Traffic Control

  • Published
Ellsworth AFB, S.D. --  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 

Dear Sir,

On Tuesday morning during the Dakota Thunder Rally, there were several individuals doing traffic control at the intersection of LeMay Blvd and Ellsworth St. These individuals were not in military uniform, but were wearing bright orange traffic vests. Their job, as it seemed was to hold off regular base traffic and allow groups of bikers to move as a whole unit out to the Pride Hangar area. After driving through this particular intersection several times throughout the day during work, I saw a few things which would be considered unprofessional behavior. At one point, one of the individuals was dancing next to the stop sign in a very suggestive way. At other times, several of them did not seem to be paying any attention, but rather were engaged with their I-phones instead. And the worst thing I noticed was a bag of snacks from the Shoppette actually hanging off of the stop sign on LeMay Blvd headed southbound. As a prior member of the Air Force Security Forces, I know full well this type of behavior would never be acceptable or tolerated at any Traffic Control Point or Installation Entry Control Point, especially when there are visitors on the installation during an open-house like tour. I feel this issue should be addressed with whomever was responsible for those individuals so as to prevent any future perceptions visitors of our installation may have. As for the gentlemen working the other traffic control point at Davis St. and Ellsworth St., they seemed very professional and attentive.

Thank you

Col. Mark Weatherington
Col. Mark
Weatherington		   RESPONSE

Thank you for your question regarding the Dakota Thunder Motorcycle Run and your observations regarding traffic control.

This annual event allowed visitors to the Black Hills and local military to participate in a unique, safe and free event that showcased Ellsworth personnel and hardware in a very positive way in an Open House type environment.

This year, the Dakota Thunder motorcycle club, a private organization, stepped up to provide traffic control for the event after training from wing safety and security forces. This reduced the burden on security forces which normally accomplish the intersection traffic control duties to efficiently flow the large number of motorcycles onto the installation. These volunteers, working on their own time, spent four and a half hours on post in the warm weather we experienced that day with only an occasional break. I asked the club to hot wash the event and specifically to address the concerns you mentioned.