Robins commander reflects on first year

When Col. Jeff King became the 78th Air Base Wing commander at Robins, his boss told him he was taking on “the Rubik’s Cube of command.”

Lt. Gen. Lee Levy, commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, was referring to the vast array of units and missions that King was charged with supporting.

Levy’s words were even truer than he might have realized, King said Wednesday in reflecting on his first year on the job. As installation commander, his job is commonly compared to that of the mayor of a city.

King noted that a Rubik’s Cube has nine squares on each side. In preparing to take command, he spent weeks talking with his predecessor, Col. Chris Hill.

“We talked about people, processes and resources,” he said, illustrating one row of the cube with his hand, “as they relate to the Air Base Wing, partners and community,” and he then mimed another row. “It is in fact a Rubik’s Cube because they are cross-dimensional. Everyone supports and feeds each other.”

He made the comments to reporters at the Air Base Wing headquarters. King covered issues that ranged from relations with the two unions on base to infrastructure problems.

He said he is pleased with the state of relations with the unions, and he said workplace grievances are trending downward.

But he cited infrastructure as an area where the base needs to make improvements. He noted that construction of the base began 75 years ago this September, and 250 buildings on base are over 70 years old. The runway control tower, he said, is outdated and needs to be replaced.

He said a top priority is to seek restoration of funding that was cut as the Department of Defense focused on front-line readiness.

“Robins is not unique in that way, but I think it’s important to continue to address those issues,” he said.

Also Wednesday King said:

▪  No decision has been made on what to do with the hangar vacated by the Marine helicopter unit that recently departed. King said there is no immediate need for it, and it could be left available for a new future mission — or some other use.

“We are keeping our options open,” he said. “There is definitely going to be a use for it.”

▪  The 57 acres south of the museum that were cleared for a solar array might be re-forested. The solar array fell through after Georgia Power said the company it contracted with to build it failed to meet obligations.

▪  The base has saved $2 million in travel expenses by partnering with the local medical community to have required training for medical professionals on base. Base personnel previously had to go elsewhere to get the training.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Robins commander reflects on first year."