Getting to know: the Pass and Tag crew

There are two people who greet hundreds of visitors at Pass and Tag Security Building before they may come aboard Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. William “Bill” Van Volkenburg and Joseph “Joe” Struve are those frontline civilians. They process applications for visitors’ passes, conduct background checks and produce identification badges for visitors. Van Volkenburg, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a retired Navy submarine veteran, came to Corpus Christi more than 40 years ago. “I served for 10 years with the Navy before leaving and joining the Corpus Christi Police Department from 1978-1983,” Van Volkenburg said. “After a few years with CCPD, I returned to the Navy to finish out my career, retiring in 1993. I began working for Security on the base the following year and have been here since.”

Struve, a Corpus Christi native, is an Air Force veteran retiring in 2010, originally enlisting with the Army in 1977. “I joined the Army as a forward observer in the field artillery community, “Struve said. “I did a couple of stints doing that, having a break in service for some time. Then in 1995, I decided to try the Air Force where I finished my military career.” Struve said he is really proud to have served his country and is happy to continue to do so by facilitating visitors’ requests to this base every day. NASCC Security Dept. also rotates its personnel at the facility. Currently, MA2 Filiberto Trevino, of Brownsville, Texas, is working at Pass and Tag while he recovers from an injury. “It is helpful to be able to come here to work while recovering because it gives me a chance to learn what these guys do here and help them out,” Trevino said. “I have only been here for two weeks, but in that time I’ve gotten to learn a new system that is another layer of security for NASCC.” Trevino said he hopes to return to duty patrolling in the next week. The Pass and Tag office is in building 1794 and open weekdays from 6 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., closed on federal holidays. For any questions or to find out more information about the services provided, call (361) 961-2376/23961454.