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Town hall: 51st FW/CC addresses concerns

  • Published
  • By 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Brig. Gen. Joe Reynes, 51st Fighter Wing commander, hosted a quarterly town hall meeting Oct. 10, giving all members of Team Osan a chance to directly ask questions to him. The following are the questions that were not answered at the meeting due to time constraints. 

I was here with my Korean wife to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and I had called the post office before coming here to see what could be mailed back to the states. I was told I would be able to mail back much more than I was actually able to. I would like to know why the standards for Osan's post office are different than the post offices on military installations back in the states. 

I regret to hear the post office staff gave you misinformation regarding your postal privileges. We will take measures to ensure this information is widely disseminated, as well as continue to educate the post office staff on postal restrictions and costs. This topic is regularly covered in training, but will be emphasized in upcoming sessions. 

Unfortunately, retirees are not given the same privileges afforded to active-duty service-members, such as price, size or weight of items to be mailed or guidelines regarding the issuance of a post office box. This policy is in accordance with Department of Defense guidelines, and applies to all military post offices. 

The Osan Military Post Office is considered a branch of a designated U.S. Postal Service civilian post office. It falls under the postmaster in San Francisco, though it is operated by the Department of Defense. In addition to USPS policies, it's operated in accordance with Department of Defense regulations. 

As a military post office, the mission is "to provide postal service to Department of Defense components in support of DoD missions." Active-duty personnel stationed on the Korean peninsula are their first priority. Additionally, shipping costs between overseas locations and gateways in the U.S. (San Francisco and New York) are paid by the Department of Defense, not the sender. For these two reasons and because Osan has limited personnel and resources to support its already demanding mission, we must maintain strict controls on the postal services rendered. Unfortunately, there's no way to make an exception to this Department of Defense rule. 

Please contact the 51st Fighter Wing public affairs office at 784-4044 if you have any further questions or concerns. 

Can we have a late showing of movies for those who work the late or swing shift? 

Currently, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service base theater offers a 9:30 p.m. showing Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Additionally, the theater is considering the possibility of a midnight showing on weekends. It's difficult to determine exactly what time works best for a late-night showing because people working swing shift can get off duty at different times. Finally, the theater manager is willing to arrange a special showing for a unit or units at a time that fits their work schedule. To make this possible, a unit would need to support the showing with a good turn out of customers. 

Is the jogging track near the Doolittle gate for runners only? I have seen some cyclists riding on it at very fast speeds and there are two places where they might hit joggers going in the opposite direction. 

The jogging track is for runners only. Likewise, sidewalks are for pedestrians only. If you are riding a bicycle, you are considered a vehicle/operator and are required to stay on the roadway, riding with traffic, and abiding by all the traffic signs like speed limit and stop signs. 

Can we expedite the process to bring family members on to base; it now takes 14 days prior coordination to get a base pass? 

This process, in the past, has taken up to 30 days; however, we have taken action to reduce it to a 14-day process. The best way to get approval to get family members on base in a timly manner is to submit a package early. 

Can we replace or refurbish the running track at the high school? Some type of rubberized surface would be much safer. 

The 51st Services Squadron and 51st Civil Engineer Squadron have already looked into this as well as adding artificial turf to the football field. This is currently on their list of projects to fund.