Edwards' commanders test wheelchair accessibility

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • 95th Air Base Wing
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) --  The Air Force Flight Test Center has a long history of testing aircraft and parachutes, but one little known fact is that each year leaders here also "test" wheelchairs.

Edwards' annual Wheelchair Test Day is held during National Disabilities Awareness Month in October. 

Organizers said the intent is to explore the accessibility of the Edwards work environment.
 
"Years ago we had no curb cuts, no electric doors -- basically no accommodations for people who used wheelchairs here at Edwards," said Lee Gardner, from the 95th Communications Group.

Mr. Gardner has a disability and requires the use of a wheelchair. He is also one of the people originally responsible for organizing the annual Wheelchair Test Day in the 1980s.

"The goal of test day was to have leaders walk a mile in our shoes and experience the current accessibility issues," he said. "This is the most direct way we've found to educate leaders about access and its importance to everyone at Edwards, not just those of us with disabilities."

Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, AFFTC commander, was the first to "test" his wheelchair this month. 

"We're trying to emphasize just how serious it is for the people who can't get out of this chair," General Bedke said performing some of his daily routine in a wheelchair. "I've been from my office, behind my desk, pivoting around over to the computer, and I found out that the desk and the computer are not at the right height for me. I can't reach out to the things like the keyboard or to sign things on my desk."

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The act requires business and government establishments to make employment and public accommodations and transportation more accessible for people with disabilities.

"To bring attention of this situation to the (base) leadership, we devised Wheelchair Test Day," Mr. Gardner said. "It gives the leadership some first-hand experience of the difficulties employees who use wheelchairs face daily.

Retired Col. Mart Bushnell, then 6520th Test Group commander, was the main test subject. 

"The result of the first test day was the first accessibility modifications at Edwards, and these first efforts bloomed into an annual budget to continuously improve accessibility at Edwards," Mr. Gardner said.

While the base has made strides in making buildings and sidewalks more accessible, Col. Drew Jeter, 95th Air Base Wing commander, said the base still had more improvements to make. Colonel Jeter also participated in the Wheelchair Test Day.

"We've made a number of recent improvements in the accommodations arena like funding projects to increase the number of handicap accessible sidewalks and renovating the Cactus Café restrooms," Colonel Jeter said. "We are fortunate to have new facilities like the Consolidated Support Facility and base clinic, and soon a new base operations (building), which all meet accessibility standards. Our current family housing military construction projects will include a number of handicap adaptable units, and our base 9-1-1 Emergency Call Center has the capability to interface with equipment used by the hearing impaired.

"Nevertheless, we clearly have much more that needs to be done on this enormous base that has many old facilities," he said. "We will continue to make this a priority and ask our folks who have to deal with obstacles to living and working on Edwards to provide feedback to civil engineering and base leadership so we can continue to address these important needs."

General Bedke said he believes that everyone can make Edwards a place for people with disabilities.
 
"We can help them by opening doors or coming around (from customer service countertops) to help them," General Bedke said. "(Wheelchair Test Day) opened my eyes to just how dedicated these folks are to come here every day and do this kind of work.

"I'm proud of them, and I'm proud of the way we go out of our way to make this work for everybody," he said.