Polar Express auto, craft shops offer multitude of money-saving activities

  • Published
  • By Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert Barnett
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  During the past 15 years or so, Air National Guard Master Sgt. Curtis Graham has gone to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Polar Express Auto Arts and Crafts Center.
Graham, a native of Eagle River, works for the 176th Maintenance Squadron as a metals technology supervisor and uses the auto section of the facility regularly to work on his own vehicle.

"They are real helpful," he said. "You are never an inconvenience. They are a real user-friendly place."

The Auto Arts and Crafts Center make it their mission to help customers, said Dwayne Daniel, the facility manager and also a native of Eagle River.

"We bend over backwards for customers in general," he said. "We take our mission seriously; it's about helping the military community."

Many auto shops in the lower 48 have outdoor work stations, he said.

"That's not really an option here," Daniel said. "We also don't have to worry about any
contaminant leaving our shop and getting into the environment."

"This being Alaska, you need a good indoor facility to work on your vehicle," Graham said. "I always tell guys at my shop that it's a good place to work on your own vehicle."
They could use a bigger facility, he said. "The popularity is there. Word of mouth has gotten around and people pass that information onward."

"We're there to train our customers in how to use the equipment and facility," Daniel said. "With our mission, about 80 percent of the work is done by our customers."
The specific situation makes the difference.

When Graham works on his vehicle, performing various general tasks such as turning a wrench, Daniel might advise and instruct.

The goal is to provide Graham with the skills so eventually he'd be able to come in and use those skills and the provided tools to do the work he needs done.

Some of the equipment required to do the work gets too technical to handle without additional training.

"If a guy wanted to weld something, we'd do it for him," Daniel said. "Later, we'd educate him so that he would have that skill set."

Providing the skills, equipment and facility can save customers a lot of money.

"It's pretty cool to save them money," Daniel said. "If you add it all together, we save our
customers almost $3 million a year."

While they are commonly known for their auto skills section, the self-help facility also contains a picture framing and matting shop, a wood shop, fine arts multi-craft shop, engraving shop, and a three-bay car wash.

"I took the framing class about a month ago," said Navy Capt. Joel Jungemann, Alaskan Comman Director for plans, policy and resources.

"They give you some basic framing instructions and after that they turn you loose to go
as advanced as you want with those basic skills," Jungemann said. "It's a definite cost saver over taking it off-base - and you get it exactly the way you want it."

The facility will soon grow as the Far North Arts and Crafts Center merges into it.
The Elmendorf-side facility will officially close March 11 due to budget constraints.
To fill in the gaps and continue providing as much service as possible, the combined Polar Express Auto Arts and Crafts shop will officially open March 18.

"I love to see a smile on the face of a customer," said Daniel. "When they finish their work because of the skills they've learned (here) and they have saved all that money, that's the most rewarding thing in this job."