Interactive Customer Evaluation (ICE) Responses

Comment Regarding Barracks A/C:

Several comments have been submitted regarding A/C in the NAS I and NAS II barracks. Some have identified that the A/C was not operational, and others have raised issue with the ability of the A/C to adequately cool their rooms.

Response:

Thank you to everyone who has spoken up about A/C issues in the barracks. This is currently my #1 priority maintenance issue. Summer has arrived in full force, and I understand how important having functional A/C is to the health and morale of our unaccompanied service members living in the barracks. I know that many in the barracks, especially on NAS I, are dealing with uncomfortable temperatures in their rooms. Please know that I am personally committed to promptly tracking and repairing the issues and following up until they are resolved.

As a general status update, the A/C in all barracks has been turned on as of May 29. In the NAS I barracks, issues with the A/C chiller units have been identified, and Public Works is working on a long term solution to the equipment problem. In the meantime, PW has been able to employ a solution to temporarily run A/C from 2000- 0600, helping to cool temperatures in the barracks at night. In the NAS II barracks, PW has identified several rooms that have isolated A/C issues, and is working to resolve those.

For all barracks, the thermostats are set to have A/C engage for temperatures above 24-24.5 degrees Celsius (approximately 75-76 degrees Fahrenheit). The housing department has posted flyers in the barracks that show residents how to properly use the HVAC controls in their individual rooms. If you feel that your room temperature is warmer than it should be, please report it.

As a reminder, the quickest way to resolve any barracks issue is by reporting it immediately via proper channels. If the problem arises after hours, contact your resident advisor or duty complex manager. During business hours, please report any issues to your building manager. A full list of contacts is provided below.

Business hours: NAS I building managers: DSN 624-3162/3324 or COMM 095-86-3162/3324 NAS II building managers: DSN 624-8689/8690 or COMM 095-86-8689/8690

After hours/weekends: Duty complex manager: 335-578-5520 NAS I duty RA: 335-193-8893

Comment Regarding Security Escort Policy:

There seems to be no written guidance or standard operating procedure for how to go about requesting unescorted access to foreign nationals to NAS I/NAS II who work for our other U.S. European bases. There are continual differences in verbal direction with no concrete protocol. This results in random denials or misinformation at each step. This causes a last-minute scramble which results in frantic attempts to smooth things over or “make it work.” The leadership seems to be unaware that this difficulty occurs, when many of the tenant commands here have regional functions and are in need of bringing others in from around theater. Is there a way to come up with an actual SOP for this? The process is painful and littered with holes and misinformation.

Response:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the access control policy for citizens of countries other than the U.S. and Italy for NAS Sigonella. First, I’d like to mention that we have a very diverse base population with diverse access needs that make access protocol extremely complicated. We have active duty and reservist military, civilians, contractors, dependents, and visitors not only from the U.S., but from Italy and other NATO nations.

But we do, in fact, have an established process for the scenario you describe which allows foreign nationals with access to other European bases to gain unescorted access to NAS Sigonella. In complicated scenarios like this one, early communication with my Security Department is the key to success.

For NAS I access, I have the authority to grant unescorted access. Chapter 12 of the Commander, Navy Installation Command Instruction 5530.14A is the authoritative guidance on access control, which states that locally-generated identification cards are only valid on the installation that created them. This means that local nationals from other installations in our region do not automatically have unescorted access on NAS Sigonella and vice versa. That being said, there are mechanisms in place to grant unescorted access.

The CNIC instruction requires a certain level of vetting to include a criminal history check, (referred to as a “Penale” in Italy), along with other checks that the Security Department conducts. Background checks from countries other than Italy must be translated by reputable source such as an Embassy.

For NAS II access, the Italian Air Force Commander has the authority to grant unescorted access. The Italian Air Force requests 30 to 45 days lead time to conduct their checks.

To avoid the confusion and scrambling you reference above, I cannot stress how important it is to have Security involved early on in the planning process. Please reach out to the Physical Security Officer, Mr. Lew Biddlecome, at the Pass & ID Office for any future inquiries involving base access.

Comment Regarding Postal Service:

I would like to take a minute to appreciate how professional and helpful SN Tucker was. There was a full line of people waiting to pick up mail from the post office and it seemed like he was the only one helping everyone. As the line got shorter he apologized to everyone for how long the wait was and you could tell he was trying his best to help everyone as best as he could. You can tell that he truly cares about his job, performance, and professionalism.

Response:

Thank you for taking a moment to highlight your positive customer service experience at the post office. I will make sure to pass along your comments to SN Tucker.

Positive feedback like yours helps us constantly improve our customer service by letting us know what we are doing correctly and what we can continue to improve on. For future comments or concerns, feel free to contact Fleet Mail Center Postal Officer, Ajaka Chesterfield, at DSN 624-5558 / COMM: 095-86-5558.