Smoking After PT

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The Commander's Action Line is a forum for the Ellsworth community to make suggestions or voice concerns about Ellsworth directly to Col. Mark Weatherington, 28th Bomb Wing commander. 

QUESTION 
I recently moved to Ellsworth and am experiencing the Air Force for the first time as this is my husband's first duty station. Earlier this week, I was heading into the Pride Hangar to go for a workout and just outside the door, maybe 10 feet away from the door, was a person in his PT gear smoking a cigarette. As a person in healthcare, this greatly frustrated me. I've been told that you need to be 50 feet away from a building when smoking (as you do in most communities), but my other concern is watching a member of the Armed Forces smoking directly after their PT session! Have I been correctly informed on the distance you should be smoking, and if so how is this enforced? Also, what is, if anything, being done about members smoking, directly after PT? None of this seems right in a "fit to fight" community.
Col. Mark Weatherington
Col. Mark
Weatherington
RESPONSE
Thank you for your concern and for your dedication to fitness. Regulations prohibit smoking in the vicinity of doors, windows, and air intake vents around all facilities. Smokers should be far enough away that it does not interfere with visitors coming and going from a facility. The PRIDE Hangar does not have a designated smoking area and we will place "Designated No Smoking Area" signs near the entrance to the facility. Enforcement of the no smoking policy falls to the AF Members and patrons of the Pride Hangar, as it is not currently staffed.

The Air Force encourages military members to maintain a healthy tobacco free lifestyle and offers programs to help Airmen stop tobacco use. However, we do not prohibit an individual's personal choice to smoke, even immediately after a PT session.