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Using a unique process called Facilities Operational Capabilities and Utilization Survey, Air Force Reserve Command is able to identify facilities requiring the most urgent care, champion initiatives to acquire military construction funds and prioritize crucial repair requirements.
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FOCUS: Survey allows civil engineers to zero in on targets of opportunity
Posted 7/24/2012 Updated 7/24/2012
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by Gene Van Deventer
Air Force Reserve Command
7/24/2012 - Citizen Airman/Aug 2012 -- Since the inception of the Air Force Reserve Command, the goal of the civil engineer and the Directorate of Installations and Mission Support or A7 has been to provide Airmen with the absolute best facilities for work and leisure.
The task of providing world-class mission-ready facilities has been continually challenged by budget constraints, force realignments, mission changes and base closures. These challenges require AFRC to establish rigorous processes that ensure the command invests resources in the highest priority facility requirements.
Proactive identification and correction of facility deficiencies have been critical to ensuring continued operational capability in a resource-constrained environment while allowing maximum flexibility to rapidly address urgent and unforeseen requirements. In order to provide the command this required capability, the director of installations and mission support established an AFRC-unique process called Facilities Operational Capabilities and Utilization Survey. The purpose of this survey is to identify those facilities requiring the most urgent care, champion initiatives to acquire military construction funds and prioritize crucial facility repair requirements.
The A7 Planning Branch, led by Ronald Scandlyn, is the process owner for FOCUS.
"This facility initiative is for our nine host and 37 tenant locations," Scandlyn said. "That's quite a lot of territory to cover, believe me, and every organization has a list for facility improvements."
He said FOCUS is a four-step process designed to identify repair and construction priorities. The first step is the facility utilization survey. During this phase, on-site interviews are conducted with functional points of contact at the study location. The survey determines the functional space authorized (as established by Air Force specifications) and how much space is actually being used by each unit.
The second step is the facility condition assessment. During this assessment, the structural, mechanical and aesthetic elements of AFRC facilities are assessed against established checklists to identify and document substandard conditions.
The third step in the FOCUS process is a programming workshop, which takes place several months after the facility utilization and facility condition efforts. According to Toni Thorne, the command's FOCUS program manager, this stage involves working with the installation staff to complete an in-depth analysis of findings that integrate space use and facility condition requirements into a prioritized list of specific and actionable items.
The FOCUS process culminates in the production of a final report as the last process step. The final report documents all findings and analysis in great detail and provides supporting documents that allow the subject unit to properly program, and seek funding for, all prioritized requirements.
A FOCUS team typically comprises from 10 to 25 contractors (engineers, technicians and geospatial specialists) who, under the leadership of A7 staff, meet with site location civil engineers and their senior leadership. FOCUS team members review current work orders, interview facility managers and conduct facility inspections to document deficiencies on interior and exterior elements such as finishes, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, roofing, and electrical/safety concerns.
The team makes on-the-spot recommendations for fixes providing senior leadership with an in-brief prior to the facility utilization survey and an in- and out-brief at the programming workshop to explain the breadth of the evaluation and its findings. A final assessment report is sent to the location documenting planning and programming requirements. The report provides information to support submission of those requirements to higher headquarters for funding approval.
The analytical FOCUS process helps expedite the review and validation of project funding as both the site customer and the headquarters staff have already coordinated on the requirement scope and work prioritization. To date, FOCUS teams have visited 46 AFRC operating locations, with a second round of visits currently under way. The goal is to visit units about once every four years to ensure plans are updated and changes incorporated into the overall AFRC facility investment strategy.
The command's FOCUS process helps to:
* Validate current military construction and operations and maintenance projects;
* Update real property information;
* Provide comprehensive execution plans;
* Simplify and standardize advocacy for facility requirements;
* Facilitate allocation of resources to highest priority requirements;
* Optimize facility utilization; and
* Provide a firm foundation for building AFRC's asset management program.
Lt. Col. Ted Munchmeyer, the base civil engineer for the 482nd Fighter Wing, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., speaks to the benefits of FOCUS team visits from a customer perspective.
"FOCUS provided a snapshot of project and space needs that both the base civil engineer and customers did not identify or did not realize due to mission and policy changes," Munchmeyer said. "In a perfect world, the civil engineer and customer would be able to identify all the needs of the base given the constraints of policy, situation and mission. But this is not a perfect world, and, frankly, due to the voluminous changes of the recent past and the complexity of our systems, it is very difficult to keep up on what is a 'priority.' FOCUS provided us with that ability.
"The most recent FOCUS report provided an immense windfall of both direction and priority when it comes to project development. It identified many small issues that customers have had to simply 'deal with' such as that HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) unit that always goes out or the sewer line that seems to always plug up after a UTA (unit training assembly). With the help of my BOS (base operating support) contract, the report allowed me to easily go down the list and fix issues without much burden or further investigation being necessary."
While AFRC host bases have a full-time civil engineering staff to manage a multitude of facility maintenance issues, tenant units are not manned at the same level. Consequently, when a FOCUS team arrives at a tenant unit to conduct an in-depth facility survey, its findings are fully documented and systematically substantiated by subject matter experts.
"Our latest FOCUS visit identified 31 facility projects, of which five have been awarded funding totaling more than $1 million," said Steven Hensley, a facility manager at the 459th Air Refueling Wing at Joint Base Andrews, Md.
He cited the explosive ordnance disposal facility project as being an excellent example of how the FOCUS system research helped to gain cooperative emphasis both at AFRC and with the active-duty host at Andrews.
"The newly formed Reserve EOD unit was sharing facility usage with the active-duty host, and it was obvious additional space was required," Hensley said. "The FOCUS study validated the need for additional space, and funding was awarded to make additions to accommodate the extra workspace for personnel and equipment."
The FOCUS program has helped to identify and prioritize needed facility repair at both host and tenant AFRC locations. Its professional analyses and consequent command emphasis go a long way in pinpointing where precious monies ought to be spent first when it comes to improving Airmen's ability to complete their mission and quality of life environments.
(A frequent contributor to Citizen Airman magazine, Van Deventer is assigned to the Expeditionary Combat Support Division of the Installations and Mission Support Directorate at HQ AFRC.) |
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