Procedures for sponsoring guests on base change

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Damien D. Foord
  • 71st Security Forces Squadron Police Services
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Sometimes change is hard, and sometimes it is just plain annoying. Especially when a seemingly simple process, like sponsoring someone on base, becomes more complicated. 

According to the new Installation Security Instruction, you will no longer be able to call into the Visitors Center to sponsor someone on base. Instead, your physical presence will be required to make sponsorship arrangements. 

If this new procedure is frustrating to you, be assured, you are not alone. As soon as the new policy was put into effect, there were calls from all sorts of people -- from family members to commanders. 

Brittani Moore, a spouse and soon-to-be mother, sees both sides. "I can understand, as a security measure, having face-to-face contact with the sponsor. However, being nine months pregnant, working two jobs, and trying to take care of a house -- it is a major inconvenience." 

Though it may seem excessive or even over-board, in actuality, Vance is following in the footsteps of many military installations across the different services that adopted this kind of system soon after Sept. 11. As many of you know all too well, Sept. 11 was a time for the nation to take a step back and reassess how it thought about security. 

The new procedures require the sponsor to go to the Visitors Center up to 72 hours in advance and log in their guests. The security officer at the Visitors Center will record the pertinent information in the visitor log. When your guests arrive later, they can pick up their pass and meet you at your home, office or at the Club. 

Next time you have friends or family coming into town, don't forget that times have changed. While the days of a simple phone call down to the Visitors Center may be gone, a short trip is all it will take. 

In the big picture, it is a small sacrifice in exchange for another layer of safety and security for Vance's people and equipment.