March 28, 2008
Q: Below is the response to an ICE comment I submitted two weeks ago. I was aware of the solution to the heating problem, just disgruntled that it took three years to repair, however the answer provided concerning the removal of the off base phone in the CPO Club is totally unacceptable. The Duty Manager has a lot of duties, especially when there is an event upstairs, and cannot always be easily located. Additionally the bar/restaurant staff cannot be expected to use their personal cell phones to call a taxi for patrons. As a retired master chief and a proponent of the “None for the Road” I believe an off base telephone needs to be made available in all clubs as an avenue for the patrons to find an alternate means of transportation home. If the Japanese telephone company NTT didn’t generate enough income from the phone, which I understand is a contract through the Navy Exchange (NEX), Morale, Welfare and Recreation or NEX should pick up the difference to show they also support the “None for the Road” Program. Bottom line, we need to do what is smart and best for our Sailors.

A: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. As discussed previously, the public phone (with off base access) was removed by the Japanese phone company because of almost zero use. To continue to have the phone there requires MWR to pay approximately $90 per month, which to this point we’ve been reluctant to do as we have only received a single complaint since the phone was removed several months ago, and because it means some other MWR program or activity is adversely impacted from moving funds to pay for this phone. Our CPO Club staff is cheerfully standing by to assist you in making an occasional phone call to summon an off base taxi for CPO guests, as this is a common practice in most restaurant and nightclub establishments that MWR also follows, and the CPO Club has business phones that are available for staff to use for this purpose. With that said, the CPO Club manager has agreed to fund a new off base phone for customer use. We have asked NTT to reinstall a payphone and are awaiting their response, which may require a delay of a few more weeks. Thank you again for your comment.