New electronic signs outside base funded by Enid, OMSPC

Published June 26, 2013
By Jamie Topliff
71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The city of Enid, with assistance from the Oklahoma Military Strategic Planning Commission, has installed two new dynamic-message signs, similar to the base marquees, on Cleveland Street and Southgate Road just before the entrances to Vance Air Force Base.

The signs will be operated by the 71st Security Forces Squadron and will display updates on gate closures and other traffic-related announcements, said Vance Air Force Base civil engineer Donita Hazlett.

Jeff Simon, 71st Communications Squadron operations flight chief, said the sign company, Daktronics, will be on site the week of July 15 to install the software and test the connections. The signs are scheduled to be operational in mid-July, said Simon.

Funding for the signs comes from OMSPC and the local community, said Mike Cooper, chairman of OMSPC.

OMSPC was set up through state legislation in 2003 to protect and enhance the military communities in Oklahoma. The primary goal of OMSPC is to increase the military facilities' mission capability and decrease their costs, Cooper said.

OMSPC is comprised of a representative from each of the five military base communities, a House member, a Senate member and the Oklahoma state secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Each year, $1.5 million is allocated to OMSPC to be distributed amongst Oklahoma's military communities with the stipulation that those communities match at least 10 percent of what the state provides.