AUGUST 5, 2022 – Taking care of Soldiers barracks rooms while deployed is a combined effort between Fort Stewart’s public works professionals and the rear detachment leadership.
The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, is poised to redeploy from Europe back to Fort Stewart beginning this week. Ensuring the single Soldiers of the brigade have mold-free rooms to return to is the task of the tiger team between the brigade housing managers—the noncommissioned officers charged with running the brigade’s unaccompanied housing—and the garrison’s Directorate of Public Works.
Andrew Williams, DPW’s housing management specialist, chairs weekly meetings alongside 1st ABCT’s Sgt. Maj. Alex Archilla-Burgos that are attended by the brigade housing managers. The meetings level the bubbles between the garrison and the unit for remediating mold and other maintenance concerns.
Williams said the relationship is vital because it improves the quality of life for Soldiers and meets the garrison’s mission of delivering quality support.
“At the end of the day, everyone wins the Garrison, the unit, and most importantly the customer–our Soldiers,” Williams said.
An initial meeting was held June 12 with brigade-level leaders before moving to the full meetings on June 22.
Archilla-Burgos said the meetings are leading to a mutual understanding between the garrison and brigade. They also provide data points to address root causes of issues and track work orders.
“We are tracking over 1,000 work orders from the last two months, currently tracking 160 open orders that are being worked on,” he said.
Williams acknowledged the number of work orders that remain open. He also the meetings lead to shared understanding on getting locks fixed, repairing HVAC systems, and on proper mold remediation.
“A synch matrix was also provided by the unaccompanied housing branch chief to help assist the units in last minute items such as head to bed lists, enterprise military housing updates, furnishing and appliance replacement process,” he said.
Williams also said Soldiers are highly encouraged to use the Army Maintenance Application (ArMA) at armymaintenance.com/arma to report any maintenance concerns with barracks. For critical situations, DPW and 1st ABCT went direct, he said.
“Garrison also provided important numbers to the 1st ABCT leadership for direct contact in case of emergencies or issues,” he said.
Archilla-Burgos said the partnership benefits the 1st ABCT Soldiers.
“We are currently working tirelessly to correct the deficiencies and analyze the data to find a more permanent solution to the problem,” he said.
Story by Molly Cooke
Fort Stewart Public Affairs Office