FORT SILL, Okla. (Jan. 22, 1015) -- Construction of the Visitor Control Center (VCC) on Sheridan Road is complete as it prepares to begin operations Feb. 17.
"The facility was completed the first week of January," said David Dold, Directorate of Public Works Design Branch chief. Since then workers have been placing furnishings, and preparing communication lines.
The purpose of the VCC is for people to obtain temporary passes to visit or perform work on Fort Sill. Any visitor who does not possess a DoD issued ID card must go through the VCC.
Directorate of Emergency Services employees began using the facility Jan. 20, issuing passes to contract workers from the Logistics Readiness Center and the dining facilities. The VCC will have a soft opening Feb. 3, where gate security guards will randomly select vehicles whose occupants do not have DoD identification and redirect them to the VCC.
The 3,000 square-foot VCC, designated as Building T-6701, features four service windows and a large waiting area for visitors, Dold said. The four-wide mobile home includes a handicapped access ramp, restroom facilities, including a handicapped bathroom.
There is parking for 50-plus vehicles, including four ADA-compliant handicapped parking spaces. The parking area is lit by flood lights, and there is overflow parking on the sides of the gravel parking lot.
The mobile home VCC is a temporary structure and in about one year a permanent facility will open.
STAFFING
The VCC will be staffed by DES Department of Army security guards, civilians and Soldiers, said Bob Pirtle, DES director. No additional workers were hired for the mission.
The VCC has the capability to open two portable service-desk terminals, in addition to the four service windows. The center is not a vehicle inspection site, and visitors do not provide insurance or vehicle registration information.
The VCC will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its operations will not affect the hours of the post's gates.
INCREASED SECURITY
The change in post access is to comply with a presidential mandate to increase security standards at DoD installations.
"This is a good thing because there are folks who only want to come onto Fort Sill for purposes of no good, such as theft," Pirtle said.
Most Army posts are currently implementing the same security procedures, Pirtle said.
"I've been talking to Fort Benning (Ga.), Fort Riley (Kan.), Fort Carson (Colo.) and other places, and they are no further along than we are," Pirtle said. "But (Fort) Bragg has been doing this for awhile."
The director emphasized that Fort Sill is not closing to visitors, and that he encourages people to
visit whether it's to see the museums, landmarks, recreational activities, graduations, concerts or
to see friends.
"Please come to Fort Sill, don't feel like you can't visit," he said.
FS-118a
When a visitor submits the FS-118a form "Request for unescorted installation visitor to Fort Sill" whether in person or online, the information is run through the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommuni-cations System (OLETS), which is a closed law enforcement database. The information is put through Level 3 -- the highest level of scrutiny and very detailed, Pirtle said.
"It provides a person's complete criminal history," Pirtle said.
Still, potential visitors shouldn't worry.
"If you had a DUI 40 years ago, I'm not concerned about that," he said.
In contrast, the Mobilisa hand-held scanners used by gate security guards search open law enforcement databases for things such as active warrants, or to see if an individual is on a post's barred list.
Using OLETS is in accordance with the mandated DoD security regulations to assess a person's fitness screening determination to enter an installation, Pirtle said. The Level-3 screening is the minimum screening criteria required by the mandate.
There are 11 areas in OLETS that will disqualify a person from entering Fort Sill.
"We don't have to share with you which one you hit, it's not releasable," Pirtle said. "Folks know their own history."
The director could not release those 11 areas of disqualification, however, he said think of obvious things, i.e., murder, sex offenses, terrorist activities.
Pirtle asked visitors to be patient as the new VCC procedures are implemented.
"Give us a chance to work with you, some of this is going to be discovery learning for us," he said.
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