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Sponsorship program expedites visitor’s gate access

By Marian AccardiSeptember 25, 2024

Under the new Visitor Sponsorship Program, some visitors to post will be able to skip the line at the Visitor Control Center and proceed directly to the gate. They’ll gain access by presenting their driver’s license to be scanned.
Under the new Visitor Sponsorship Program, some visitors to post will be able to skip the line at the Visitor Control Center and proceed directly to the gate. They’ll gain access by presenting their driver’s license to be scanned. (Photo Credit: Erin Elise Enyinda) VIEW ORIGINAL

A new Redstone Arsenal Visitor Sponsorship Program is designed to help reduce wait times at the Visitor Control Center and provide easier installation access for an organization’s visitors and guests.

“It is available for sponsors to enroll in and use,” said Garrison Access Control Officer Dereck Haywood, who has been working to develop the web-based sponsorship program. It had been tested with some tenants on post.

Tenants interested in participating in the program are asked to identify individuals within the organization who will sponsor visitors and guests and contact Haywood for inquiries or requests for designation as a sponsor and training. He can be contacted at dereck.w.haywood.civ@army.mil or 256-313-5032.

If vetting for a visitor or guest is successful, “your guests don’t even have to come by the visitor center, they go straight to a gate with their driver’s license, we scan their driver’s license and they come on post,” Chief of Physical Security Brian Reinwald said at the Commander’s Update Brief on Sept. 18.

“This should reduce our waiting times at the visitor center, and it should help in getting some of your guests and visitors onto the installation in a more efficient manner.”

The program is directed at Garrison and tenant organizations which routinely make visitor requests through the Visitor Control Center.

Other information about the program:

·        Sponsors will be designated by their organization in writing and a copy provided to the Garrison Physical Security office.

·        The program will provide a measure of automation to visitor requests and the vetting process.

·        The guest/visitor registration is completed via a personal computer or smartphone.

·        A single visit is limited to 31 days and must be scheduled within two weeks.

·        Vetting is usually complete within 15-30 minutes but can take up to 24 hours depending on volume.

·        Foreign nationals are prohibited from using this system and must visit the VCC with their sponsor.

·        If an error is received, visitors are directed to the VCC automatically via a text message.

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