Innovative Partnerships

Public Affairs
Published Aug. 19, 2013
Contractors inspecting facilities for the 81st Regional Support Command Inspection in an attempt to streamline processes.

Contractors inspecting facilities for the 81st Regional Support Command Inspection in an attempt to streamline processes.

Contractors inspecting facilities for the 81st Regional Support Command Inspection in an attempt to streamline processes.

Contractors inspecting facilities for the 81st Regional Support Command Inspection in an attempt to streamline processes.

In 2008, the military construction mission at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, S.C., was turned over to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District from the Savannah District, resulting in an increasingly large workload to support the base that sees 50 percent of all Soldiers entering the U.S. Army each year. While this mission has thrived, it has also provided new opportunities to serve fellow Department of Defense agencies, like the mission the District is now handling for the U.S. Army Reserve’s 81st Regional Support Command.

The 81st RSC is headquartered at Fort Jackson, so the District’s portfolio and physical proximity to the base made this partnership a perfect fit. The U.S. Army Reserve is broken into four regional support commands, with the 81st RSC managing nine southeastern states and Puerto Rico, which cover approximately 700 Army installations, and are further broken down into 11 sub-regions, labeled by letters.

In fiscal year 2010, the 81st RSC’s Deputy Director of Public Works, Frank Eubanks, requested support from the Charleston District. During FY 10 and FY 11, the District was given several design projects and sustainment, restoration, and modernization projects. After performing well with these projects, in FY 12, the District was asked to do a base operating services and preventive maintenance pilot project in Region A, which consists of Louisiana and part of Mississippi. The project included doing inventory on the installations in the region, performing tasks such as identifying equipment that needed maintenance and validating the square footage of facilities. The District then developed contracts for municipal services (custodial, pest, refuse and grounds) and preventive maintenance and emergency repairs in all facilities throughout Region A. The District also completed several additional SRM and design projects, including waterside repair in Morehead City, N.C., and HVAC resets in Vicksburg, Miss., and Fort Jackson, S.C. The success of the work completed by the District has warranted the receipt of preparing the BOS and PM contracts for the remaining regions of the 81st RSC’s command, starting with Region G.

The District will soon be awarding a BOS and PM contract in Puerto Rico and is presently completing inventory on the remaining eight regions. Currently, in Puerto Rico, multiple contracts exist for all BOS and PM work. Upon award of the contract in Puerto Rico, the various services will be provided by just one contractor who can perform all of the required services. Implementing this forward-thinking approach in each region will reduce the multitude of contracts required by the 81st to perform the same level of effort, thereby considerably reducing contract administration, manpower and cost to the government. Also, the benefits of preventive maintenance will extend the service life of all equipment and provide better support and care of each installation.

“The ultimate goal set by the leadership of the 81st RSC is to eventually be able to have Utility Monitoring Control Systems throughout the regions, which are computer systems allowing them to manage both servicing and usage of HVAC, lighting, and water systems at every installation,” said Lonnie Nielson, project manager. “Once in place, many of their maintenance problems can be detected and isolated immediately at the headquarters level, thereby providing timely response and corrective actions at each installation while also conserving more energy.”

The Charleston District is providing project management, contract administration, design, engineering support, and construction management, while collaborating with Corps districts across the southeast to provide quality assurance during service contract tasks and SRM projects for the 81st RSC regions. The District strives to create more sustainable solutions with all new projects, and this is one step forward.