Innovative Solutions Revolutionize Dining and Education

Charleston District Public Affairs
Published Jan. 9, 2012
An aerial view of the Quad Dining Facility with starship buildings surrounding it.

An aerial view of the Quad Dining Facility with starship buildings surrounding it.

This graphic shows what the final area will look like with the Quad Dining Facility as the center between four starship barracks.

This graphic shows what the final area will look like with the Quad Dining Facility as the center between four starship barracks.

Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, HI and Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC are the only two U.S. Army posts with a Quad Dining Facility (Quad DFAC). After completion of numerous dual and single DFACs constructed at Fort Jackson, the Charleston District was tapped to complete this unique building to be a part of a mini-campus supporting four battalions of Soldiers.

Battalions of approximately 1,300 Soldiers at Fort Jackson are housed in buildings known as “starships” that individually have barracks, dining facilities, classrooms and offices. The only issue is that the dining area of each starship takes up a majority of the interior of the building, leaving very little room for classrooms (see blueprint). On a normal day, this may not be an issue, but when an entire battalion is forced inside for classroom instruction due to rain or the need to train more companies at the same time, the space is extremely limited.

Because education is a top priority for the Soldiers, a new solution had to be found. The answer was found when the Charleston District was assigned the task of renovating four starships and creating the Quad DFAC to accommodate all four battalions.

The basis of the project is to renovate each of the four starships on the campus by eliminating the dining facility in each one and adding more classrooms and office space. This will alleviate the overcrowding that is experienced when entire battalions are doing classroom activities at the same time.

During this process, the construction of the Quad DFAC will consist of two two-story dual DFACs that will be able to feed three meals per day to the 5,200 Soldiers from the four starships within 90 minutes. Each meal is divided into three 30-minute intervals for equally divided companies of Soldiers from the battalions. The completion of the Quad DFAC will make it only the second of its kind and will revolutionize the efficiency of how Soldiers are fed.

Currently, two of the starships are being renovated while two are occupied. The construction of the Quad DFAC is anticipated for June 2012. This will allow for the final renovations to be done in the currently occupied starships with a completion date of the entire project in 2013.