JBER and Anchorage leaders sign partnership agreements

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. William Banton
  • JBER Public Affairs
ANCHORAGE, Alaska --  Air Force Col. Brian Bruckbauer, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and 673d Air Base Wing commander, and Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, came together at the Municipality of Anchorage City Hall to sign formal agreements formed through the Air Force Community Partnership program, Friday, April 22.

The AFCP program increases opportunities for military installations and local communities to form mutually beneficial agreements, which can help reduce operating costs and achieve common economic goals.

"It's extremely beneficial for both the mayor and myself because we are both operating in a fiscally restrained environment right now," Bruckbauer said. "Every dollar matters, so if we can save money by exploring joint programs, or the joint procurement of items, it just makes policy sense to do so."

An example of a cost-saving measure JBER has been exploring with the municipality is joint training programs, which will help augment training that can benefit both organizations. In the past JBER would have to bring trainers in or send people to the Lower 48.

The program is also pursuing agreements to coordinate notification system upgrades between the base and municipality fire departments and ways to utilize JBER's disposable materials, such as old asphalt, in the community. 

The new partnerships are truly a win-win situation because the base can now work with the municipality to save money, Bruckbauer said.

"We live in a time where money is scarce and when we can find ways of working together and breaking down [barriers] we can make sure that tax dollars are spent in the best possible way," said Berkowitz.  "The partnership is providing a service not just to the taxpayers, but is making sure the base can focus on its mission and the municipality can do the job it's supposed to."

The AFCP is managed at the Air Force level by the office of the Assistant Secretary of Air Force Installations, Environment and Energy to help navigate the procedural process and provide oversight on types of partnerships that may have already been arranged at other installations. This helps alleviate road blocks because processes are already in place to find solutions.

The process is set up to help address technical and social challenges associated with partnering between multiple public and private-sector entities.

"What is great is that we have a database of ideas," said Air Force Lt. Col. James Tehero, Air Force Community Partnership program broker. "The challenge is getting those ideas to the people who are already absorbing the information so they can [say], 'let's just take that agreement [from another base] and plug it in here and change the names to JBER and Anchorage."

Bruckbauer said the day, and the program, helped formally validate a working relationship that has existed between the base and the community for some time now.

"It's a very important day," Bruckbauer said. "We were already doing this, but this formalizes an already strong relationship that we have with Mayor Berkowitz and his team, and I'm just proud to be a part of that."