In my last Commander’s Column I talked about the season of change Fort Detrick has entered, and this issue I’d like to discuss the upcoming improvements to our access points or otherwise known as our gates.

These improvements will take place starting in early November and will be completed by the end of June next year. That is the bad news – the good news is twofold:

We will do only one gate at a time leaving the others fully functional and when the project is complete it will greatly improve our security and make entering and exiting easier in the long term.

The first gate to receive upgrades will be Veteran’s Gate, off of 7th Street. . The construction will begin 9 November 2009 and be completed by mid- January.

While the construction is ongoing the gate will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, decaled vehicles only. Non-decal vehicles must enter through Old Farm Gate during this period. Please watch out for making a left turn from Yellow Spring Road when coming in that gate. Also as the only gate during our peak hours for non-decal vehicles, Old Farm Gate will become extremely busy; a recommendation is all decaled vehicles diverge to either Veteran’s Gate or Opossumtown Gate.

Opossumtown Gate work will Begin in mid-January, ending in early April. The gate will be completely closed during the entire construction.. All traffic normally entering Opossumtown Gate will need to divert to Veteran's Gate or Old Farm Gate.

Old Farm Gate construction then will begin in mid-April, with work completed by the end of June. This gate construction will be the least disruptive -- in fact we are anticipating minimal impact to normal traffic patterns with only two lanes closed at a time.

There will be some inconvenience for the Fort Detrick community, but in the end the improvements we are making will improve our security and make entering and exiting easier.

When you looked at the front page of this issue you saw our best wishes for a Happy Halloween, and I send out my best wishes for a safe and fun day.

In that spirit I’d like to offer some reminders to ensure the safety of the most precious members of the Fort Detrick family, our children.

As we know, it gets dark early. Children six-year- old and under must be accompanied by an adult or a sibling 13 years old or older.

Their costumes should be made of a reflective material, or should have a reflective material sewn in, and while the vampires, ghosts and other creatures of the night are collecting their treats they should carry flashlights or glow sticks to ensure they are visible when walking in unlit areas or when crossing the street.

Parents or those accompanying the children should walk in groups if possible, and the children should only receive treats from participating residents of Fort Detrick, and parents should inspect all the treats prior to allowing the little monsters to eat them.

Have a great night and lots of fun, and once again thank you all for the hard work you do.