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							AAFES, SVS prepare for KMCC transitions
by Staff Sgt. Markus M. Maier
Ramstein Public Affairs

As construction crews work on the finishing touches of the Kaiserslautern Community
Center, members of the 435th Services Squadron and AAFES busily prepare to open
new venues and transition numerous facilities to the new location.

While much of their focus has been on furniture and construction, individuals at all
levels are working hard to ensure the transfer is made with the least inconvenience to
customers.

"We are truly excited about the KMCC. It'll put a lot of great services and new venues
under one roof," said. Col. Don Bacon, 435th Air Base Wing commander. "Through our
phased opening, we want to make sure our community still gets the fantastic customer
service they've come to expect at KMC facilities."

According to base and AAFES representatives, the long anticipated opening of the
KMCC will be accomplished in several phases, the first which is scheduled to open July
2.

The first phase will include the Visitor’s Quarters, Ramstein Tickets and Tours, Outdoor
Recreation, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, the Sports Lounge, Shoppette and a German
bakery. Though many of the venues are new to the KMC, several of them will require a
transition phase from one location to the next.

“As far as lodging is concerned, there will be no disruption to guests,” said Will Lane,
435th SVS Lodging general manager. “We’ll phase the front desk operation right over
from our current location to the KMCC. Both [front desks] will be open for a short period
of time. After that, we’ll leave someone behind at the old front desk for about a week or
two to direct guests to the KMCC.”

Like the rest of the KMCC, the lodging facility will also open in phases.

“We’ll open two or three floors at a time so we can test our systems, test our procedures
and make sure everything is in place,” Mr. Lane said, adding that though the new facility
will house 350 new rooms, the total inventory for lodging throughout the KMC will
actually go down slightly due to lodging capacity decreasing at Sembach.

While the transfer of billeting front-desk operations is going to be seamless, RTT and
ODR will close their doors for a short period of time to allow employees to shift
operations to the new facility.

“Right now, we project RTT to close on June 26 until they reopen at the KMCC on July
2nd,” said Steve Jerome, 435th SVS Community Support Flight chief. “Customers
planning to do any booking for the 4th of July weekend, for example, need to contact
RTT before June 26.”

In order to assist customers that have already scheduled a trip during the week of June
26 to July 2, RTT will establish an emergency phone line which will be published before
the holiday weekend and available on their Web site.

Similar to RTT, ODR will close on June 25 and reopen at the KMCC on July 2.
Customers will also be able to reach ODR personnel over the phone during the period
of transition.

“We need this time to completely move our entire inventory to the new facility and set
up,” Mr. Jerome said.

In an effort to reduce some of the inventory that would need to be moved to the new
facility, ODR is having a sale at their current facility, marking down merchandise as they
get closer to the moving day.

AAFES openings
The next phase of openings will include the concessionaire mall, food court, the four-
plex movie theater, Sixth Car Rental and barber shop are scheduled to open in late
summer, according to Tom Gross, AAFES KMCC Exchange general manager.

“Disruption to the customer should be very minimal,” Mr. Gross said, adding that to
avoid interruption in service, those businesses will close at their current locations at the
end of their normal business day one day and open at the KMCC the next day. “We
have to provide service day in and day out, while we open the KMCC at the same time.”

Though customers may not see a hub of activity outside, Mr. Gross emphasized that
they are working hard every day to get the facilities open and ready.

“This is the largest AAFES store worldwide. This store is two and a half times the size
of the store in Grafenwoehr, which is the last mall we opened in Europe,” Mr. Gross
said.

The AAFES mall at Grafenwohr took 89 days to open; however the goal at Ramstein is
120.

“If it’s two and a half times the size you’d say that it would take more than 200 days,” he
said. “We are not just going to sit back and take an easy day. We want to get in there to
provide the service in a facility of adequate size…to the community.”

While the Ramstein food court will close in late summer as well, the one on Vogelweh
will stay open until mid fall when the remaining AAFES facilities at the KMCC are
currently scheduled to open.

Jobs
In addition to the one-stop shopping and expanded variety, another major benefit the
KMCC brings to the community is the many new job opportunities for local nationals and
Americans.

AAFES is looking to hire more than 300 employees for their retail operations, and
according to Mr. Gross, since work schedules are often flexible, may make excellent
opportunities for spouses with children. Job seekers can check the employment section
of www.aafes.com for current openings.

The 435th SVS also projects they will hire 265 employees for the Macaroni Grill and
other services functions, according to John Unpingco, 435th SVS Business Operations
Flight deputy director. Anyone interested in applying for the various vacancies should
check out the services Web site at www.435thservices.com.

Stay informed
“This is a big mountain we're climbing, but we're making tremendous progress every
day," said Colonel Bacon. "The KMCC will be the centerpiece for the Ramstein
community. We're all coming together now to make it happen."

Officials continue to strive for minimal inconvenience to customers during these
transition periods, however stress the importance of staying up to date as changes to
opening dates may occur. Check out the Kaiserslautern American and the Ramstein
Web site, www.ramstein.af.mil, for the latest information on KMCC openings and
details.