Redstone races to fill guard positions at gates
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Gate 3, on Redstone Road in South Huntsville, reopened July 10 with limited hours. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Redstone Arsenal has reopened Gate 3 for morning traffic, but is still struggling to find enough manpower to fully staff its gates.
Why it matters: Gate hours have immediate ripple effects on Huntsville traffic, especially for the tens of thousands that pass those gates every day.
The latest: Redstone is working to hire quickly, and to take advantage of recently passed legislation allowing Army installations to contract for security guard personnel, Jonathan Arcand, chief of guards, tells Axios.
Yes but: None of it happens fast.
Driving the news: "We have been working that ... course of action for the last six months, and usually contracting takes 10 months to a year to finally get in place," he told Axios.
- But they're piggybacking on another guard contract to speed up the process, he said. And while he can't give specific dates, he expects that contract to be awarded in about three months.
State of play: Arcand says he has 40 guards available, and it would take at least 55 to fully staff the arsenal's six gates.
- Even that 55 would be "just to go back to the status quo a year and a half ago," when the guard force was pulling 2,200 overtime hours a month, which breaks down to 40 hours of overtime per month for each guard.
What they're saying: "In a nutshell, over the last year, year and a half, we have progressively lost staff for myriad reasons: retirements, resignations, individuals moving on to bigger and better things," he told Axios.
- Those losses coincided with a six-month hiring freeze, Arcand said, ultimately resulting in decisions like last week's Gate 3 closure.
Context: It takes about six weeks from extending a job offer to bringing a new guard onboard, he explained, followed by another six weeks of training, meaning it's essentially a three-month process from job offer to first shift.
- It's something Army installations are dealing with nationwide, he said.
Zoom in: There are other hurdles for would-be guards as well.
- Arcand, who moved here from Colorado Springs to be close to family in Nashville, says Huntsville is a hard sell for potential transplants.
- The pay, $47,290 annually, can also be a hurdle.
The bottom line: Things are moving, but it will be several months at. least before the gates are fully staffed.
- "Our number one priority is to get those boots on the ground," Arcand said.