AF Community Partner Initiative comes to Hanscom

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Green-Lanchoney
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Members of Hanscom and local community leaders attended the first Community Partnership workshop at the Minuteman Commons here March 19.

The Hanscom Community Partnership program is part of an Air Force initiative through which agencies on the installation and public and private sector community leaders develop ways to leverage capabilities and reduce costs or risk by finding shared value.

"The Air Force's Community Partnership program will be an extension of the already robust relationships we have with our local community," said Col. Lester A. Weilacher, 66th Air Base Group commander. "I am confident that together we will find new and innovative ways to mutually sustain and enhance cost-effective programs while supporting common goals and interests."

Community leaders agreed that this formal initiative will build on existing bonds between the base and its host communities.

"This is an extension of a partnership that has been going on for decades," said Mike Rosenberg, a selectman from Bedford.

The goal of this initiative is to enhance mission viability and improve the quality of life for Airmen while implementing collaborative projects that reduce the cost of operations and services along with risks while also providing mutual value to the government entities and local communities.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the local community to show support for the base and to help identify ways to partner," said Peter Braun, chairman of the Lincoln Board of Selectmen.

More than 20 members of the local and regional area attended the workshop. Potential initiatives range from environmental mitigation to cooperative police training and support.
"The Secretary of the Air Force Installation, Environment and Logistics office is leading the Community Partnering Initiative, which is a nation-wide Air Force effort for bases to join with local communities and governments with program, infrastructure and effort sharing," said Lt. Col. David Skiba, SAF partnership broker. "This program will reduce operating costs for bases and their local participants by reducing duplication of efforts and providing cost-sharing opportunities, and it will allow for Air Force bases to become more of an integral part of their local communities."

Air Force organizers also encouraged participants to think about all possibilities, even those that might have been attempted unsuccessfully in the past.

"Just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean we can't do it today," said Kyle Massey, a technical consultant to the Air Force who is helping to coordinate the effort.

This was the first of five workshops that are scheduled to occur in 2014. Future meetings will focus on culling the list of ideas into a smaller set of agreed-upon efforts and on trying to bring them to fruition.