Captain’s Column

One of my duties in commanding NASCC is to assess threats to our base and our base population.

In that respect, my team has developed numerous plans and standard operating procedures to cover various scenarios.

They consider and plan for threats ranging from hurricanes to gate runners, and they work hard to develop methods to respond to these situations to ensure the safety of our personnel and resources.

One of the concerns or threats to our safety that currently concerns me is the drivers on base.

I have seen people driving exceeding the speed limit, running through stop signs and even texting as they travel our roads. I have also gotten the same feedback from many base residents and employees.

What is the rush?

Think about it, when exceeding the speed limit, running through a stop sign or texting while driving, you are half a second away from a tragic traffic accident occurring on our roads – an accident that could easily cause bodily injury or even death.

Collectively, we accept way too much risk and give up precious reaction time by driving too fast or looking at our phones.

I can only imagine what it would feel like to be the cause of the death of a child while racing through our housing areas or looking at my phone while driving. Can you?

To help address this “threat,” I have directed our Security department to increase patrols on our roads, enforcing traffic violations, deterring speeding and texting, and help drivers restore the proper safety mindset on our roads.

We should all feel safe walking on base, sending our kids to the bus stop, or driving to and from work. So please help me change the culture!

I’d like to thank the PPV housing residents who brought this subject to our attention at our recent resident town hall meeting. For those who missed the meeting, please look for a summary of what was discussed – it will be published on our Naval Air Station Corpus Christi Facebook page.

We received a lot of great feedback from our residents and are eager to work with our PPV housing provider on improved service to our residents.

More to follow!

See you out there on the base, and please remember: phone down - slow down!