Photo by Adriana Salas De Santiago
A look at the new light switch and sign that allows for WSMR community members to turn on the Sgt. Brian Pedro track lights for 60 minutes at a time. The new light switch came out of an AFAP issue that was presented Dec. 16, 2015. The issue was fixed in less than a month.
An Army Family Action Plan issue that was brought up in December 2015 that involved lighting at the Sgt. Brian Pedro Field on White Sands Missile Range has been resolved in less than a month and will save the installation nearly $1,300 a year.
“Talk about progress. That’s why we do it this way. We meet quarterly because it’s more timely…we’re able to get a resolution quicker than if did it once a year,” said Army Family Action Plan Coordinator Patsy Gomez. “We get a lot of things accomplished when someone brings it to our attention.”
During Dec. 16, 2015 quarterly Army Family Action Plan meeting, an issue was brought up about the Sgt. Brian Pedro track lights being on all night. Present at that meeting where White Sands Missile Range Garrison Commander Col. Brian Michelson and WSMR Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Bill Wofford. WSMR Energy Manager Craig Collins said he was approached by Michelson to figure out a solution to the problem.
“The Colonel said we could do better. We could set up a timer that people could have access to,” Collins said.
The lights were originally programmed to turn on for two hours in the evening and two hours in the early morning for military service member’s physical training, Collins said. There was a timer for the lights but Collins said only employees had access to it. The timers were said to have been malfunctioning recently because residents were reporting that the lights were on all night.
Within less than a month Collins and his team was able to install a timer parallel to the basketball court light timer with a visible sign for visitors. The timer goes up to 60 minutes. Collins said the new timer provides a savings to the installation since one can turn on the lights at their leisure instead of having the lights on all night.
“That’s the kind of feedback I need from the community. I really need the community to help me save energy,” Collins said.
There were two other issues that were also brought up in this quarter. The other involved the fiberglass material from bleachers at the track that stuck to individuals who sat on it, and another issue was the suggestion of curbside recycling for residents. The curbside recycling issue was handled during the meeting because a White Sands Housing representative was present. The representative advised that curbside recycling is not cost effective for the company but they were going to look into emptying their bins more often and obtaining more blue bins for residents.
“There’s got to be a resolve. It stays as an open issue until something is done,” Gomez said.
Prior to meeting quarterly, the Department of Defense required installations to meet once a year and set aside three days to address issues throughout the installation. Gomez said they were able to stray away from that guidance and develop their own standard of operations that has worked well for the installation.
“This allows us to be more efficient and more effective. If you’re only dealing with one or two issues people respond. When you’re given 20 issues it gets more difficult,” Gomez said. “You don’t have to wait, you don’t have to let it fester.”
For more information on how to submit an AFAP issue or to submit an AFAP issue contact Patsy Gomez at (575) 678-1502 or e-mail patricia.a.gomez32.civ@mail.mil.