Big changes are afoot at area military bases and Brig. Gen. Leonard Patrick, Commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing, paid a visit to the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce on Friday to talk about it.
Brig. Gen. Patrick is charged with putting three major bases — Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base and the Army’s Fort Sam Houston — under one command. It’s part of a mandate from U.S. Congress to create joint base operations to streamline services at bases across the country.
Names of the individual facilities and traditions won’t change, but in February, Lackland and Randolph will be combined. By Oct. 1, 2010, all three bases will be under Patrick’s command.
The change won’t affect Army and Air Force operations at each base — 211 units altogether — but all civilian contractors at the three bases will be working for the Air Force.
“There are going to be some growing pains,” Patrick said. And that’s why he is getting the word out early about the phased plan to shift all three bases under his command.
He spoke to an audience of about 50 people, mostly members of a military affairs committee at the New Braunfels Chamber.
To connect to his audience, Patrick likened the change to his becoming the mayor of the three bases and each base commander a town manager.
Of the 12 joint-base operations across the United States, San Antonio’s is the largest. The joint base is home to 80,000 military staffers, supports 138,000 students each year and hires a work force of 8,000.
The joint base operation has a budget of more than $800 million annually.
