Altus Air Force Base News

 

Base leadership holds Town Hall Meeting

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kenneth W. Norman
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  A Town Hall Meeting was hosted by Col. Anthony Krawietz, 97th Air Mobility Wing commander, at Club Altus, Jan. 16, 2013.

The meeting was designed to inform base residents about recent changes and to hear their questions, comments and concerns.

"There is an emphasis to build a community from within by participating, utilizing, and investing in what we already have," Krawietz said. "This forum was designed to allow personnel and families to have their voices heard."

Some of the hot topics during the meeting were the down-sizing of the Base Exchange, the quality and selection of items at the commissary, options for families at the fitness center, local water quality and possible sequestration.

"As a Senior Airman, I don't have many opportunities to hear about the issues affecting military and civilians outside of my squadron. So to be able to experience the town hall at my level is intriguing," said SrA Rhoji Fernandez, 97th Contracting Squadron contracting specialist.

"If you are having a problem and we don't know about it, then we aren't able to fix it," Krawietz said. "That's what this open forum is for, that's what our base leadership is for."

Overall the base residents were satisfied with the responses they received.

"The base leadership provided facts supporting their responses, minimized confusion by being concise, and limiting any doubt about the probable directions Altus Air Force Base is heading towards," Fernandez said.

Airmen look forward to the next Town Hall meeting and hope to see some of the issues resolved.

"As the Air Force gets leaner, the expectations for each Airman get higher to continue performing at a consistent level," Fernandez said. "The younger Airmen do as told, without question. Events like this give younger Airmen a vision to see the bigger picture. In my field of work, this type of information can help me make better decisions. I look forward to attending the next town hall with a few of the issues resolved."

Base leadership encourages all base residents to be part of the solution to any problem they find.

"It takes all of us to make it happen," Krawietz said. "We are a small community, and the beauty of being small is we know each other, we know what we need to get fixed, but it also takes all of us to get involved and to make those changes. We need to start being part of the solution. Help us help you."