Maxwell switchboard closing Published July 31, 2009 By Carl Bergquist Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- As planned on Aug. 6 at 10 a.m., the Maxwell-Gunter telephone switchboard system will transition to the Consolidated Telephone Operations (CTO) Center at Port San Antonio, Texas. Brian Therrien, 42nd Communications Flight Mission Systems manager, said the change will be managed by the AETC transition team and base operations support contractor, or ITT Systems Division, and should be "seamless" to base telephone users. The CTO call center falls under the direction of the Air Education and Training Command's Computer Systems Squadron which moved into a new facility in March and has upgraded equipment designed to provide telephone service to all AETC bases. "The transition will improve the overall telephone service the base receives, and there will be no change in dialing. Anyone wanting directory assistance for Maxwell-Gunter will still dial 953-1110," Mr. Therrien said. "The only noticeable difference will be a recorded greeting referencing the AETC CTO. Once the base settles into the system, everything should be normal operations." He said, however, even though the new CTO center will be beneficial to AETC operations, "base callers will miss the expected comfort of having local base operators." "Especially missed will be information about the local area that customers have come to expect, but that will not be as readily available," he said. Mr. Therrien said he will always remember the dedication the operators at Maxwell displayed over the years, even during severe weather conditions. "I still remember the day when Hurricane Ivan was coming through and operators went through their day and shift changes as though nothing was out of the ordinary," he said. "I think that signifies the dedication these ladies have for their jobs and service to this military community." Two operators, among the 10 that now serve Maxwell-Gunter, have the longest tenure at the base, and they are Grace Jolly, deputy chief of switchboard operations, and Shirley Cunliffe, chief of switchboard operations. They have served the base for 46 and 21 years respectively, and both said they will miss their jobs. "I remember when I first came here in 1962. There was no automation, so we had to ring every number. I mean, we went home tired," Ms. Jolly said. "In those days, some of us were at Gunter and the rest were here at Maxwell, but in 1978, they combined the two services and moved us all to Maxwell." She said she will miss the "great people she works with" the most, as she is a "people person" and enjoys being around others. "I work part time at Walmart, so I will probably start working there more often," Ms. Jolly said. Ms. Cunliffe said base operators handle about 30,000 calls each month, and about half of those are calls that come in from overseas and are redirected to local and other state-side telephones. She said her best memories of Maxwell-Gunter will be how far the telephone operation has come over the years in terms of technology. "When I came in 1988, we were still using cord-boards [where jacks had to be plugged into sockets on a large board], and we were so thrilled to get the small table consoles in 1991," she said. "In Oct. 2003, we went to an automated computerized system and an automated telephone directory, so we have come a long way since I first got here." Ms. Jolly said she feels privileged to work the calls that come in from members serving overseas as, "They are over there taking care of us." On a lighter note, the ladies said they will remember some of the stranger calls they have taken over the years. Ms. Cunliffe said operators receive a lot of calls asking if this is Maxwell Field, and that tends to date the caller a little. "Also, for some reason, a full-moon will bring some interesting callers," she said. "Another common call goes like this, 'You know that building over at the corner of XX Street and YY Boulevard? Well, I need to talk to the phone that's in that last office in the back on the right.' We do get a lot of those, and they do seem to think we know what the telephone number is." Ms. Cunliffe said most of the operators, even many of the ones who have already left or retired, plan to stay in the local area and stay in touch with each other. She said they all do feel as though they are part a big family. "The base is really going to miss our operators," Mr. Therrien said. "I want to give some credit to these ladies who have done the job so well for so many years."