Photo By Senior Airman Isaac Johnson | Jimmy Rodriguez, a Gold Rush Inn maintenance supervisor with the 354th Force Support...... read more read more
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Stepping into the lobby it smells like coffee, people are everywhere. The snack store is busier than usual while phones ring off the hook in the background.
Employees of the Gold Rush Inn are usually busy, but when occupancy rates nearly triple within a few days timespan, they know it’s RED FLAG-Alaska season.
The Gold Rush Inn is an important component of RF-A being able to run smoothly, and its employees work hard to make sure that happens.
“Lodging is a focal point in Red Flag exercises,” said Petite Bradshaw, the 354th Force Support Squadron Gold Rush Inn housekeeping supervisor. “We make sure once the exercise is over for the day and everything is closed, any guest who stays with us has a safe place to go to.”
Once the first exercise starts in the spring, the employees of the hotel work endlessly until the end of the last exercise in the fall.
“The process for each exercise starts about five months prior with a planning conference,” said Steve Grimm, the 354th FSS Gold Rush Inn lodging manager. “By the time we get to the first Red Flag, we’re already working the next one.”
RF-A increases the base population exponentially, creating multiple unique challenges the staff must overcome to ensure they do their part in making the exercise successful.
“Having a 464-room hotel in the middle of a small, remote and isolated area gives us the challenge of having enough housekeeping staff or enough employees in general,” said Grimm. “With competition off-base now, it’s becoming harder to get applicants to apply for the job.”
Even with manpower low during the RF-A season, the Gold Rush Inn is still able to provide excellent service for its guests.
“Lodging has over a 90 percent satisfaction rate,” said Jimmy Rodriguez, a 354th FSS Gold Rush Inn maintenance supervisor. “We are able to achieve that by being as prepared as we can.”
Communication is key for Gold Rush Inn employees because they interact with people from all over the world.
“Red Flag exercises bring people from all walks of life and because there is a lot that goes on during that time period, you learn to communicate differently because of it,” said Bradshaw. “You can be talking to one person who is from Japan and five minutes later end up talking to someone else that has a completely different way of communicating. What really helps us out are flyers we receive before each exercise that tell us how to effectively communicate with people from the different visiting countries.”
For the Gold Rush Inn, RF-A is a full-time mission; once the last exercise ends they begin catching up on work they couldn’t do during the RF-A season.
“In the winter, because we are a little slower-paced, our frontline employees use that time for training so we can be prepared for the next year,” said Grimm.
| Date Taken: | 08.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.22.2016 19:10 |
| Story ID: | 207510 |
| Location: | EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 7 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A home away from home, by SrA Isaac Johnson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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