS for care," Col. Steven Oksol, AIA Surgeon General said. "The leadership at AIA has been very quick in providing everything we need to take care of the people here." "It's amazing the amount of cooperation and the speed we've been able to make changes," he added. Perhaps of highest importance has been the consolidated effort not to interrupt base MWR services such as the consolidated club, bowling alley and Child Development Center. "Ms. Joanne Ness at USAFE and Nonna Carlson at AIA worked miracles to keep these services uninterrupted," Ms. Sanchez said. "If you ever visit MHS you know how important these services are to the people over there." The History of MHS In a part of the United Kingdom mostly dominated by sheep farms the Buck Rogers-looking radomes of MHS have been a part of the landscape for nearly 50 years.
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