MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Station residents now have a new Internet based system for comments dealing with services aboard the Station as well as throughout the Department of Defense.
The DoD's Interactive Customer Evaluation System is where Station residents can go to voice concerns, complaints, recommendations and positive or negative feedback on nearly every activity, from the Clubs and Facilities, to tenant organizations such as the Red Cross and the schools. Comments can also be made on services aboard other stations.
"ICE is a DoD computer based program to receive customer comments and direct them immediately to the specific manager," said John Kinley, Installation Business Management Officer and Installation ICE manager. "There is a manager for each activity, and when a comment is sent that message immediately goes directly to that manager."
Managers should respond within 72 hours if the individual has entered his name, Kinley added. If they have not, the reply may be posted on a message board within the website.
The website, ice.disa.mil, not only covers services aboard the Station, but also services at more than 70 other installations around the world. Although the program began in 1999 as a prototype in Europe, Iwakuni was recently added to the list of users.
"We at Iwakuni are the first Marine Corps installation to be fully up and operational with ICE," Kinley said. "This is part of the commanding officer's strategic plan to enhance community satisfaction. You can't meet their expectations if you don't know what they are. This is an excellent way to find out what the community wants."
In the past, individuals aboard the Station could use comment cards located throughout the Station to express their opinions. Now that ICE is available, they have become obsolete.
"Most people don't fill out a comment card unless they are really upset with the service," Kinley said. "They rarely take the time to fill out a card if they had good service. But with ICE, what we have found is that people take the time to comment positively if the service was good."
To make the process more convenient in th future, computers with a direct link to ICE may be installed in service areas for patrons to use for comments. Such a computer is currently in use at the Family Housing Office for their patrons to use.
"We used to send out a paper survey, but now we ask them to go to ICE and comment on our services," said Suzan Kear, family housing director. "ICE is great. We had it in Yokosuka. It took a while to get the word out but once it did it really took off."
The ICE system helped Kear and others identify policies and procedures that were not as customer convenient as previously thought.
"It really gave us an impression of what we had to improve," she added. "I think it's a tremendous benefit to the consumer because they can see changes from their suggestions."
The system is open to anyone with access to a computer on Station, Kinley explained. In addition, any organization that provides a service or a product should have a site on ICE. This includes Marine Corps Community Services, which makes up a good portion of the sites.
According to Kinley, another advantage of ICE is to gather information for individuals moving to another duty station. On ICE, someone can check statistics, opinions and gather contact information on services provided at another location. Or, they can make a request to that organization for more information.
Although the official start of the ICE program is July 1, the system is up and running for everyone to use. To access ICE, type ice.disa.mil, without www, in the Internet address bar from a military computer.
"I think the most important thing that ICE will offer the Station will be the chance to find out quickly and easily where we can offer systemic improvements and hopefully make them," said Kinley.