EDWARDS LEADER LOOKS TO FUTURE BAKERS TO FOCUS ON QUALITY OF LIFE.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- Assisting airmen before and after deployments overseas, improving quality of life and community outreach are among the goals of Edwards' new air base wing commander, Col. Brent Baker.

As the 95th Air Base Wing commander, Baker is responsible for the operations of the 301,000-acre base, including its housing, personnel, law enforcement, fire protection, construction and communications. Baker said sometimes people don't understand what it is he does until he uses a civilian comparison.

``I tell them I'm the Edwards mayor -- they can understand that,'' Baker said.

Baker has been in the Air Force for close to 28 years, starting his career as an enlisted man. After finishing a degree in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University, Baker went through officer training school and was commissioned in 1985.

He has held a number of mission support roles, including leading 4,000 personnel as the commander of the 18th Mission Support Group at Kardena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. He first came to Edwards in August as the vice commander of the 95th Air Base Wing.

``The job I'm in now has been 28 years in the making,'' Baker said. ``All the experiences I've had has prepared me for what I'm doing now.''

Baker lists his three top goals as an improved ``warrior focus,'' making Edwards a great place to live and work, and embracing change. He also includes community outreach as another major goal.

The greater ``warrior focus'' includes improving the attention given to airmen about to deploy overseas and their families.

Baker wants to arrange for predeployment get-togethers to let families know what they can expect while their loved one is overseas. The effort will also include a program aimed at children in which they can see what the deployment process is like, wear their parent's gear and eat an MRE -- meal ready to eat -- that airmen eat in the field.

Baker also wants to put a greater emphasis on ``combat decompression,'' the process of getting an airman back into the routine of base life after a deployment. The goal is to make the transition smoother and catch any potential problems early on.

``We want to lay eyes on and reach out to everyone coming back,'' Baker said.

In regards to quality of life, Edwards will continue with revamping and replacing its aging homes. Many were built in the 1950s and lack central heating and cooling systems and are becoming increasingly costly to repair.

The overall number of base housing units will drop from about 1,300 units to about 800 units. The drop in the number of homes is the result of a housing needs assessment and a Pentagon policy for military installations to rely on local communities for housing before providing base housing.

``We're going to have a lot of folks living downtown,'' Baker said. ``That is not going to change for a while.''

The base will also be looking to renovate a strip mall. The mall will be cleaned up, have new storefronts and lighting installed, and problems with traffic flow will be addressed, Baker said.

In regards to embracing change, Baker said there is a need to continuously look for ways to be more efficient. There will be pressure to be leaner, especially as the Air Force tries to trim several thousand personnel from its ranks over the next five years.

``We're going to be smaller, but we still want to be fantastic,'' Baker said.

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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