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McChord becomes part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord

  • Published
  • By Sandra Pishner
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Reservists in the 446th Airlift Wing no longer report to McChord Air Force Base, Wash., for their Reserve drill weekends or any other homestation tour of duty. Reservists now report to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, McChord Field.

Reservists in the Air Force Reserve Command wing still report to the same place; only the name has changed. On Feb. 1,the three primary areas of the installation officially changed as well. Main Post becomes JBLM Main, North Fort becomes JBLM North and McChord Air Force Base will be known as JBLM McChord Field.

Feb. 1 became the start of initial operation capability for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a milestone that represents the beginning, rather than the end, of a three-phased transition process set into motion in 2007 by the Department of Defense.

"We sincerely believe that this is a natural step, the right thing to do," said Col. Thomas Brittain, the Fort Lewis U.S. Army garrison commander who uncased the colors to assume command of the joint base.

"We've served side-by-side with the Air Force around the world -- and now we are going to live and work together at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In the process, we're going to become more efficient and effective. We absolutely think that the sum is going to be greater than the parts."

Col. Kenny Weldon, 62nd Mission Support Group commander, became the JBLM deputy commander.

In its scale, Joint Base Lewis-McChord is the most complex and difficult of the Army-led consolidations under the direction of the Department of Defense's Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Colonel Brittain said. Eleven other installations are in various stages of the same process.

By design, few of those living or working on the new joint base will notice any change at all.

Reservists in the 446th Airlift Wing will continue to work in concert with its 62nd Airlift Wing partners in executing the mission. Installation support will come from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord organization.  The 446th AW remains a supported unit on the installation reporting to Air Force Reserve Command.

According to Chief Master Sgt. Jeanmarie Kautzman, the new mailing address for McChord AFB will be Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA, which can not be abbreviated as JBLM WA; it must be spelled out - Joint Base Lewis-McChord WA 98438.

As joint base commander, Colonel Brittain is responsible to deliver installation services to all DOD customers on the joint base. The first and third two-month phases will gear up and wind down transitional activities. They will flank a more substantive, four-month phase from April 1 through July 31, during which the most complex organizations will consolidate.

"Our approach was that we're going to do the relatively easy things in Phase 1," said Colonel Brittain, "(including) the smaller organizations and some components of the larger ones. Then we get a little bit more complex and we learn from our mistakes as we move forward."

The process will culminate Oct. 1 in achievement of Full Operational Capability, which marks the completion of all remaining consolidations. (Don Kramer, Northwest Guardian, contributed to this story)