Straight Talk: Giant voice, reveille

  • Published
  • By Col. Roman L. Hund
  • 66th Air Base Group Commander
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – In this week’s Straight Talk, I will address the giant voice public address system and reveille playing earlier in the day. If you have a question and are not sure where to find the answer, I encourage you to contact the Straight Talk line at 781-225-1380 or by email at Hanscom.straightalk@us.af.mil.

Q I am writing to ask if the giant voice speaker near base lodging can be turned off in the morning for reveille and evening for taps? I am staying in base lodging with my 2-year-old son and my husband who is here on temporary duty. The base has quite a lot to offer by way of parks, so he has been kept entertained. Shortly after arriving this summer, reveille switched from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. The speaker near lodging that plays it each morning is inescapable.

A I apologize for any inconvenience the giant voice public address system has caused for your family. The system is set up to utilize all speakers, including the ones at and around lodging, to alert the base community of emergency notifications. The volume is set not just for reveille, retreat and taps, but also to ensure all receive emergency notifications. Unfortunately, the giant voice system at Hanscom has one volume level for the speakers to reach specific areas and is not adjustable. I did change the time for reveille to 6:30 a.m. shortly after I took command to signal the beginning of the day. Hanscom has traditionally marked the start of the duty day at 7:30 a.m., however, many of us start our day with physical training or other activities much earlier. Most military installations use 6:30 a.m. to signal reveille.

We checked the volume on the speaker closest to lodging to ensure it was at its lowest possible volume while still reaching its intended areas. That particular speaker covers a large area to include our 66th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Civil Engineering compound. We will also look into the potential of adding additional speakers in the future to improve the coverage in that area and to minimize disruptions to our lodging residents.