New access system to enhance security Published Feb. 10, 2014 By Dean Siemon Northwest Guardian JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- As of Feb. 10, all entry gates on Joint Base Lewis-McChord will begin phasing in a new Automated Installation Entry system for drivers entering the installation. AIE is part of a Department of Defense directive to enhance security at installation entrances and expedite access for personnel and vehicles. AIE card readers have been installed at all of the nation's military installation gates during the past year. JBLM recently completed final testing of the system. Drivers will now scan their Common Access Cards or ID cards through optical readers or a magnetic readers. The gate guard inside the booth at each gate will see the picture in the card's file and the driver through a video camera. "If everything is good to go with the card, the arm will raise and will allow you to enter," said Larry Freeman, chief of installation access for the Directorate of Emergency Services at JBLM. "If the card is no longer valid, the system will reject it and alert the guard so the guard can intervene." All ID cardholders who are in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System -- service members, family members, retirees, contractors and civilians -- who received their current cards on or before Nov. 1, 2013, are automatically entered into the new AIE data system through a bulk registration. For newer cardholders or for those who renewed their ID after that date, registration into the AIE system will be required and can be performed at any visitor center or at Waller Hall on Lewis Main. There is no deadline for that registration at the moment, since the AIE is still in its early stages on JBLM. An announcement will be made in advance to give drivers time to register before enforcing the requirement. "We're not just going to jump in feet first with this new system," Freeman said. "There's going to be an education process with the community because this is something new. "We're going to have to get people comfortable with how this system works." The plan for the first two weeks will be to have the AIE used for a three-hour window in the afternoons with a gate guard walking drivers through the process. As motorists become more comfortable with the system, the hours of the AIE operation will expand and eventually, the automatic system will be used throughout the day, Freeman said. "That day will eventually come -- whether that's three months from now or one year from now," he added. While Freeman said the DES is "pretty excited" about the new entry system, it will be slowly integrated to see what impacts it will have on the traffic flow. The biggest test will be how the traffic flow is affected at the main gates for Lewis Main, Lewis North and McChord Field that are accessible by Interstate 5. "If we turn on the system and we rely solely on the (AIE) system and we're finding that typical wait times are 10-15 minutes, and we have traffic backing up to I-5, then we're going to have to make adjustments to get people through the gate," Freeman said. For more information about the AIE system, visit www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/des/le_mission.htm. Dean Siemon: dean.siemon@nwguardian.com