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A publication of the Directorate of Military Programs March/April 2003 Volume XV, No. 2 2 Printed on Recycled paper. Public Works Digest is an unoffi- cial publication of the US Army Corps
of Engineers, Directorate of Military
Programs, Installation Support Division,
under AR 25-30, The Army Publishing
Program, and AR 360-1, The Army
Public Affairs Program. Method
of reproduction: photo-offset; press run:
3,000; estimated readership: 40,000.
Editorial views and opinions expressed
are not necessarily those
of the Department of the Army. Address mail to: Department of the Army
US Army Corps of Engineers, Directorate of Military Programs
Installation Support Division Attn: Editor, Public Works Digest, CEMP-IS 441 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20314-1000
Telephone: (202) 761-5778 DSN 763
FAX (202) 761-8895
e-mail: alex.k.stakhiv@usace.army.mil Kristine L. Allaman, P.E.
ChiefInstallation Support Division, Directorate of Military Programs Alexandra K. Stakhiv
EditorInstallation Support Division, Directorate of Military Programs Design and Layout:
David Hackett
Corporate Visions, Inc.
Washington, DC On the cover:
Barracks construction at the Presidio
of Monterey March/April 2003 Vol XV, No.1 3 Letter from the Editor Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Armys Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) program gains momentum by Joyce VanSlyke and Theresa Adams 6-7 Fort Hoods RCI demonstrates success by Robert Erwin 8 Army announces RCI partner for three Virginia installations 8-10 Getting Army families into quality housing faster by Verdelle Lambert 11 New beginning for Family Housing at Fort Meade by Andrea M. Hajian 12 RCI evident within Military District of Washington by Aimee Sheriff Installation Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 OSD directs Services to submit 2003 Barracks Master Plan by Suzanne Harrison 14-15 Teaching an old gym some new tricksWest Point begins Phase 2 of Arvin Gym by Kenneth Wells 15 New barracks construction criteria by George Mino 16 New Army Barracks Construction Criteria July 2002 17 Army Materiel Command establishes Research, Development and Engineering Command 17 Fort Huachuca opens new, state-of-the-art housing for soldiers by Eric Cramer 18-19 Europe Districtimproving soldier support by Grant Sattler 19 Army transfers command and control of Rock Island Arsenal, Watervliet Arsenal and
Sierra Army Depot 20 Europe District completes additions ahead of schedule by Grant Sattler Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Army Housing moves to internet by Peter Gentieu 22-23 Army Housing consolidates technical support by Pat Robinson 23 Updated Family Housing Master Plan available on Army Housing website by Larry Wright Facilities Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 New fuel cells successful at Watervliet Arsenal by Nicholas Josefik 25 Minimizing adverse effects of snow and ice on roofs by James Buska 26-27 Presidio tackles lead hazard with encapsulants by Dana Finney 27 Problems at Fort Tanka Joe Sparks adventure by Ron Mundt Professional Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 PDS XV an interns perspective by Deborah Falkowski 29 PHMA conferences impact team building by Marianne Winch 30-31 Double duty at PHMA by Pat Robinson 31 Motivating employees to participate in training by Sharan Dockery USACE Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-36 Expectations of a learning organization by Alexandra K. Stakhiv 36 USACE heroes recognized 37 Reasons for attending USACE Workshop not so different by Alexandra K. Stakhiv 38 Winners of Black Engineer of the Year Awards Whos Who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 George F. McKimmie, Chief, Army Housing Division, OACSIM Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Once again, it is time for the housing issue of the Public Works Digest, and it is not surprising that housing privatization dominates it. Partnering with the private sector is no longer an option but a must if
our installations are to become and remain communities that make everyone proud. Sadly, we cannot
afford to do it on our own. Don Spigelmyer is now the Armys Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) Program Director, replac- ing long-time Director Ted Lipham who recently retired. Don is no stranger to the Digest as he and his staff
have always contributed to the housing issue. Their article provides an excellent update on what the pro-
gram is accomplishing and hopes to accomplish and details how they are doing that. If you go to the RCI website (rci.army.mil), you will see the programs objectives are to create world- class, quality residential communities; leverage assets and scarce funds; and obtain private sector expertise,
creativity, innovation and capital. The articles in the RCI section about Forts Hood, Meade, Stewart, Eustis,
Story and Monroe, Hunter Army Airfield and the Military District of Washington are living proof that The
Army is on track for meeting the RCIs overarching goal of eliminating inadequate housing by the year 2007. The housing community is a most hospitable one. I would like to thank the nice folks in the ACSIMs Army Housing Division for contributing so many of the excellent articles scattered throughout this issue.
Who better to provide our installations with the latest on policy and objectives for family housing, bar-
racks, and master planning? And a very special thank you goes to Sharon Bonar, editor of Defense
Communities, for sharing some of the Army stories from that premier housing publication. This year, the PHMA (Professional Housing Management Association) conference took place in Nashville, Tennessee, last February. Look for intern Deborah Falkowskis perspective on this annual event
in the Professional Development section. Marianne Winch and Pat Robinson also give us their take on the
benefits of attending this conference. George McKimmie, Army Housing Division Chief, is the subject of this issues Whos Who column. He is currently putting his magical powers to good use assisting BG McDonald, new IMA Region Director for
Korea, in attracting quality personnel with quality facilities. Although this is the housing issue, it also provides complete coverage of the USACE Workshop held in conjunction with the annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference (BEYAC) last February. This
workshop gives all who are interested in pursuing careers in science and technology the opportunity to
meet with and listen to presentations made by senior leaders from the top echelons of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers. Among these were Chief of Engineers LTG Bob Flowers, Director of Military Programs MG
Carl Strock, former Deputy Director of Military Programs Bill Brown, Deputy Director of Military
Programs Dwight Beranek, Installation Support Division Chief Kristine Allaman, South Pacific Division
Director of Military and Technical Services Steve Browning, Transatlantic Programs Center Engineering
Division Chief Chris Hinton-Lee and many more. We are proud to report that this year the BEYAC commit-
tee bestowed the award for Professional Achievement in Government on one of The Armys ownBG (P)
Ronald Johnson, Commander of the Pacific Ocean Division. Please read the article on p.38 for all the details. Our next issue will deal with the environment, so sharpen those pencils and start writing. Our readers worldwide want to know what you are doing on your installations to preserve and restore the environment. Until next time Editor, Public Works Digest 3 L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I T O R As you are aware, the Department of Defense (DoD)/Army goal is to eliminate all
inadequate family housing in the United
States by 2007 using a combination of: (1)
traditional Military Construction (MIL-
CON), (2) Basic Allowance for Housing
(BAH) increases, and (3) Privatization. In
1996, the Military Housing Privatization
Initiative Act (MHPI) provided the Military
Services with the authorities to leverage
scarce funds and assets to obtain private
sector capital and expertise to operate,
manage, maintain, improve and build mili-
tary housing in the United States. The Armys housing privatization pro- gram, known as the Residential
Communities Initiative (RCI), is an essen-
tial element for solving the Armys acute
family housing problem. The RCI program
is dedicated to building quality residential
communities for soldiers and their families. The RCI program is built on partner- ships with private sector developers who
can leverage private sector capital for the
50-year term of the project. Their expertise,
experience, innovation and willingness to
work collaboratively with key stakeholders
are essential elements of the programs suc-
cess. To date, the RCI program has had
tremendous success in attracting this type
of development partner. The RCI program focuses on the total residential community (not just houses)
and uses a Request For Qualifications
(RFQ) acquisition process. The RFQ process
attracts nationally recognized developers
who bring best practices / innovations to
our privatization projects. This best value
process reduces time and costs for both
Army and private sector developers. The
RFQ process evaluates and awards to the
firm that is the most highly qualified.to cre-
ate a mutually agreed upon business plan to
meet the Armys requirements. The majority of the RCI sites utilize/will utilize a two-step RFQ process
that will save money and expedite the
process by announcing multiple sites at one
time. Step 1, of the two-step RFQ process, determines the competitive range for a
group of projects using five evaluation fac-
tors. Step 2 then allows those in the com-
petitive range to propose for any or all of
the projects listed in Step 1 as they are indi-
vidually solicited (not grouped). Step 2 uses
4 evaluation factors. The Community Development and Management Plan (CDMP) begins when the
two-step procurement process is complete.
The Army awards a contract to the selected
development partner to work with the
installation to prepare a CDMP. The CDMP
serves as the business plan for the specific
RCI project, and it sets forth the proposed
terms of the developers long-term relation-
ship with The Army. The CDMP consists of three main com- ponents: (1) Development Plan, (2)
Financial Plan and Transactional
Instruments, and (3) Operations,
Maintenance, and Property Management
Plan. The CDMP development takes about
seven months. During the first six, the
selected developer works closely with Army
to craft the CDMP. The Army staffs the
CDMP, and then submits it to Congress for
review. If Congress does not object to the proj- ect, the Army issues a Notice to Transition
and the developer is paid a fixed sum for
the CDMP. In return for this payment, the
Army is granted full and unlimited rights to
use the CDMP. Approximately three months later, housing assets/operations are turned over to
a partnership, which is typically a limited
partnership or limited liability company
that includes the Army and development
partner as limited partners / members. The RCI program promotes and empha- sizes the use of local businesses, large,
small and/or disadvantaged. RCI projects
are comprehensive and historically have
resulted in substantial benefits for many
local businesses, including those that quali-
fy for consideration as small, disadvantaged,
minority, or woman owned. The Army is committed to ensuring small businesses are included in RCI proj-
ects. An offerors Small Business Utilization
Plan is an evaluation factor in the solicita-
tion, and the process requires them to sub-
mit detailed information on past, present
and future small business utilization
including plans. Offerors must articulate their firms approach to ensuring that small businesses
will have maximum subcontracting opportu-
nities. They must also provide plans for how
much of the overall cost of the RCI project
will be subcontracted to small businesses. RCI solicitations require offerors to outline plans and schedules for conducting
small business outreach events to inform
local business of the RCI project and associ-
ated opportunities. Each of the partners at
the four initial RCI sites has conducted con-
ferences for local (large and small) busi-
nesses to educate and encourage companies
to participate in the housing privatization
program. The Army continues to work with local communities to improve small business out-
reach efforts and has established reporting
requirements that require partners to pro-
vide specific statistics. Partners Selected
include: Fort Carson, COJ.A. Jones Fort Hood, TXActus Lend Lease Fort Lewis, WAEQR Residential Fort Meade, MDPicerne Real Estate Group 4 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Armys Residential Communities Initiative (RCI)
program gains momentum by Joyce VanSlyke and Theresa Adams Fort Bragg, NCPicerne Real Estate Group Fort Campbell, KYActus Lend Lease Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Air Field, GAGMH Military Housing, LLC Presidio of Monterey, CAClark Pinnacle Family Communities, LLC Fort Irwin/Moffett Fed Airfield/Camp Parks, CAClark Pinnacle Family
Communities, LLC Fort Hamilton, NYHudson Fort Hamilton, LLC Fort Belvoir, VAClark Pinnacle Family Communities, LLC Fort Eustis/Story/Monroe, VA J.A. Jones Community Development Co.
January 2003 The Army will invest approximately $224 million from Army Family Housing
Construction (AFHC) in the first 12 proj-
ects, and the developers will provide over $4
billion in private capital during the initial
development period (4-10 years). Private
capital consists of developer equity and
debt underwritten by the BAH income
stream, (debt being the main source of
financing). We have been very successful in lever- aging appropriated funds and housing
assets to obtain private capital for new con-
struction and renovation. Other installa-
tions are being identified and programmed
for housing privatization in FY 2005 out. Like any successful program, the RCI Program does have a few challenges that
need to be worked very early on and often
throughout the process. Some of these chal-
lenges include requirements determination,
communication with all key stakeholders -
bring them into the process early, schools,
standards among RCI projects, proposed
construction footprints - identifying appro-
priate footprints at the beginning of the
process and sticking to that footprint, resi-
dent utilities, utilities privatization, envi-
ronmental issues - surface early - chlordane,
toxic mold, etc, and lastly, historic properties. It is absolutely crucial RCI PMs work with the State Historic Preservation Office
early in the planning stages. The key to
addressing and resolving these and all other
challenges is early coordination and team-
work. Portfolio and Asset Management (PAM) functions will ensure that The Armys RCI
Program investments; assets and portfolio
are fully protected against any current and
potential crises and/or shortfalls over the
next 50+ years. RCI performance will be measured based on: (1) soldiers satisfaction with housing. (2) continuous enhancement / preservation of housing over the life of the project. (3) mitigation of risk to the project. (4) successful completion of housing devel- opment scope of work. To measure performance, RCI PAM will be established at two levels. The first,
Portfolio Management (PM), includes the
information required by Headquarters with
the objective of assessing and assuring the overall suc- cess of RCI. Information collected and ana-
lyzed at Headquarters will also be provided
back to the installation to enhance success
of individual projects. The second level, Asset Management (AM) will focus on information
prepared/used by the installation to assess
the success of its project. Armys approach
to PAM will meet the specific needs of each
Army housing privatization project and also
provide key lessons learned to enhance and
improve the policies/procedures at existing
projects as well as drive a best practice
approach for future projects. The bottom line is the RCI program provides quality, sustainable residential
communities for our soldiers and their fami-
lies. Feedback on the RCI program has been
very positive and there is considerable
enthusiasm from The Armys senior leader-
ship and soldiers and their families. The
RCI program is giving us the opportunity to
provide better homes and communities to
Army families much sooner than traditional
methods. For additional program information, please visit the Armys RCI website at
rci.army.mil. POC is Joyce VanSlyke, (703) 692-9884,
e-mail: joyce.vanslyke@hqda.army.mil Joyce VanSlyke and Theresa Adams are
RCI Program Managers at HQDA. Public Works Digest March/April 2003 5 RCI TOTAL PROGRAM = 28 PROJECTS Fort Hood, Texas, families are celebrat- ing the grand opening of a new community
at the central Texas home to over 42,000
soldiers. Kouma Village is adding 224 new
four-bedroom homes and a host of ameni-
ties, including a Central Park and age-spe-
cific playgrounds. Also in the offing are several new com- munity centers with swimming pools and
recreational facilities. The Kouma center
will include a new Head Start facility, the
result of a unique partnering arrangement.
Each of the centers is designed to meet the
needs of the community it serves and will
help provide residents with a full service
environment. Kouma Village already enjoyed its own elementary school and child care center,
and close work by Fort Hood Family
Housing (FHFH) and post officials with the
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
means that Kouma will also soon be served
by a new retail facility, within easy walking
distance of most homes. The Kouma celebration marked anoth- er success for Fort Hood Family Housing LP
(FHFH), a pioneering partnership between
the Army and Actus Lend Lease (Actus) of
Napa, California. In just 16 months of opera-
tion, the partnership has moved quickly,
providing new homes for over 70 families,
and moving over 100 others into revitalized
and renovated homes. And the speed of progress continues to escalate. In March, new homes will be com-
ing on line at the rate of 40 a month; by
early summer, major conversions will be
available at the rate of 12 a month and ren-
ovations will greet families at the rate of 28
a month. In addition, landscaping projects,
tot lots, hike and bike trails and tailored
fencing solutions are readily in evidence
across the vast landscape of Fort Hoods 13
villages. U.S. Congressman Chet Edwards (D- TX) joined Fort Hood commander,
Lieutenant General Thomas F. Metz, and Actus CEO Peter Koziol in congratulating
the partnership for the many improvements
already provided the 5,900 plus families liv-
ing on the installation. Edwards, a key pro-
ponent in moving the Military Housing
Privatization Initiative over numerous hur-
dles, credited the partnership with fast
action in providing well-planned improve-
ments for families. New homes being built in several vil- lages, directly address both the deficit and
the market needs at Fort Hood. The 1,740
square foot homes will accommodate junior
NCO families with three to four children.
The homes have 2 1/2 bathrooms and are
already rated as exceeding energy star stan-
dards. The design focuses on flexible living
space and large storage areas. Additionally,
large, fully fenced yards provide larger fami-
lies with lots of living space. The initial five-year development scope of the project will see 974 new homes con-
structed. In addition, 640 apartments will
undergo a major conversion to become 320
4/5 bedroom, 3 bath town homes, designed
for the larger families of senior NCOs. This latter project will also dramatically reduce
the density of families and cars in a typical-
ly overdeveloped, mid-1970s community.
Revitalizations and renovations will touch
over 4,600 homes during the project and
provide community centers and other
amenities in older villages as well. Development, design and construction are proceeding ahead of schedule and
under budget. Army program managers and
residents alike are rating quality and satis-
faction at outstanding levels. Resident
involvement in the design and planning
process has proven to be a key ingredient in
providing families with homes and ameni-
ties that they need and enjoy. Residential services are a priority Whether residents live in brand new or renovated homes, the clear priority is supe-
rior property management service. Army
officials at Fort Hood point with pride to the
results of the recent RCI surveys that
showed Fort Hood residents are giving the
partnership high ratings for their work in 6 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Fort Hoods RCI demonstrates success by Robert Erwin Congressman Chet Edwards (D-11th,TX), Peter Koziol (CEO, Actus Lend Lease), Kevin Cooper (office of Senator
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX), Lt Gen Thomas F. Metz (CG, Fort Hood), present the new home and community key
to Kouma Village Mayor Pamela Turner and Community Manager Tracey Foster. property management. Overall resident sat-
isfaction is highest at Fort Hood compared
to all other privatized Army housing. Even
during a potentially turbulent transition
period (from government to privatized oper-
ations), overall resident satisfaction
remained among the highest of installations
surveyed. A core Army team provides a One- Stop Shop for incoming soldiers with all of
the critical and familiar services of register-
ing for on-post homes, providing off-post
referrals, and managing deposit waiver pro-
grams. Exceptions to policy and accommo-
dating families with special needs are met
with one-on-one service. Military housing professionals work side by side with the private sector property
management team from Lend Lease
Residential. They ensure a seamless transi-
tion to the residential services coordinators
and community managers who will manage
the transition in and out of the homes and
provide the community services and pro-
grams that will provide a true sense of
home during a familys stay at Fort Hood. A successful residential services pack- age relies heavily on maintenance services.
All Star Maintenance was selected by the
Actus team to fulfill the 24x7 requirement.
Once again, residents are rating the quality
of services consistently high as the team
serves the Armys single largest inventory of
homes, which range from brand new to 55
years in age. Property management and mainte- nance survey cards are completed by resi-
dents at every point of contact. Scores are
consistently coming in at near perfect rat-
ings. Performance is evaluated by the Army
program management team on a monthly
basis to ensure that residents are being well
served. Resourcing improved quality of life Soldiers and their families at Fort Hood are realizing the benefits in BAH increases
based upon the diligent efforts of the Fort
Hood Housing Office over the last 30
months. From FY00 to FY03, soldiers saw a 21.1 percent weighted average increase in their
BAH. This has provided an overall average
increase for E1-E2 of 52.8 percent; 49.1 per-
cent for E3, and 41.3 percent for E4. The FY03 weighted average for Fort Hoods on-post program is 10.9 percent
more than anticipated. The increase in
housing dollars available for soldiers resid-
ing off-post totals $48 million over the last
30 months. Serving a Trained and Deployable Force The joint-team property management program at Fort Hood blends the best
aspects of the private sector with a wealth
of experience in the military culture to
meet the unique needs of the Army family. The current world situation has led to the deployment of large numbers of soldiers
from Fort Hood, providing one of the most
challenging environments for housing pro-
fessionals. The FHFH housing team has
been involved in all phases of planning for
deployments, including work with the
Family Assistance Center and providing
counseling at pre-deployment briefings for
soldiers and their families. The focus is simple: ensure that resi- dent families are well cared for while sol-
diers are deployed. That means that mainte-
nance services are prepared to meet
increased demands and that family pro-
grams are tailored to individual neighbor-
hoods and villages and designed to help fill
the inevitable void that occurs when sol-
diers ship out. One of the most critical measures of the
quality of communities
has always been the
willingness and desire of
families to remain
where they are when
sponsors deploy. FHFH
officials are pleased to
see that very few fami-
lies are electing to leave
their on-post homes and
go to other locations to be with families. It appears that Fort Hoods
families are increasingly happy with the
quality, security, support programs, and
comfort of home and community in Central
Texas. POC is Robert Erwin, (254) 200-3000,
e-mail: Robert.Erwin@hood.army.mil Robert Erwin is the Fort Hood Housing
Manager, Fort Hood, Texas. Public Works Digest March/April 2003 7 Look for the May/June 2003 issue of the Public Works Digest on Environmental Issues The Army recently announced the selec- tion of the private partner for Forts Eustis,
Story and Monroe, Va., under the Armys
Residential Communities Initiative (RCI). J. A. Jones Community Development Company, LLC was awarded a contract for
the Forts Eustis, Story and Monroe family
housing privatization project. In a collabora-
tive effort, J. A. Jones Community
Development Company, LLC and the Army
will work to jointly forge a Community
Development and Management Plan
(CDMP), which will be the blueprint for the
Armys residential communities at these
three Virginia installations. The planning phase will take six months or less. Upon acceptance of the
CDMP by the Army, Office of Management
and Budget, Department of Defense (DoD)
and Congress, project implementation will
begin. It is estimated that construction will
begin in the late fall of 2003. Providing sol-
diers and their families with safe, attractive,
affordable housing and modern communi-
ties is a major priority for the DoD and the
Army. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment has overall
responsibility for the RCI program. The
Armys RCI vision is to provide world-class
residential communities for uniformed serv-
ice members and their families, not just to
build houses. The first phase of the project will last approximately five years and will result in
the construction of 1,155 new replacements
homes, the revitalization of 23 homes and
the renovation of 15 historic homes. In addi-
tion, a host of other ancillary facilities and
amenities will be constructed to meet the
family housing needs at the three Virginia
installations. The J. A. Jones Community Development Company, LLC will develop,
redevelop, construct, own, manage and
maintain the housing units; maintain the
grounds of unoccupied units and public
areas; construct and maintain the roads and
infrastructure in associated areas; and rein-
vest profits for future renovations and
replacements. The RCI effort will improve, in a short period of time, the quality of life for over
1,100 uniformed service members and their
family members. The overall family housing
appearance and function within the three
Virginia installations will be improved by
weaving the natural and built environments
together as planned communities, while at
the same time protecting cultural resources
and meeting environmental responsibilities. The J. A. Jones Community Development Company, LLC will commit an
estimated $132 million for construction and
renovation of the family housing communi- ties at Forts Eustis, Story and Monroe. The
project is valued at approximately $782 mil-
lion over its 50 years. This is the twelfth RCI CDMP contract to be awarded under the Request for
Qualification (RFQ) process. The RFQ
process demonstrates and implements the
Armys philosophy of partnering not just
outsourcing with the private sector. The planning for the Forts Eustis, Story and Monroe RCI housing will follow tradi-
tional community land planning concepts.
RCI housing will be designed to meet the
needs and lifestyles of todays Army fami-
lies. The new housing will consist of single-
family detached and duplex homes designed
to complement the regional architecture of
the Hampton Roads area. All homes will
have modern interior layouts with plenty of
storage and energy saving appliances. These
amenities combined with the innovative
community designs will dramatically
increase the quality of life for the nations
uniformed service personnel and their fami-
lies in the Armys pursuit of installation
excellence. For more information, please go to the RCI
program site: http://www.rci.army.mil The number of military installations that are turning their family housing opera-
tions over to private sector developers is
growing and theres little wonder why. By the Department of Defenses own account, approximately 60 percent of its
family housing units worldwide are consid-
ered inadequate, and it would take more
than 20 years and cost as much as $16 bil- lion to fix the problem using only traditional
military construction. Congress addressed
this problem in 1996 by giving the armed
services wide-ranging authorities to encour-
age the private sector to invest in, develop,
redevelop, build, own, manage, and main-
tain the family housing units at their instal-
lations. At a minimum, privatization must
yield three times the number of housing units as traditional military construction for
the same amount of appropriated dollars. The Armys version of privatization is called Residential Communities Initiative
(RCI). The goal of the program is simple, said Jeanne C. Adams, Fort Stewart/Hunter
Army Airfield RCI program manager. Its to 8 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Army announces RCI partner for three Virginia installations Getting Army families into quality housing faster by Verdelle Lambert provide a better quality of life for our sol-
diers and their families by creating great
communities. Thats achieved principally by
using private financing techniques to gener-
ate enough money to build homes that are
comparable to homes in the community.
Heres how it works: The Army leases the
land to its partner for 50 years and conveys
all improvements; in addition, the partner
receives the soldiers Basic Allowance for
Housing (BAH) as a source of revenue. The
real estate assets, along with a fixed rev-
enue stream, can be used to borrow signifi-
cant funds. The partner owns and manages
the military family communities for the
duration of the land lease. [Theres a 25-
year optional extension to the 50 years.
Depending on the amount of BAH, the gov-
ernment may also contribute equity at the
beginning of the deal as it did for Fort
Hood, Texas.] Because we can leverage dollars, we can do a lot more work than what the feder-
al government would ever appropriate for a
project of this size and scope, said Richard
C. Taylor, senior vice president of GMH
Military Housing,* the developer RCI
selected as the private partner for the Fort
Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield project. The
financing is structured to make the project
self-sustaining, so were able to recapitalize
on the assets well into the future over the
entire 50-year partnership. Installations shown by research to have the worst or most serious family housing
conditions are asked first if they want to be
nominated for the program. (Some installa-
tions that originally said no have since
changed their minds.) Using a virtual proj-
ect delivery team concept, the Corps of
Engineers provides contracting, environ-
mental, legal, program management, and
real estate support to the RCI program. Tom Clarke, a Corps employee at the Savannah District, heads the source selec-
tion evaluation board effort for the south-
east projects. He is on a two-year assign-
ment to the USACE RCI Project
Development Team. Our involvement begins once the offers come in, said Clarke. We evaluate
them against the published requirements. This sounds
simple but the
evaluation
process is very
long and drawn
out because
the require-
ments are
many and com-
plicated. The
first step,
establishing a
competitive
range of offers
for multiple
installations
four, in the
case of the
southeast
group can
take up to six
months. The
second step,
actually rating
the offers
(based on
written as well
as oral presen-
tations), can
take up to
three months
for each
installation. As chair- person, Clarke
wears several
hats, function-
ing as facilita-
tor, project
manager, and
independent reviewer. He and his deputy, a
representative from the Department of
Army, are the only constants on the board.
The other members of the evaluation team
come from the installation and/or IMA
(Installation Management Activity). The
IMA has seven regions, and each region may
participate in the evaluation process for an
installation within its geographical boundary. These are all quality developers com- peting for projects, and our job is to search
out the best value for the government, said
Clarke. We put together all the facts along with our ratings and present that report to
a source selection authority, who makes the
selection decision. RCI awarded the Fort Stewart/Hunter contract last December, bringing 2,927
housing units into the program for a cumu-
lative total of 38,431 units. In January the
program awarded a project at Eustis/Story
Monroe, adding 1,193 units. It expects to
award an additional 7,758 units this year.
These contracts fund the Community
Development Management Plan (CDMP), a
comprehensive, 50-year plan for the con- Public Works Digest March/April 2003 9 Artist rendering of the Hunter Army Airfield incorporates themes from Savannahs his-
toric district into the overall community. (Left to Right) COL Gerald J. Poltorak, installation commander, Fort Stewart/Hunter,
Richard C. Taylor, senior vice president, GMH Military Housing (the partner/developer),
and Command Sgt. Maj. Carl T. Smith, Fort Stewart/Hunter, visit one of the housing com-
plexes at Stewart that will be demolished and replaced. struction, renovation and management of
the communities. The Army has more than 110,000 family housing units, some 67,000 of which are
inadequate. By 2005, more than 69,000
units, representing close to 80 percent of
the Armys family housing inventory in the
United States, will be under the RCI pro-
gram. But the Armys goal to eliminate all
inadequate family housing in the U.S. by
2007 also relies on traditional military con-
struction (MILCON) and increases in the
BAH. This is a smart move for the Army, observed COL Roger A. Gerber, commander
of the Corps Savannah District. RCI can
produce quality housing much quicker and
thats great for soldiers and their families.
Traditional Army Family Housing
Construction is limited to the funding
Congress appropriates each year. This has been a long time coming, said COL Gerald J. Poltorak, installation
commander, Fort Stewart/Hunter, acknowl-
edging the tremendous backlog in mainte-
nance and construction of quality family
housing. Some innovative, visionary people
came up with this program, and Id like to
thank them for enabling us to get quality
housing for our family members on the
installation. We have an outstanding partner
in GMH theyre not our contractor, but
rather our partner. The relationship is
based on a trust that we both have a com-
mon vision to accomplish, we both under-
stand our end-state, and we both have vest-
ed interests in getting there. With us approaching the project from that partnership perspective, I think there
is no way that we can fail, added Taylor.
We have one goal in mind, and thats to
improve the quality of life for these service
members and their families. Over the next five months the partners will work together to develop the CDMP. A
model of the proposed community has
already been developed. What were trying to do is replicate a lot of the best of land planning in the local
communities, explained Taylor. At Hunter,
for example, were trying to incorporate themes from Savannahs historic district
into the overall community. The individual
blocks that make up the neighborhood are
all street-facing homes with center court-
yards that provide a safe environment for
children to play and opportunities for fami-
lies to interact. Each block is interconnect-
ed by a series of walkways leading to the
next block, and we replicate those blocks to
create a neighborhood. The larger neighbor-
hoods encourage pedestrian traffic and
interaction among families from one neigh-
borhood to the next, and from one commu-
nity to the next. Within these neighbor-
hoods are fitness centers, swimming pools,
and other luxuries that families in some of
the nicest communities off post have. In
many cases, theyre not available to families
on military installations. Were going to
bring that to Fort Stewart and Hunter Army
Airfield. The Army Secretariat and the installa- tions RCI staff provided general guidelines
for the project. GMHs private-sector part-
ner, Atkins Americas (an architectural engi-
neering firm with an equity stake in the
project), drew up the architectural plans.
Families will comment on the plan in a
series of focus group meetings, which have
already started. GMH will use this input to
refine and finalize what the ultimate project
will look like. We approach these projects with the intent to exceed what is available in the pri-
vate sector, said Taylor. Our military fami-
lies deserve no less. Once we have completed the plan, we will submit it to the Department of Army,
the Office of the Secretary of Defense,
Office of Management and Budget, and to
Congress for their approval, said Adams.
After we get the approvals, we will finalize
the legal documents necessary to transfer
the assets and future income stream to our
partner. We believe the transfer will occur
by January 1, 2004. At the point of the
transfer, we wont have Army family housing
as we once knew it. The government will
have an oversight role and our partner will
manage and own the houses. Construction will begin immediately after transfer. GMHs construction partner is Centex Construction Company. Centex is
one of the largest general contractors in the
country and the second largest homebuilder
in the nation. They will replace many of the
existing homes with new homes, renovate
those that are not replaced, and build up to
1,012 new homes825 at Fort Stewart and
187 at Hunter. Fort Stewart currently has
2,439 family housing units, Hunter, 488. The
majority of the work, including amenities
such as swimming pools and fitness centers,
will be accomplished during the first eight
years of the contract, when all of the hous-
ing will undergo either renovation of
replacement. The initial development is about $463 million, said Taylor. Over the entire 50
years, its about a $2 billion project. We will
use funds the Army has committed to the
initial development, we will put in equity in
the form of cash, and then we will go out
and attract bond financing for the balance
of the work. We are striving to be a Southern Living Station of Choice, said Poltorak, out-
lining his vision for the program. We want
the coastal Georgia architectural styles to
reside here at Fort Stewart. We want the
porches and the openness of the houses. We
want to capture that wonderful cultural
feeling of neighborliness, where people help
without being asked. Were trying in our
quality of life, in our training and the way
we project power out of here, to be the sta-
tion of choice for soldiers around the Army.
We cant do that until weve replaced and
repaired this housing and ensure that all
the other facilities that support them are
quality. ____________________________ *The Navy has also awarded GMH a contract under its version of the Military
Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). POC is Jeanne Adams, (912) 238-3333, e-
mail: jeanne.adams@stewart.army.mil Verdelle Lambert is a public affairs spe-
cialist with the Savannah District, USACE. Photos by Jonas Jordan 10 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Picerne Military Housing began its pri- vatized family housing operations at Fort
Meade on 1 May 2002 utilizing Picernes
Families First approach. The Families
First approach is Picernes core mission.
Their goal is to provide homes and neigh-
borhoods that improve quality of life, pro-
mote a sense of belonging and are a source
of pride for Americas military families.
Picernes complete program of manage-
ment, maintenance and family services is
designed to promote installation living and
support retention of world class military
members. The Picerne management and opera- tions staff brings a new meaning and experi-
ence to Fort Meade family housing under
the direction of Community Management
Director, Laurie Hanson. Hanson is a 15-
year veteran of the Rhode Island-based,
Picerne Real Estate Group (the parent com-
pany of Picerne Military Housing). To effectively provide each Fort Meade family with timely service, Hanson divided
the family housing areas, consisting of 2,612
homes, into five neighborhoods consisting of
450 to 600 homes. Each neighborhood is
supported by its own management and
maintenance staff located in a neighbor-
hood center. This is a significant departure from prior practices where all housing areas were
handled by one office, which was remote
from the families. This neighborhood center
concept allows for a more personalized and
efficient approach to community manage-
ment. Each neighborhood management
team is operating temporarily from convert-
ed homes designated as neighborhood
offices until the new neighborhood centers
are built. The collective team of Picerne Military Housing is working hard to produce results.
The experienced staff is composed of a
diverse group with a unified goal of Families
First. Picernes neighborhood managers and maintenance staff pride themselves on
providing timely, superior service. They can
execute this because they are experts in the
business. According to Hanson, We are here to take care of their housing needs, mainte-
nance needs and to assist with family sup-
port services. This is how we take care of all
Picerne residents across the country - its
family taking care of family. Hanson is very
proud of the Fort Meade team she has
assembled. The Fort Meade team has over 150 years of combined military experience,
which includes five recent military retirees.
Prior to and continuing since 1 May, this
team has met and listened to the needs of
many Fort Meade families. This interaction
has allowed them to gain a better under-
standing of the families needs and has rein-
forced their commitment to the families.
Each team member has a personal interest
in ensuring the families needs are satisfied.
Picerne selectively crafted the team to
ensure it had a cross section of experience
and the right attitude. Craig Johnson, a property manager from Tennessee, was excited when he saw
the Monster.com ad seeking property
mangers to support privatized family hous-
ing on Fort Meade. Johnson said, I see this
opportunity as an avenue to give back to the
families by providing what they deserve ver-
sus what someone thinks they need. For
example, we must provide comfort that will
be equal to that level of commitment the
military members provide our nation daily,
which includes providing support to the
families of deployed sponsors. It is not
about the tax dollar. Its about the blood,
sweat and tears of our military families. Neighborhood manager Ronni Maylen said, This program is an about-face for mil-
itary families. Its an honor to take care of
those who take care of me. Coming from the
private sector, I never expected to see mili- tary family housing in this condition. Now
that I am here, I want the families to know
that I am here for them. My job is not com-
plete until I have met their needs by provid-
ing services tailored for their well-being. On the maintenance side, Christopher Cole oversees the entire technical operation
for family housing as the Director of
Maintenance and Capital Improvements. He
traveled from Arizona for the ground floor
opportunity of family housing privatization.
The target for his crew is Excellence -
excellence in all that they do in providing
service to the families. According to Cole,
Picerne has spent a lot of time and effort
in hiring the finest people in the industry.
We will raise the bar of service beyond the
multifamily housing industry standard. It was evident from the onset that the entire Picerne Military Housing team
speaks with one voice. The team knows
its an honor to be selected out of the hun-
dreds of resumes received. As individual
team members, they are challenging them-
selves to transform Fort Meade. They share
the same goal Families First - improv-
ing quality of life. Picerne is committed to
putting the needs of the Fort Meade fami-
lies first and providing them with exception-
al customer service and the quality housing
they deserve. Andrea Hajian is Public Relations Director
for Picerne Real Estate Group/MC
Partners. (Reprinted from Defense Communities,
November/December 2002) Public Works Digest March/April 2003 11 New beginning for Family Housing at Fort Meade by Andrea M. Hajian The Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) program, within the U.S. Army
Military District of Washington (MDW), is
moving forward at a rapid pace. Within
MDW, three installations will transfer their
family housing mission and assets to a pri-
vate developer partner by Fall 2003. These
three installations are Fort Hamilton, New
York, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Fort George
G. Meade, Maryland, of which the latter will
transfer on or about May 1, 2002. It is not a secret that the current state of Army Family Housing is unacceptable
and requires drastic changes and many
improvements. It is also no secret that the
needs are quite different today than when
military family housing was built over four
decades ago. It is the goal of the MDW to
resolve both of these issues maximizing the
legislative authorities provided by the RCI
program. Through RCI, the MDW goal is to use the authorities contained in the Defense
Authorization Act, known as the Military
Housing Privatization Initiative signed into
law in 1996, to obtain better family housing
for military members and their families.
This legislation provides alternatives for the
Military Services to improve and enhance
military family housing. The legislation is
intended to influence the way military fami-
lies live in the future by offering safe,
affordable, convenient, attractive, and qual-
ity residential communities comparable to
those found in the local surrounding areas. Using the legislation, MDW is looking for a long term relationship with a partner
to finance, design, construct, manage, oper-
ate, and maintain and repair its military
family housing inventory over a fifty-year
period. In exchange for this opportunity, the
partner will receive the military members
Basic Allowance for Housing as rent. Once a
developer is selected, MDW will partner
with this firm to jointly forge a Community
Development and Management Plan
(CDMP), which will be the blueprint for developing, managing, and operating the
residential community at each particular
installation. Fort George G. Meade is in a very fast- paced and exciting stage. It has completed
the CDMP, which has been approved by
Congress, and has received Notice to
Proceed. The Fort George G. Meade RCI
Team, along with their developer partner,
Meade-Picerne Partners, formed a partner-
ship called Meade Communities. Colonel
Michael J. Stewart, Fort George G. Meade
Installation Commander refers to the initia-
tive as high adventure while George
Barbee, RCI Program Manager, calls it a
military family housing history making
event. Furthermore, Meade-Picerne Partners is working together to prepare to take on
the current maintenance backlog and to
begin construction on the new homes. The
current plan is to begin maintenance and
repair work, simultaneously with transition,
and to begin construction during the sum-
mer. The first new homes are scheduled for
occupancy in March 2003. Although the Fort Hamilton and Fort Belvoir undertakings are not as far along,
MDW is also excited about them. Presently,
staff are in place and the procurement
process has begun to select a developer
partner. The RCI Teams are now busy
preparing for their future partner by organ-
izing their collaboration positions and rules
of engagement, as well as creating a viable
flow of information to military members and
their families, the local community, and all
interested stakeholders. This preparation is
important for both the Army and the future
partner as it sets the stage for the next 50
years. It is also important to note that RCI is changing not only the face of military family
housing, but the soul as well. By bringing in
a private partner, whose only focus will be
on housing, it allows the mission to be based exclusively on the military family.
Items such as family support will be at the
core of the family housing mission. It will
give the families more voice on their desires
and concerns. Knowing that the military
members and their families are being well
taken care of is vital to the MDW command
staff. One example of this is the Resident Advisory Committees (RAC). Each of the
MDW installations has or will have RACs in
place which function as focus groups. The
mission of these committees is to advise the
RCI and private developer partner teams on
the wants and needs of the military fami-
lies. They will meet to discuss in-home and
community amenities as well as current pol-
icy. These committees are an important part
of the CDMP process. George Barbee and his RCI Teams are committed to setting the pace and estab-
lishing the blueprint for others to follow
and improve upon. Their aim is to make a
hallmark impression on military family
housing and enhance military residential
communities. For more information on RCI within MDW,
please contact Aimee Sheriff at (301) 677-
4756, e-mail:
sheriffa@emh1.ftmeade.army.mil. Aimee Sheriff is the Public Information
Officer for the MDW Business Initiative
Office and for the RCI Program at the three
MDW installations undergoing RCI. (Reprinted from Defense Communities,
November/December 2002) 12 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 RCI evident within Military District of Washington by Aimee Sheriff The Army Barracks Team, Facilities and Housing Directorate, Office of the
Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation
Management (OACSIM) is currently work-
ing on the next update to The Armys
Barracks Master Plan (BMP) for permanent
party enlisted barracks modernization pro-
gram. Based on specific information in the Program Decision Memorandum (PDM), the
Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense (Installations &
Environment)/Housing Directorate expects
each of the Services to provide an installa-
tion level barracks master plan to OSD by
the end of May 2003. Planning is already
underway in the Army to satisfy this
requirement. The upcoming version of the BMP will concentrate on installation specifics. This
will require significant coordination with
installations, regions and Major Commands. Although new Defense Planning Guidance directs elimination of inadequate
permanent party enlisted barracks by FY
2007, existing funding levels do not permit
the Army to eliminate its inadequate bar-
racks until FY 2010 or beyond. This shortfall
will be highlighted during Program
Objective Memorandum (POM) develop-
ment. The OACSIM will update the Army Barracks Master Plan several times during
the fiscal year (FY) with this upcoming ver-
sion focused on the requirements of the
OSD plan using information submitted in
the FY 2004 Presidents Budget. Future
updates will allow for the incorporation of
changes in the Defense Planning Guidance
(DPG), Army support of the program, condi-
tions and the updating of investment strate-
gies, requirements, costs, and priorities. The May 2002 version of the BMP artic- ulates The Armys plan to modernize the permanent party unaccompanied
housing for enlisted soldiers using
the funding and requirement
details included in the FY 2003
PresBud. This Army-wide master
plan serves as the baseline for pro-
gramming and planning, identifies
the key assumptions and stan-
dards of the barracks moderniza-
tion program, prioritizes revital-
ization, and sequences the funding
stream for both MCA and Barracks
Upgrade Program projects. The first plan was built on articulating the barracks modern-
ization program assumptions, defi-
nitions, standards, current situa-
tion and our road map, by project,
to meet the modernization goal of
2008. It focused on the total Army-
wide program status in the charts
and graphs. As of May 2002, the current version of the Army Barracks
Master Plan is available on the
OACSIM Hot Topics internet web
page located at
http://www.hqda.army.mil/acsim/
homepage.shtml or directly at
http://housing.army.mil/uph_plan.htm POC is Suzanne Harrison, (703)
703-428-9109, e-mail:
Suzanne.Harrison@hqda.army.mil Suzanne Harrison is a Senior
Housing Management Specialist,
Barracks Program Strategic
Planner for the Army Housing
Division, Facilities and Housing
Directorate, ACSIM. Public Works Digest March/April 2003 13 OSD directs Services to submit 2003 Barracks Master Plan by Suzanne Harrison Fort Benning barracks. Fort Benning Ranger barracks. Fort Gordon barracks. Since 1802 the United States Military Academy at West Point has been training
our nations soldiers in the doctrines and
procedures that allow them to effectively
serve this country. Now with a little help
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, West
Point is about to take a major step forward
with the construction of its new physical
development center. Meticulously planned, Arvin Gymnasium will become the backbone of
the academys physical education program
as envisioned by Doctor Tom Horn, director
of faculty operations and program support
for West Point and Lawrence Danner, proj-
ect engineer for New York District. According to Horn, the original plan for the physical development center involved
renovating West Points historic Hayes gym.
However, careful inspection revealed the
grand old structure to be devoid of master
plans, unable to accommodate the handi-
capped, and in need of a complete electrical
overhaul. Additionally, there was no room
for male and female locker space, while the
building itself required seismic upgrades. So many issues, coupled with the fund- ing required to correct them made the reno-
vation project cost prohibitive. Instead a
plan was forged to build a new gymnasium
within the building footprint of the old one.
A task force was assembled and sent to
such schools as Yale, the Naval Academy,
Air Force Academy and the University of
Georgia. These institutions possess state-of-
the art facilities and provide good working
models from which the Corps of Engineers
and West Point officials could determine
exactly what was needed to better serve the
interests of the modern cadet. The Army, unlike its brethren in the Navy and Air Force, places a higher priority
on ground-based exercises, Horn stated.
Therefore we need a physical development
center designed to meet that type of cur-
riculum. To this end, the Army Corps of
Engineers and West
Point officials are
doing everything in
their power to
ensure that the new
Arvin cadet physical
development center
will be a state-of-the
art facility designed
to eliminate all the
downfalls of its
predecessor and bet-
ter aid cadets in
their transformation
into soldiers of the
new millennium. Once funding for the project was
granted, the Army
Corps of Engineers
set to work on
designing building
the 350,000- square-
foot structure that
would support not
only the student
body but the intra-
mural and club team
programs as well.
Part of the chal-
lenge involved inte-
grating the old add-
on buildings with
separate utility systems into a modern, effi-
cient complex. The Corps of Engineers also
had to secure the roadway behind the con-
struction site by installing braces beneath it
to prevent a cave-in during excavation work. Division I-AA varsity wrestling and swimming teams will be performing in
Arvin, while the football, basketball and
hockey teams are slated to begin operating
out of the Kimsey Athletic Center this
spring. The physical development center will also serve as social gathering place for
many of the cadets, who arent permitted
access to motorized transportation until
their senior year. Highland Falls isnt a very
large town, so it can become somewhat of a
challenge for underclassmen to find suit-
able diversions when they arent studying or
training. To combat this problem, Horn said
Arvin will also feature lounges for parties,
and other amenities for cadets enjoyment. 14 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Teaching an old gym some new tricks
West Point begins Phase 2 of Arvin Gym by Kenneth Wells The old gymnasium. A worker drills holes in the ground in preparation for pouring the foundation for
the new gym. Until Arvin is completed, West Points student population will conduct classes in temporary facilities in whatever space is available. However, while NCAA sports
and casual interaction are part of Arvins
purpose, transforming our nations youth
into better soldiers remains the primary
goal. Arvin is a classroom like any other,
Horn pointed out. Taking this statement to heart, the Corps of Engineers will be installing three
Olympic-size swimming pools that can be
used for survival swimming classes. New
cadets are required to take 19 lessons in
swimming and each is carefully screened
to determine his or her level of proficien-
cy. Experienced swimmers are allowed to
move onto scuba diving if they so desire,
while all the classes focus on a cadet being able to handle himself or herself in deep
water with combat gear in tow. The military movements curriculum will be accommodated via rope climbing
apparatuses, obstacle courses and a spe-
cial maze whose artificial twists and turns
will require students to navigate the ter-
rain while confronting dangerous situa-
tions. Handball and racquetball courts,
cycling machines, physical therapy rooms
and aerobic equipment will also be added. West Points personal fitness and wel- fare courses will benefit from the addition-
al space too, since they focus on teaching
a student how to set up fitness areas for
their units in the field. The new space also provides a rebirth to judo and martial arts activities for the
academys 4,000 cadets. In total, Arvin will
boast three swimming pools, nine individ-
ual gymnasiums and three weight rooms. Once the physical development cen- ter is completed, well be much better at
building lean, mean, fighting machines,
Horn promised. Arvins construction will
be done in three phases at a cost of nearly
$100 million. The contractor for the proj-
ect is J. Kokolakis Contracting, Inc., locat-
ed in Rocky Point, NY, with the facility
scheduled for completion by April 2005.
The gymnasium is scheduled to open to
cadets at the start of the 2006 academic
year. POC is Kenneth Wells,(212) 264-9113,
e-mail:
Kenneth.wells@NAN02.usace.army.mil Kenneth Wells is a public affairs special-
ist in the Public Affairs Office of the New
York District. Consistent with The Armys Transformation, the Vice Chief of Staff Army
(VCSA), General Keane, has approved new
barracks construction criteria that will
improve soldier well-being and provide a
better value to The Army. The new criteria
are less restrictive and incorporate industry
standards in order to provide improvements
at no additional cost to The Army. These
changes resulted from a comprehensive bar-
racks review and survey conducted by the
Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation
Management and the Army Corps of
Engineers. By memorandum of 11 July 2002, the VCSA strongly endorsed these changes
because single soldiers deserve the best
housing The Army can provide, and because
barracks remain The Armys top facilities
priority due to their impact on well-being
and readiness. The main objective of the new barracks design philosophy will be to provide com- manders with greater flexibility to trans-
form barracks into living quarters that more
closely resemble those in the private sector. These changes, which will be an improvement on the existing 1+1 standard,
are prudent because as The Armys force
structure, doctrine, and equipment are
transforming, so must barracks to keep pace
with the changing expectations of soldiers. Excellent housing for single soldiers is critical to maintaining the quality force The
Army needs to maintain its superiority in
this dynamic environment. The best way to
do this is to make barracks more like pri-
vate sector housing, and to provide the flexi-
bility to adapt to constant change. These criteria apply to new MCA-fund- ed barracks, starting with FY 2003. The cri-
teria can also be used for new barracks
added by Congress to the FY 2002 MCA pro-
gram, if practical. Barracks renovations starting in FY 2003 should also strive to incorporate the
new criteria to the maximum extent feasible. Please refer to the following URL for the 11 July 2002 VCSA memo and the
Barracks Mid-Program Review report which
provided the justification for change: http://www.hqda.army.mil/acsimweb/fd/ construction/milconbar.htm See table on page 16 for a summary of the new criteria. POC is George Mino, (703) 428-7708, e-
mail: George.Mino@hqda.army.mil George Mino, P.E., is the Barracks Program
Manager, Army Housing Division,
Facilities and Housing Directorate, ACSIM. (Reprinted from Defense Communities,
Jan/Feb 2003) Public Works Digest March/April 2003 15 New barracks construction criteria by George Mino (continued from previous page) 16 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 New Army Barracks Construction Criteria July 2002 Item Barracks and Support Spaces, Gross Area -
Includes Soldier Community Building (SCB) Barracks Room, Net Area Barracks Module, Gross Area Private Modules Soldier Community Building Cooking Facilities in each Barracks Module Barracks Room Closet, Net Area Bulk Storage (personal) Laundries Other support functions, e.g., CQ desk, lobby,
activity rooms, kitchen, mailroom, vending,
pay telephones, mud room Configuration and Exterior Appearance Module Access Technical Design Criteria and Standards Acquisition Method Previous Criteria Max 34 SM (366 SF) per space, or max 36 SM
(388 SF) for barracks over 3 stories, or to
meet site-specific requirements. 1+1: 11 SM (118 SF)
2+0 (Korea): 8.4 SM (90 SF) Max 47 SM (506 SF) for each 1+1 module Only for NCOs U.S. Required
Outside U.S. - Optional Microwave oven U.S.- Approx 2 SM (21 SF)
Europe: 2 SM (21 SF)
Korea (2+0): 0.6 SM (7 SF) U.S.In SCB
Outside U.S. - In barracks U.S. - In SCB
Outside U.S. - In a central location in the
barracks U.S. - In SCB
Outside U.S. - In a central location in bar-
racks Large multi-story, masonry buildings (bar-
racks) No restrictions Military standards (often exceeding industry
standards and codes) Mostly design-bid-build New Criteria No change (limits set by Office of the
Secretary of Defense) Garrison Commander discretion: Max 17 SM
(183 SF)
Min 13 SM (140 SF) except for Korea 2+0,
which is 8.4 SM (90 SF) Limited only by OSD cap on total gross area
(34 or 36 SM per space) Garrison Commander discretion to authorize
for any rank Downsize or delete Add a stove or cook top (optional outside
U.S.), or design to make it easy to add in the
future U.S. - Approx 3 SM (32 SF)
Outside U.S. Max 2 SM with separate bulk
storage, or max 3 SM if bulk storage in closet U.S. Delete (replaced by larger closet)
Outside U.S. Garrison Commander discre-
tion Garrison Commander discretion to locate in
each module, each floor, each barracks, or
SCB Garrison Commander discretion to select
needed functions and locations Garrison Commander discretion to make
similar to private sector housing New barracks shall not have windows open-
ing to a balcony or landing Industry standards except where military
standards are required to meet specific oper-
ational needs Maximize use of design-build and explore
other alternative acquisition procedures
such as privatization More than 80 new, state-of-the art homes for soldiers and their families were
made when officials cut the ribbon on the
Bonnie Blink Housing area. The ribbon cut-
ting ceremony took place on February 18,
with COL Lawrence J. Portouw, garrison
commander, assisting Congressman Jim
Kolbe in the ribbon cutting. Im proud that we can offer these modern homes in the most beautiful area on
Fort Huachuca to our soldiers and their
families, Portouw said. These new quarters
improve both energy efficiency and quality
of life and continue to make Fort Huachuca
an assignment of choice, Portouw said.. Portouw said the Bonnie Blink housing area has been a good place for soldiers to
live for many years. He cited a letter from a
former resident found written on the wall in
one of the homes razed for the new con-
struction, thanking the house. Warm in
winter, cool in summer... cozy in your
charm you have been a great home, the
letter reads. Portouw said the new project is designed to provide equally happy housing
to soldiers and their families in years to
come. Our soldiers dedicated to defending our country deserve the best housing we
can provide, Kolbe said. These beautiful
homes in this lovely setting are a great
example of our commitment to doing this
for them and for their families. The Bonnie Blink housing area is the final stage of a four-part, 110-unit construc-
tion project. The $15.5 million project
includes construction on Mason, Dove and
Crandal streets on Fort Huachuca. The new housing at Bonnie Blink con- sists of duplexes containing three and four
bedrooms, to be used by senior non-commis-
sioned officers and their families. The units
have either one or two floors. The 50 three-
bedroom units range in size from 1,539 to
1,636 square feet. The 32 four-bedroom
units range in size from 1,723 to 1,786
square feet. All homes within the new construction have received the Energy Star certifica-
tion. To receive this rating, furnaces in the
new homes must operate at 90 percent effi-
ciency. As a water conservation measure,
the new homes all use air conditioners
rather than evaporative coolers. The homes are lighted with fluorescent lighting, have stucco walls, and have numer-
ous other features that improve efficiency
or are more convenient for the residents. Fort Huachuca was recently named Best Post Housing and Facilities in an
Army Times competition. The best post
selections are based on input from Army
Times readers. For more information, please contact Eric
Cramer at (520) 533-1284. Eric Cramer is a public affairs specialist
at Fort Huachuca, AZ. The Army recently announced estab- lishment of a new command within the
Army Materiel Command (AMC) incorporat-
ing research, development and engineering
elements of AMCs major subordinate com-
mands (MSC). The new command is called
the Research, Development and
Engineering Command (RDE) and became
provisional October 1, 2002. The mission of the RDE Command is to field technologies that will sustain
Americas Army as the premier land force in
the world. The RDE Command responds
rapidly by integrating, maturing and demon- strating all emerging technologies to field
the right equipment, in the shortest time,
for our soldiers. The final location of the
headquarters for the new command has not
been determined. MG John Doesburg and an RDE Transition Team are leading the planning
process, focusing on improved management,
coordination and integration of research,
development and engineering. The RDE
Command vastly expands working relation-
ships with other Army elements, industry,
academia, other services, other government
agencies and international partners. The initial plan brings together in a single
organization the Army Research Laboratory,
part of the Simulation, Training and
Instrumentation Command, the Army
Materiel Systems Analysis Activity, and each
of the AMC Research, Development and
Engineering Centers currently assigned to
AMC MSCs. The addition of these various
elements to the RDE Command will be
gradual. No movement or loss of assigned
personnel is anticipated. POCs are Mickey Morales at (410) 436-5298
and Michelle McCaskill at (703) 617-8014. Public Works Digest March/April 2003 17 Army Materiel Command establishes Research, Development
and Engineering Command Fort Huachuca opens new, state-of-the-art housing for soldiers by Eric Cramer Forward deployment is improving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe
Districts ability to effectively serve its
Directorate of Public Works customers.
Europe District is improving support to sol-
diers by making the districts services more
accessible by collocating a Regional
Program Manager (RPM) with each of U.S.
Army Europes seven Area Support Groups. The overall purpose for an RPM is to facilitate communication between the cus-
tomer and USACE, and to assure excellent
support by USACE to the DPW, said Jim
Spratt, Regional Program Manager to the
104th ASG, headquartered in Hanau,
Germany. Its customer service for engi-
neering services. The Europe District established the RPM concept in 1998 to expand the cus-
tomer focus provided by USACEs Area and
Resident Engineer Offices collocated in mil-
itary communities in Europe. In addition to Product Delivery Teams, RPMs also interface regularly with the
Europe Districts Construction and
Engineering Division, as well as Project
Management, Installation
Support, and Environmental
branches at the Wiesbaden
headquarters. When a cus-
tomer has a problem, they
can come to us and we can
be the traffic cop to where
they need to go in our organi-
zation, Spratt said. The 221st Base Support Battalion Director of Public
Works (formerly the 104th
ASG chief of the Engineering
and Construction Division)
Michael DAmico said It
used to take a lot of our ener-
gy just to track down who to
talk to, and then some gave
better answers than others.
This way we go to one guy
and say Jim, weve got a problem here and we need to get a status. The RPMs activities vary from day-to- day troubleshooting on projects to program-
matic work. An RPMs focus at a particular
ASG and its subordinate Base Support
Battalions or Area Support Team also varies
with the approach taken by that DPW on
work execution and what services they
choose from USACE. The RPM is designed to be a valued member of the community DPW staff. When
there is an engineering issue that comes up
and people asks us for input, were able to
tell them, hey, this is the way we would go
on this particular issue, Spratt said. RPMs
aim to be honest brokers when requests are
outside USACEs core competencies. It
sometimes happens that the community
comes to us and asks for engineering advice
and then may do it without USACE. Deputy District Engineer Lloyd Caldwell said As an adjunct member of the
DPW senior staff, an RPM serves as a con-
duit to the collective know-how of Europe
District and USACE. They also bring person-
al professional knowledge as an advisor or staff officer. RPMs are available as men-
tors for Career Program-18 careerists and
resources for Army engineers in the DPW
community on corporate initiatives from the
Armys Engineer Regiment, such as teaming
and learning organizations, Caldwell said. It is important to show the community that you are not a salesperson, that youre
giving them sound advice, Spratt
explained. The mission is to serve the
community and serve the Army. Being collocated makes USACE more visible and more responsive. Pat Brady, 104th ASG acting EP&S chief said that even in the age of video tele-
conferencing the bottom line is that
people still want to talk to people face to
face. Its an axiom of business. Making frequent visits from the Wiesbaden headquarters out to customers is
not sufficient, Spratt explained. The dis-
tance and time involved in travel are a hin-
drance to being truly accessible, especially
for communities in the BENELUX, Italy, or
southern Germany. 18 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Europe Districtimproving soldier support by Grant Sattler Baxter Lawrence, 80th Area Support Group architect (left), and Norma Renovales-Alvarez, Europe Districts BENELUX Regional
Program Manager, discuss the exterior design options for a Chievres Air Base barracks project. Renovales-Alvarez and Lawrence
participated in a four-day design charette at the base in Belgium to come up with a site for the $13 million barracks project. Living and working in the communi- ties they serve does more than save RPMs
travel time. One of the things Ive found
is that you have a greater understanding
of the concerns of the community, Spratt
said. Here, when the DPW has an issue,
he calls me directly, and when hes upset
with USACE he tells me directly. On the
other hand, when hes happy with us, he
tells me that too. RPMs mesh different methods of doing business within the Corps and
DPWs. Part of making problem resolution easier is the teamwork coming about since
the USACE pitched its RPM tent in the
DPW camp. The DPW USACE relation-
ship has sometimes been adversarial,
Spratt said. Some of its natural and some
of its healthy. Its competitive, its limited
resources and possibly a perception from
the communities standpoint that we dont
understand their problems. But were all
part of the Engineer Regiment. Europe Deputy District Engineer Lloyd Caldwell said When we understand
that we have the same objectives, and
demonstrate teamwork, we both focus our
energies in positive ways and find win-win
solutions. The RPM is one way we in the
district can initiate that. Spratt said, I think when you human- ize that and you have a face to a name, you cant stay focused on negatives. You
have to say, Well, theyre here, theyre
working with us, lets get over it, lets get
the mission done. I think that kind of
teaming helps a lot. Brady agreed, It helps to have some- body interested in the ASG or BSB and not
as an us vs. them [mentality] it real-
ly makes a difference when the support is
from a we perspective. The benefits of collocation are encouraging Europe District to accelerate
the placement of more people in the field,
primarily for environmental and force pro-
tection/anti-terrorism projects, Spratt
said. Theres always the dilemma
between concentrating your limited
resources in one location, and serving
these distant customers, or decentralizing
going out in the field and having semi-
autonomous groups that serve on a local
level, he said. I think we now, as a dis-
trict, are focusing on having an appropri-
ate level of services decentralized. Factors of economics and expertise compete with decentralization, Caldwell
said, But were finding opportunities to
put more key members of the Project
Delivery Teams closer to the customers.
We want to expand our traditional Area
and Resident Engineer capability with
more forward-deployed resources and ele-
ments of the PDT, and in the process elim-
inate some of the traditional constraints
of organizational boundaries. He said the district is adapting its processes to assure
the quality of professional engineering
services is enhanced. The Regional
Program Manger concept appears to be
the right direction from the customers
perspective as well. The value of RPMs is extensive. USACE is doing a lot for us. Doing studies
for us, doing MCA projects for us, doing
housing projects, OMA projects, and
theyre all fraught with the complexity of
getting a project from somebodys brain to
a finished product to actually get what
the user wants, within budget. If Jim
werent here, wed have to contend with a
number of other players and thats diffi-
cult, DAmico said. That RPM concept was also strongly endorsed in January 2002 when USAREUR
presented the Installation Support Award
for 2001 to Europe District on the basis of
nomination from the 100th ASG, largely
because of the excellent support from
Rusty Mizelle, the RPM for the 100th ASG,
Caldwell said. POC is Lloyd C. Caldwell, Deputy District
Engineer, 49-611-816-2702, e-mail:
Lloyd.Caldwell@usace.army.mil Grant Sattler is the chief of public affairs
for the Europe District. The Army recently transferred the com- mand and control of Rock Island Arsenal
(RIA), Watervliet Arsenal (WVA) and Sierra
Army Depot (SIAD) to the U. S. Army Tank-
automotive and Armaments Command
(TACOM). The realignment transferred
these functions from the Operations
Support Command (OSC) to TACOM. Both
TACOM and OSC are major subordinate commands of the U.S. Army Materiel
Command (AMC). The realignment consolidated all of AMCs organic ground equipment support
capabilities under one command, TACOM.
Combining the RIA, WVA, and SIAD manu-
facturing and repair capabilities into a
single TACOM business activity makes it
easier for customers to access services and
it reduces costs. The transfer also enables AMC to lever- age the capabilities of all installations in
the ground systems sector. This realignment
did not affect the workload and personnel
strength of either arsenal. POCs are Becky Stout at (309) 782-5838
and Michelle McCaskill at (703) 617-8014. Public Works Digest March/April 2003 19 Army transfers command and control of Rock Island Arsenal,
Watervliet Arsenal and Sierra Army Depot (continued from previous page) With the six-month-early completion of bathroom and laundry tower additions in
Heidelbergs Patrick Henry Village in mid
December, more than 240 families are sav-
ing thousands of laundry hauling steps. The $6 million Bathroom and Laundry Investment Campaign (BLIC) Phase II proj-
ect added stacking washers and dryers to
two-bedroom units kitchens, and tower
addition bathrooms and laundries to three-
and four-bedroom apartments in 13 build-
ings. Bettina Reinhard, project engineer from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Europe District, said residents were pleased
with the results once the three-week-
long intrusion into their apartments while
towers were joined to the building was over.
They are all happy about it because they
dont get disturbed anymore, she quipped. Reinhard said that residents are due a lot of credit for cooperating with the incon-
venience during construction. The early completion of the project is due to close cooperation between the con-
tractor, D&B Bau GmbH, and the 411th
Base Support Battalion Housing Division,
Reinhard added. D&B Bau supervisor Manfred Schroeder devised a compressed schedule
for delivery of the stackable modular bath-
room and laundry tower units. This sched-
ule kept his workers on site full time. In
order to make the schedule work, Dave
Freeman, engineer technician with the
411th BSB Housing Division, coordinated
between the contractor and families in the
affected units to start a new building every
other week. Freeman met with residents of each building and showed them an example fin-
ished unit before work on their apartment
was to begin. We tried to show them the
horror scenario, which was the dust wall in
their master bedroom so that they knew what we would be doing to them for about
three weeks, Freeman said. Of course
when the dust wall came down, they could
walk into their tower with their additional
bathroom. Residents have been pleased with the quality of the new additions, Reinhard said,
another plus from the modular design pre-
sented by Georg Volz, engineer with the
Architect Engineering firm AAg. Both Volz
and Schroeder had previous experience
with the standard masonry design of BLIC
Phase I and made improvements for BLIC
Phase II. The prefabricated modular design pre- sented several advantages, Reinhard said.
There are time savings because they can
produce ahead of time, and deliver in a day
for one building, Reinhard said. There is also less weather impact, because it is pro-
duced indoors and you dont have to do inte-
rior work on site. And it is of consistent
quality. Reinhard said site preparation for con- struction of the tower bases started in
November 2001. Our original completion
date was June 2003, and now we are fin-
ished in December 2002, she said. Europe District Project Manager was Robert Grumberg. POC is Bettina Reinhard, 011-49-160-714-
5106, e-mail:
bettina.reinhard@usace.army.mil Grant Sattler is the chief of Public Affairs
for the Europe District. 20 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Europe District completes additions ahead of schedule by Grant Sattler Dave Freeman, left, from the 411th Base Support Battalion Housing Division, contractor D&B Bau Gmbh super-
visor Manfred Schroeder, Project Engineer Bettina Reinhard from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe
District, and Georg Volz, engineer from Architect Engineer firm AAg, discuss exterior finish work during the
final inspection Dec. 12 for the bathroom and laundry additions in Patrick Village. Photo by Grant Sattler, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District. Army Housing information systems are embracing the internet. Much more than
just a shift in technology, these changes will
allow a quantum leap improvement in sup-
port to housing staff members and housing
customers. There are three main compo-
nents to Army Housings strategy for moving
to the internet: Army Housing One Stop - As the name
indicates, this is to be the single site
for Army-wide housing information.
Targeted primarily to customers and
their families, this site will feature uni-
form formats and navigation methods
for every Army housing location world-
wide. It will combine the best features
of existing touch-screen kiosk systems,
installation housing web pages, and
PCS House Express. While providing a
uniform Army-wide framework, content
and control will remain at the local
level. This effort is already underway;
the contract was awarded to
DynaTouch Corporation of San Antonio,
Texas, in early February 2003.
Scheduled completion of deployments
Army-wide is within a year. Army Housing Communities on Army
Knowledge Online (AKO) There will be two communities for constituencies
with different needs: - Army Housing Staff Community
an intranet for everybody working in
Army Housing (including UPH), it
will serve as a central contact sys-
tem and information clearinghouse.
Features will include a worldwide
Army Housing personnel directory,
job opportunities, training opportu-
nities, forums targeted to specific
areas and with full features includ-
ing threads and polling capabilities,
and collaboration centers for proj-
ects and on-going efforts. The Army
Housing Staff Community site is
scheduled for implementation dur-
ing FY03. - Army Housing Customer
Community a place for feedback from customers and for them to
share concerns, ideas, and sugges-
tions among themselves. This will
complement Army Housing One Stop
to provide a total web solution to our
customers and expanded opportuni-
ties for two-way communication
among customers. It will also facili-
tate feedback and interaction
between customers and staff. The
customer community is scheduled
for implementation during FY04. Army Housing Management Systems
These will replace HOMES and the var-
ious headquarters decision support sys-
tems. - A pilot project is currently underway
at Fort Hood, Texas, exploring the
feasibility of adding military housing
functionality to a Commercial Off-
The-Shelf (COTS) property manage-
ment software package from Yardi
Systems, Inc. Out of the first eight
privatization projects, six use Yardi
software so it was the logical start-
ing point to develop a web-based
system that could be used by both
Government and privatized housing
operations. The pilot project
includes waiting list functionality
and the deposit waiver program. An
interface with DEERS will automati-
cally feed and update personnel
data. This will automate preparation
of the application for family housing.
Contingent on funding, the goal is to
develop full functionality during
FY04 and deploy the system starting
in FY05. - Software Engineering Center
Meade (SEC-M) is developing a web-
based Housing Executive
Information System to support
region and headquarters staff and
decision makers. This system will be
built using Cognos software and an
Oracle database. It will provide a
high-level view of Army housing
worldwide and allow users to drill down by criteria they select such as
IMA Region, geographic area, type of
facility, or pay grade of residents.
The initial release of this system will
be in FY03. The internet will allow functionality that was not previously feasible. On the
UPH side, for example, the internet makes
it easy to provide a single system that can
be used either by the housing office or the
military unit (first sergeants, platoon ser-
geants), or both in assigning, tracking, and
performing all barracks space management
functions. All a user needs is a computer
connected to the internet, a browser, and
the authority to access and use the system. Internet systems will also remove most of the systems administration burden from
installation housing offices while retaining
and even enhancing capabilities that are
accessible at the local level. The top priority for housing systems this year is to successfully complete fielding
of Army Housing One Stop. One of the fac-
tors in selecting DynaTouch Corporation
was the wealth of experience they bring to
this project: they have already worked with
most Army Housing offices in deploying
touch-screen kiosk based systems. Full
cooperation with DynaTouch by every instal-
lation housing office will help ensure the
best possible product is delivered on sched-
ule. Installations that cannot meet the
deployment schedule will have to be
dropped to the bottom of the list. Once an
installation is on Army Housing One Stop, it
is on the information superhighway that
makes it visible and easily accessible to cus-
tomers worldwide with a standard, user-
friendly format that puts the most request-
ed information items one click away from
the main screen. POC is Peter Gentieu, (703) 428-8381 DSN
328, e-mail: Peter.Gentieu@us.army.mil Peter Gentieu is the Housing Information
Technology Team Leader, Army Housing
Division, ACSIM Public Works Digest March/April 2003 21 Army Housing moves to internet by Peter Gentieu Until December 2002, Army Housing had two technical teams. In-house support
was last provided by High Technology
Solutions (HTS). Field support primarily
relating to the Housing Operations
Management System (HOMES) was provid-
ed by CECOMs Software Engineering
Support Center out of Fort Meade (SEC-M).
As of June 2000, part of the SEC-M team, to
include the help desk, moved to collocate
with Army Housing at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The remainder of the team works at SRA
International in Fairfax, Virginia. As of December 2002, Peter Gentieu, team leader for the Army Housing
Information Technology (HIT) team, trans-
ferred in-house technical functions to SEC-
M consolidating all technical work with Pat
Robinson as the technical project manager.
David Wallen is the SRA contractor manag-
er. Simon Finlow, previously the lead data-
base administrator, is now the SRA techni-
cal leader. Gentieu briefed his vision for Army Housing advances in information technology
on Army Day at the Professional Housing
Management Association (PHMA) Annual
Conference January 2003. Working with Pat
Robinson, he implemented his vision along
with ensuring continued worldwide support
via existing systems. Many of these systems
are already used by installation housing
offices. However, there are new systems and
reports, some deployed with HOMES version
12.02, that are not well utilized. SEC-M is
coordinating plans to enhance many of the
systems and web sites to better support
field housing offices and service members.
Here are a few of these systems: Housing Operations Management System (HOMES): Baseline version 12.02 is frozen unless emergency changes are
required. It will be replaced with a web
housing system that will support privatized
housing partners as well as government
managed dwelling units. Details will be pub-
lished by Peter Gentieu. Deployment date is
to be determined. Army Housing Community Information Page (AHCIP): This web site
consolidates a wealth of housing informa-
tion into one location. It permits viewing of
a wait list at any location and security fea-
tures permit service members to view their
own wait list position. A future enhance-
ment is for service members to also view
their own hand receipts and applications.
Production is April 2003. Housing Executive Information System (HEXIS): This robust web-based system of reports, charts, and spreadsheets
has drill down capability to get to the
details if necessary. Data, replicated to
Army Housing, makes this information cur-
rent to the previous day of processing.
Security features prevent installations from
seeing each others data but DA will see it
all! Production is April 2003. Data Warehouse: This system is main- tained to support AHCIP and HEXIS along
with other systems. It will first include all
HOMES data. Other databases will soon be
included as coordinated with proponents
such as the Integrated Facility System
(IFS). PCSHouseArmy: Previously, this was PCSHouseExpress. Make this change on
your web site. This web site will be replaced
by Army One-Stop as briefed by Peter
Gentieu during the PHMA Army Day. Army
One-Stop is being developed by Dynatouch.
SEC-M will, as required, provide data from
the housing data warehouse. POC:
Mary.Romig@hqda.army.mil Basic Occupancy Program (BOP): These reports and web site are used to
report occupancy for government dwelling
units. No changes are predicted but the
web site may be enhanced. The one version
now available correctly processes actions
for service member married to service
member. POC: Amy.Lee@us.army.mil Privatized Facility Housing Occupancy (PFHO): A new feature
deployed with HOMES v12.02 for govern-
ment staff at privatized housing offices to
manage privatized dwelling units. The web
site is being tested for production use by
April 2003. POC: Amy.Lee@us.army.mil Leased Occupancy Program (LOP): This is a new report developed to help
manage leased dwelling units. Deployment
is March 2003. It will be executed from an 22 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 Army Housing consolidates technical support by Pat Robinson Pat Robinson explains the finer points of HOMES. icon installed on installation workstations.
Possibly a web site will be developed late
2003. POC: Simon.finlow@us.army.mil General Flag Officer Quarters(GFOQ): Web site will be
enhanced by June/July 2003.
Coordination with Michael Ash (Army
Housing GFOQ POC) will begin March
2003 for requirements and suggestions.
Field suggestions are welcome; e-mail to
Pat_Robinson@belvoir.army.mil. Asset Inventory: Web site is devel- oped for future use, and data previously
submitted will soon be entered. Future
taskers can be completed by viewing pre-
vious entries as well as entering current
submissions via web site. Data Replication: A few sites remain that do not replicate and coordina-
tion continues to initiate replication at
these sites. Army Housing requires elec-
tronic transmission of core data from all
housing offices. Alternatives are being
researched for these small sites. POC:
Nadia.Masoudian@us.army.mil Intelligent Query (IQ): Development continues as requested by
field personnel. Turn around is within 2
days. Email all requirements to
https://www.homeshelp.army.mil Training: Army Housing is coordinat- ing training plans for new housing person-
nel and for those who need reinforcement
training. The plan will be announced when
finalized and posted on a web site. E-mail
training requests to Dee_Bellfield@Belvoir.army.mil HOMES Help Desk: Always available and waiting for a call to assist HOMES
users. Call 1-800-368-1023 or DSN 328-7516
or go to https://www.homeshelp.army.mil Please refer to the Army Housing web site and the HOME Help Desk web site for
updates and new announcements. There is
more to come. POC is Pat Robinson, 703-428-6111, DSN
328, e-mail:
Pat_Robinson@belvoir.army.mil. Pat Robinson is the SEC-M Technical
Project Manager for Army Housing
Division, ACSIM. Maintaining and sustaining safe, attrac- tive, and convenient housing for our soldiers
and families is one of our continuing chal-
lenges. The Army Family Housing Master
Plan (FHMP) provides a consolidated strat-
egy for planning, programming, and execut-
ing the Army Family Housing (AFH)
Program. This is not a single plan, but a series of innovative plans that orchestrate manage-
ment of assets, distribution of AFH
resources, and sequencing of investment
projectsall aimed at meeting the Defense
Planning Guidance (DPG) goal to eliminate
all inadequate family housing by 2007. Of the 93,235 owned assets in FY 2003, over 58,000 are considered inadequate for
todays soldiers and their families. The
FHMP address these inadequate units by: Continuing Reliance of Traditional
Military Construction (MILCON)
From FY 2003 to FY 2007, $2.5 billion is to be invested in renovation or replace-
ment of Army owned assets. Supporting OSDs Initiative To
Eliminate Out-Of-Pocket Expenses For
Soldiers Living In Private HousingAs
Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
increases, the Army is reassessing AFH
requirements and the needs of todays
military families. Housing Market
Analyses (HMA) are being conducted
at major Army installations to deter-
mine the appropriate split between
housing soldiers and their families on
and off the installation. Increasing the Use of Privatization
The Army has developed an aggressive
privatization program utilizing the
Military Housing Privatization Initiative
(MHPI) Act that Congress granted in
1996 and recently extended until
December 2014. These authorities
allow Military Services to leverage
appropriated housing funds and assets to attract private-sector capital and
expertise to operate, manage, main-
tain, and build housing. By the end of
2006, approximately 82% (71,790 units)
of the projected U.S.-owned inventory
of 87,618 units will be privatized. The Presidents Budget Version of the Army Family Housing Master Plan (FHMP)
FY 03-09 is now available on the Army
Housing Website (www.housing.army.mil). POC is Larry Wright, (703) 428-7119 DSN
328, e-mail: larry.wright@hqda.army.mil Larry Wright is the Team leader of the
Planning Team, Army Housing Division,
ACSIM. Public Works Digest March/April 2003 23 Updated Family Housing Master Plan available on Army
Housing website by Larry Wright (continued from previous page) A one-year demonstration of proton- exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells at
Watervliet Arsenal, New York, shows this
emerging technology to be promising for
future Department of Defense (DoD) use.
The demonstration was part of the
Congressionally-funded DoD Fuel Cell
Program managed by the U.S. Army
Engineer Research and Development
Center (ERDC). The project evaluated ten 5-kW PEM fuel systems manufactured by Plug Power,
Inc., which operated for more than 83,000
hours and generated about 214,000 kWh of
electricity throughout the year. The units
operated at or above 94% average availabili-
ty, exceeding the contract requirement of
90%. PEM fuel cells are ultimately intended
for residential use. Fuel cells provide distributed electrical power generation by producing electricity
and heat from an electrochemical reaction
with a hydrogen rich fuel. When pure hydro-
gen is used as a fuel, the fuel cell produces
electricity, heat and water vapor with no
other byproducts. Distributed generation
provides high availability and secure power
because the electrical generation is com-
pleted on site. There is no need for long
transmission lines that are vulnerable to
attack. The fuel cell systems showcased an electricity source that is quiet, environmen-
tally positive and holds significant promise
for our military infrastructure, said COL
Donald C. Olson, Commander, Watervliet
Arsenal. These systems served the Arsenal
by providing some or all of the power
required for three facilities in a way that
was transparent to the Arsenal staff and its
residents. ERDCs Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) began the
Residential Scale PEM Fuel Cell
Demonstration Program in FY01. Plug
Power responded to a Broad Agency Announcement with a proposal to
place 10 PEM units at three base
sites located on Watervliet Arsenal.
Each 5-kW fuel cell unit is grid-con-
nected and uses natural gas as the
fuel. These fuel cells were installed
and began producing power in
January 2002. The three base sites chosen for this project include Quarters 19,
Building 115, and Building 110.
Quarters 19 is a historic building that
has been converted into housing to
accommodate four separate resi-
dences. Four PEM fuel cells were
placed at this site one unit for
each residence. Building 115 is a lab-
oratory facility and three units were
placed at this site to support a
destructive testing laboratory located
inside. The final site, Building 110, is
a heavy machining facility. Three
units were placed there to support an
Arsenal telecommunications room. After one year of operation at the Arsenal, the PEM fuel cells have
demonstrated performance not
achieved previously with this tech-
nology. Two of the systems set
longevity records for fully integrated
PEM fuel cells operating in the field.
The unit at Building 115 had a total
of 6742 hours on the cell stack while the
one at Quarters 19 ran for 7056 hours on
one cell stack. During the demonstration
period, the 10 PEM units averaged 93.7%
availability. With the demonstration completed, control of the fuel cell systems was trans-
ferred back to Plug Power, which will con-
tinue to operate the units at Watervliet. The DoD Fuel Cell Demonstration Program assesses fuel cell performance at
installations and provides feedback to
industry in efforts to help bring this tech-
nology to commercialization. For more information on this technology or the demonstration program, please con-
tact Frank Holcomb at CERL, 217-352-6511,
ext. 7412 or 800-USA-CERL,
Franklin.H.Holcomb@erdc.usace.army.mil. Nicholas Josefik is an industrial engineer
with ERDC-CERLs Energy Branch in
Champaign, IL. 24 Public Works Digest March/April 2003 New fuel cells successful at Watervliet Arsenal by Nicholas Josefik PEM fuel cells provide electricity for four family housing
units at Watervliet Arsenal. Contractors installed Watervliets PEM fuel cells in January
2002. Designers can provide more functional designs and avoid problems when they con-
sider snow and ice issues as the design of a
building evolves. With a little thought dur-
ing the design phase, the adverse effects of
snow drifting on roofs can be minimized. Drainage is a critical factor in roof design, especially in snow country. Most
steep roofs drain over their eaves. Some
low-slope roofs also drain to cold eaves.
Low-slope roofs that drain to cold eaves are
particularly problematic in cold climates. With a snow cover, heat from the build- ing can melt the bottom of the snow pack.
The runoff then re-freezes and forms an ice
dam when it reaches the cold eaves. A
large ice dam prevents drainage and allows
water to back up and leak through roofing
into the building. Low-slope roofs that drain
internally are less likely to experience this
kind of icing. Some rules of thumb to avoid icings on roofs in cold climates include: Pitched roofs: Use a cold roof design with enough ventilation to keep the
roof surface colder than 32

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