Info Central FB group moderates information flow

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Austin J. Prisbrey
  • Kirtland Public Affairs

Transitioning to a new base is difficult. Thankfully, everywhere we go in the U.S. Air Force, whether the base is big or small, there is a family waiting for us. The family waiting at Kirtland is exemplified by an online community that is willing and ready to help: the Facebook Group Kirtland AFB Information Central.

“Our goal is not ‘how many members we have,’ it’s to get out correct, reliable information,” said Morgan Levison, KAFBIC group administrator.

The KAFBIC group is a private site for anyone, new or seasoned, associated with Kirtland AFB looking for information. While the KAFBIC Facebook group states that it is not officially associated with Kirtland Air Force Base, the information within its pages can be helpful to all within the Kirtland family. 

“The Kirtland Air Force Base Information Central Facebook group is a source that people use to both pass on and share information that is relevant to not only Kirtland Air Force Base, but the Albuquerque area in general,” said U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Holly Hall, member of the KAFBIC Facebook group. “I have used it for things regarding hours of businesses on base, notary services, local restaurants that are recommended and even babysitter suggestions.”

In addition to posting and allowing posts that are beneficial to its members, those that administrate the group aim to inform members of emergencies and security incidents in a timely manner.

“We want to have super-fast, reliable information,” said Levison. “The problem is that we don’t always have a resource coming to us with that information.”

The KAFBIC Facebook page admins will share information that is released by Kirtland Public Affairs. Often times, other members of the group also want to share what they know about the situation.

For Levison and her other admins, security is a top priority.

“We respect operational security by all means,” said Levison. “Some of the spouses aren’t as familiar with OPSEC, so we have to give reminders sometimes.”

Those reminders include denying a post to the group, or deleting anything that violates OPSEC or privacy principles. Any member of the page can post to the group. However, as an admin of the page, Levison has to approve or deny all posts that are submitted to the page.

“There are people from all over base that want to submit information, we have different organizations in this group bringing their knowledge with them,” said Levison. “I think that is really an awesome point to this group, its collaborative. It’s not just a single source of information coming down, it comes from everyone.”

With 2,290 members belonging to KAFBIC, Levison and those who help admin the group work to manage and approve all of the posts. Just last year, a total of 5,063 posts were approved for the group with 329 posts in the last month.

To become a member of the KAFBIC Facebook group, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/kirtlandnmspouses/.