Changes set for reopening of Tinker Gate Published Feb. 25, 2011 By Nicole Turner Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- An exciting day for Tinker commuters is scheduled for March 7. The Tinker Gate and the new Pass and ID building are set to open after being closed in 2010 for construction. The project brought Tinker Gate (Gate 1) into further compliance with anti-terrorism/force protection guidance. The new gate features a serpentine lane design with concrete barriers that dissuade high-speed approaches by potential threats utilizing vehicles as weapons. If these barriers do not stop the threat, the state-of-the-art pop-up barrier system can be activated by Security Forces to "capture" a threatening vehicle. "A cool aspect of this system is that it's non-lethal, traps the occupants inside the vehicle, and is reusable with the replacement of a few low-cost parts", said Henry Koenig from the 72nd Security Forces Squadron. Tinker Gate also handles the largest workload of all the Gates on Tinker AFB. It has a total of six lanes, four inbound and two outbound. That's equal to Eaker and Turnbull Gates combined. It is the most convenient gate for personnel utilizing the Commissary and Exchange. "The new gate definitely raises the standard on Tinker and goes "good to great," said Master Sgt. Chris White, 72nd Security Forces Squadron. The new Pass and ID Building has some cool features of its own. Sergeant Santiago said it is the first new building on Tinker to "go green," meaning it is more energy efficient. The facility is heated and cooled with deep geo-thermal wells adjacent to the building. The building is one large storm shelter equipped with blast-resistant windows, four inches of concrete on the roof, and rated to withstand heavy winds. "It means if a tornado hits Tinker AFB we will have the best view on the base from safely inside our new facility," said Senior Airman Curtis Harper. Eventually the new facility will be equipped with a new suite computers, phones, and office furniture, said Tech. Sergeant David Santiago said. The new Pass and I.D. office is scheduled to open March 7. Beginning March 4, the old Pass and ID building will only produce paper passes, because all functions requiring computer and phone support will be in the process of transferring to the new building. Sergeant Santiago said moving the office has been a continuous process since July 2010 with many weekly meetings. "There has been a lot of coordination with other base functions including the 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineer directorate, the Army Corp of Engineers, the Ross Group, the company building our facility right now. It's been a great effort," Sergeant Santiago said. There will be some changes to the sponsorship process after improvements to the security posture bring Tinker into compliance with security directives. Sergeant Santiago said telephone sponsorship of visitors will no longer be allowed. People authorized to sponsor visitors will be required to physically enter Pass and I.D. to complete the process. "It's just base security. You could tell me who are on the phone but we can't actually see you," he said. "To ensure our security is robust and proactive, we must verify the identity of the sponsor, before we allow them to authorize others onto the base."