Q: Dear Sir, I have been unable to find any contact information for the oversight of MWR on the Web site to address them directly. On Wednesday evening, Sept. 5, our soccer practice was called off at 5:30 p.m. by an MWR employee coming to the field to announce that “the base had gone to TCOR-1.” At 6 p.m., I received a phone call that the Hourly CDC would be closed Thursday until 9 a.m. Friday for the same reason. According to the Web site and television station, we were still at TCOR-3, and went to TCOR-2 shortly thereafter. All of this may turn out to be merited, but I feel that the premature decisions on the part of MWR have implications that they do not recognize. Without belaboring my own personal situation as a working parent with a TDY spouse, I would like to know why MWR does not follow the lead of CFAY decisions for the closure of schools and other non-mandatory functions on the base. I consider child care to be a vital service unless there are closures of other non-essential services. As an adjunct to this, is there a discrepancy between sources as to the level of typhoon readiness conditions? Where did MWR receive the information that it announced to its patrons as being at a different typhoon-threat level than the television, radio, and Web site?

A: Thank you for bringing this to our attention and please accept our sincere apologies for the mix-up. MWR activates notification of TCOR state of readiness as put out by the CFAY Emergency Operations Center (EOC). It appears in this situation, our staff inadvertently mis-communicated the current TCOR status to parents on Wednesday when informing them of Youth Sports practice cancellations. Due to the expected TCOR 1 conditions early Thursday morning, most base services, included most of MWR, were directed to secure at “close of business” Wednesday evening and not re-open Thursday morning. The communication error occurred when MWR Youth Sports staff inappropriately assumed “close of business” meant the normal workday, 4- 5 p.m., and not the end of the normal hours for their MWR activity, in this case after practice was secured. We will review procedures with all staff involved and ensure that this does not happen again in the future. In reference to the question on CDC operations, you were informed correctly that the Hourly CDC would be closed all day on Thursday in anticipation of a TCOR 1 status. This was put out at the CFAY TCOR 1 meeting held Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. and passed on through each command’s department head. Since it was anticipated that TCOR 1 would be set at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning, it made more sense to not open the CDC’s at all rather than to bring the staff in for less than two hours only to send them home again. MWR does follow exactly the closure guidance as determined by Commander, Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, who both reviews and approves these actions. We sincerely apologize again for the miscommunication that impacted your youth soccer practice.