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Shaw reduces Sycamore Gate hours

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman John Gordinier
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Operating hours for the Sycamore Gate here will scale back to six a day on school days and will close on the weekends starting May 14, said Senior Master Sgt. Rick Cornett, 20th Security Forces Squadron operations superintendent.

The gate will be open from 6 to 8 a.m. and from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until the end of the school year, the sergeant said. Once school ends, the gate will close at least for the summer, he said. They will re-evaluate the gate's hours later this year.

The two main reasons for the change are lack of manpower due to deployments and the need to enhance security, Sergeant Cornett said.

Across the Air Force, the number of security forces Airmen deploying to support Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom has increased, Sergeant Cornett said. This means there are fewer people available to operate the gates and provide base security at the same time, he said.

To continue to provide the necessary level of security, the 20th Security Forces Squadron here reviewed the amount of traffic entering and exiting the gates and determined that the least-used gate is the one off Sycamore.

Limiting the entry points to the installation, however, will not lower security, it will enhance it, Sergeant Cornett said. The security forces members who were manning Sycamore Gate can be moved to patrol response and other security measures. Also, limiting entry and exit points on the base provides a safeguard to potential threats.

"I understand the gate closure will inconvenience many base housing residents," Sergeant Cornett said. "I would love to keep the gate open, but under these circumstances we need to close a gate if we're to meet our deployment commitments and maintain the appropriate level of security here at Shaw."