FRCEmodernization team improves work environment, saves time and money

KimberlyKoonce

Fleet Readiness Center East Public Affairs

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION

CHERRY POINT, N.C. Since its establishment in 1943, Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) has grown and adapted to meetever-changingnationaldefenseneeds

Today, teams of expert artisans engineers and logisticians support state-of-the-art maintenance repair and overhaul of the military’s most advanced aircraft platforms, often in buildings that date back to thedepot’sWorldWarIIbeginnings

Keeping FRCE’s spaces as current as the work that’s being done in them requires a talentedteamofcarpenters,electriciansand otherskilledcraftspeople andthat’swhere the depot’s Facilities Modernization Shop comes in. Organized in 2014 as a means to makesmallbuildingrepairsormodifications thatwouldbetooexpensiveortimeconsuming to contract out to an external company, over the years its scope has grown as the teamhasproveditsvalue

The team started small, with 11 people doing small repairs like painting walls or changinglightfixturesorceilingtiles Now, the 30-person shop is made up of carpenters painters electricians, pipefitters and riggers weighthandlerswhomoveheavy equipmentandotheritems andiscapable oftacklingmuchlargerprojects.

“TheFacilitiesModernizationteamhelps usdomorethanimprovetheworkenvironment at FRC East,” said FRCE Commanding Officer Capt James M. Belmont. “The improvementstheymaketoourinfrastructure certainly help boost employee morale but it’s more than that. Improved morale helpsimproveproductivityandthat,inturn, helps the team provide more effective, efficientservicetoournation’swarfighters.”

Buddy Davis, FRCE Facilities and Infrastructure Management Department Head, said the greatest advantage the modification team provides to FRCE is that they are ready to work when a project needs to be done on a short deadline, without the time and expense involved in contracting that workout.

“For cost reasons and also to be able to support our customers, we decided that we need an in-house team of government employees doing this work,” Davis said. “Using the mod team allows us to support the mission much more efficiently It also saves the command a lot of money to be able to complete these tasks with in-house resources.”

The team has evolved from its humble beginnings of making do with equipment borrowed from aircraft production lines and component shops, said Mike Cundiff, General Facilities Branch head. Modernizing aircraft, not infrastructure, was the depot’sfocus

“We were getting into a new line of work forFRCEast,”heexplained.“Wehadplenty ofcapablepeopletodotheprojects,andwe justneededtherighttoolsforthejob.”

Now, with sufficient resources available, theteamisabletotacklemorecomplexprojectswithease.

“Whenwefirststarted,wewouldn’tthink totouchsomeofthejobsthatwedonowon aroutinebasis,”saidWillBradley Modernization Shop supervisor “Just look at some oftheheavyequipmentmovesthatweused todowithforkliftsandmuscle.Nowwehave hydraulicrollersthatwecanputamachine onanddriveitaroundwithajoystick.”

Withexperience theshopalsohasdevelopedamoreefficientsystemtoorderbuilding supplies that has cut costs and delays in acquiringmaterials,whilealsoprovidingan accurate representation of a project’s true cost.

“Oneofthethingsthathasdefinitelybeen a turning point is creating a storage system that’s set on automatic reorder based on high-lowlimits,”saidBradley “Nowwecan stock building materials ahead of time and thenchargethemoutonthejobaswego.”

Themodernizationteamrecentlytookon a project that put its skills, teamwork and technicalimprovementstothetest FRCE’s main conference room was sorely in need of a makeover, with dark paneled walls and outdatedtechnology InNovember,theteam wasaskedtocreateabrightnewconference room, with stadium seating state-of-thearttechnologyandanewbiggerconference table and it had to be completed in less thanthreemonths,tobereadyforaconference of Navy leaders that FRCE was due to host.

Teammemberssaidthisprojectrequired anall-hands-on-deckmentalitytoplanand construct the renovated conference room Some of these plans ran into roadblocks, suchaswhenfireinspectorstoldthemthey could not use combustibles, such as wood, in the construction, and they had to find an alternativesolution.

“When we built the platforms, we had to use metal studs because we couldn’t use timbers to build the platforms,” Cundiff recalled.“Wehadtodotheresearch,andwe found metal outside decking which looks justlikewoodbutisactuallymetaltubes For thefloor,weusedfireretardantplywood.

Bradley said the process of coming up with creative solutions to get the project doneisoneofhisfavoriteaspectsofhisjob

“Ilovethechallengeoffiguringoutaway around obstacles to complete the project,” Bradleysaid.“Ithinkthat’soneofthethings we do very well, because every job has an element that we haven’t dealt with before. Everyjobisalwaysbrandnew andyouhave to plan, reevaluate your capabilities, and bring the team together to create a finished productthatmakesthecustomerhappy.”

The team managed to complete the conference room project within the threemonth deadline The bright white walls and spacious stadium seating are in stark contrast to the dark, outdated room they have replaced The carpenters created special design elements for the room, such as a polished inlaid conference table, laser cutwallartandacustompodium.

Belmont said he is proud of the talented, dedicated craftspeople who created the showcaseconferenceroom.

“FRC East’s newly renovated conference room is a credit to the talent and creativity of the craftspeople who made it happen,” Belmontsaid.“It’sclearthattheytookpride in their workmanship, and the result is a brighter, more inviting space that is a pleasure to work in They were handed a challenging projectonatightdeadlineandthey knockeditoutofthepark.”

FRCE is North Carolina’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annualrevenueexceeds$1billion.Thedepot providesservicetothefleetwhilefunctioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy;