87th SFS cuts ribbon on new ECC

From left, Lt. Col. Ivory Carter, 87th Mission Support Group deputy commander; Col. James C. Hodges, 87th Air Base Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst commander; Elaina Shank, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department ECC supervisor; Tech. Sgt. Duwayne McCoy, 87th Security Forces Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge; Kevin Kaysing, 87th MSG deputy commander, and Lt. Col. Patrick Steen, 87th SFS commander, take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony at the 87th SFS Headquarters Oct. 24, 2013, at JB MDL, N.J. The new facility will consolidate all security and fire-alarm capabilities into one centralized monitoring location for JB MDL. (U.S. Air Force photo by Russ Meseroll/Released)

87th SFS cuts ribbon on new ECC

Published Nov. 8, 2013
By Airman 1st Class Ryan Throneberry
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The 87th Security Forces Squadron opened its new Emergency Communications Center during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 25, 2013, here.

The new facility consolidates all emergency, security, fire and medical communications into one centralized dispatch location for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

"You are looking at a joint venture made possible by spectacular team efforts by our civil engineer, contracting, communications and security brethren," said Lt. Col. Patrick Steen, 87th SFS commander. "This facility reduces security forces and fire dispatch functions from five separate control centers into one."

Fire department dispatchers will act as primary 911 call takers, while security forces controllers will be the primary focal point for all law enforcement dispatchers. Through joint ECC training, both fire and security forces personnel will be able to field 911, fire and law enforcement calls.

"Any off-base calls with cell phones from areas in our purview are transferred through Burlington and Ocean County dispatchers into this facility so we can dispatch accordingly," said Tech. Sgt. Duwayne McCoy, 87th SFS ECC noncommissioned officer-in-charge.

The new facility comes with new features as well. All buildings on the joint base will soon be utilizing the Advantor security system and the Monaco fire alarm system instead of outdated or nonlinear systems.

"All fire and security alarms will now be monitored through this building," said Shank. "Now that we are in the same building, it's much easier to communicate with our security counterparts to get the job done."

The joint base is no stranger to resource consolidation. The new ECC will further enhance the base's ability to maintain security and emergency services.

"Bringing five different centers down to one is a prime example of lean synergy," said Col. James Hodges, 87th Air Base Wing, JB MDL commander. "Not only do we have different cultures from the cops and firefighters here, but multiple varying service cultures from across the joint base. No matter your background, you are all here as members of the JB MDL team and each of you serve with championship caliber."