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President’s Message MEETING THE NEEDS OF OUR PROFESSION Asset management and contracting excellence are two hot topics in the Department of Defense (DOD), and SAME provides outstanding support to these initiatives. Several years ago, when the U.S. Air Force began a major transformation to implement a new asset management strategy encompassing all natural and manmade resources at our installations, we studied how other large organizations in the private sector managed their physical resources and found ways to help the Air Force achieve greater installation support efficiencies. In an effort to comply with recent presidential executive orders and various other initiatives focused on improving environmental stewardship, strengthening energy security, reducing consumption and limiting carbon emissions, DOD and other federal agencies are looking for ways to meet aggressive energy-reduction requirements. The military services are engaged in initiatives ranging from installing solar arrays and waste-to-energy plants at our bases to exploring alternative fuels for our vehicle and aircraft fleets. What’s more, we are working with our partners in industry to achieve these goals. For example, the Air Force partnered with the Edison Electric Institute and electric utility companies to develop a joint approach for comprehensive energy conservation, renewable energy and energy security strategy for our installations. SAME promotes and supports these asset management principles in several ways. For instance, each summer SAME co-hosts with the International Facility Management Association a Facilities Management Workshop, where asset management, sustainability and energy are on the agenda. SAME also established within the national SAME Facilities Asset Management Committee a Sustainability Subcommittee that will help SAME focus on sustainability. In the fall, SAME University will offer courses on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for new construction as well as developing sustainable solutions for existing buildings. Lastly, the 2011 Joint Engineer Training Conference & Expo (JETC) will feature an entire track of sessions devoted to energy. The acquisition and contracting environment within DOD and the federal government also is experiencing several trends. Contracting staffs are constantly challenged by the imposition of new rules and regulations promoting fair and open competition. Requests for proposals (RFP) for procurement are being standardized to reduce the cost of contractor proposals whenever possible. Finally, we are still experiencing a high number of proposals for most solicitations. The Air Force, along with our colleagues in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command are working hard to execute a record number of projects and provide installations with high-quality facilities to support our nation’s warfighters. This is a monumental task, and we leverage our partnerships with professional design and construction firms to get the job done. In the Air Force, we are using strategic sourcing concepts and leveraging our buying power to purchase services and materials that will make us leaner and more efficient. The Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE) Acquisition and Contracting division will be realigning to gain economies of scale and combined buying power. The operational intent is for the transition to appear seamless to customers and industry. As with asset management, SAME provides valuable contracting education through our Best Value Source Selection Course, a contracting track at our upcoming Executive Forum in New Orleans, La., and a new track at the 2011 JETC focused on contracting. These opportunities will provide insight from government and industry into how best value RFPs should be prepared and how industry can best respond to them. This issue of The Military Engineer features a number of valuable articles that touch upon asset management and contracting initiatives within DOD. After you’ve finished reading them, I urge each of you to take advantage of all of SAME’s resources—including training—that address these subjects. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Northwest and Pacific Regional Conference in Seattle, Wash., in October and at the SAME Small Business Conference for DOD Engineering, Construction and Environmental Programs in Grapevine, Texas, in December. Thanks for all you do to help Build SAME to Last! Maj. Gen. Timothy A. Byers, F.SAME, USAF SAME President 2010-2011
The Military Engineer • No. 667
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The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Contents Asset Management: 61-74 September-October 2010 Volume 102, Number 667
www.same.org/TME
On the Cover:
Leader Profile
The planning mission at Fort Bragg, N.C., is immense: In addition to its extremely high tempo of overseas deployments, the post is set to become the new home of U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command as a result of Base Realignment and Closure 2005.
57 Rear Adm. Christopher J. Mossey, P.E., CEC, USN
Main Theme: Asset Management 61 The Energy and Process Assessment Protocol
67 Computerized Maintenance Management
63 Large-Scale Facilities Condition Assessments Supporting sound decision
69 Facilities Capital Planning and Management Identifying and prioritizing repair
65 Energy Planning for Laboratories Master planning and smart
71 Challenges and Solutions
USACE identifies sources of energy waste in existing buildings
making in the Army portfolio
phasing to reduce utility costs
Documenting and archiving asset maintenance activities U.S. Army photo
needs at the Pentagon
The Rock Island District adopts a cycle-of-life approach
73 Choosing by Advantages A decision analysis tool determines the best of many options
Special Report: Contracting & Acquisition
75 Understanding Government Acquisition
The ins and outs of the Federal Acquisition Regulation
77 Integrated Order Contracting
79 Two-Phase Design-Build System
An unprecedented workload requires innovative thinking at USACE
Software-supported integration of DOD contracting mechanisms
Special Insert: 47-50 2010 SAME Engineering & Construction Camps The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Focus Features: Engineers in Action 86 Humanitarian Assistance Answering the call around the globe
Historical Perspective 96 A Message to Students A call to arms to the engineering students of 1963
Departments 1 President’s Message 6 Government & Industry News 20 Military News 34 Sustainability News 46 Technology News 82 Executive Director’s Message 83 Society News 94 Products & Services
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• Starting Sept. 23, learn about the asset management program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division in “Reducing Costs and Risks,” by David Lipsky. • Beginning Oct. 14, read about how lighting controls can help achieve the energyefficiency standards set forth by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in “Lighting and the Recovery Act,” by Andy Wakefield.
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The Military Engineer (ISSN 0026-3982) is published bi-monthly by the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), 607 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3117; Tel: 703-549-3800; editorial, ext. 141; advertising, ext. 145. © 2007 The Society of American Military Engineers. All rights reserved; reproduction of articles prohibited without written permission. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, Va., and at additional mailing offices. Rates: Single copy: Member, $3; Non-member (U.S.), $18; foreign, $35. One-year subscription $88 in the United States and Canada; $188 elsewhere. Two-year subscription $168 in the United States and Canada; $358 elsewhere. Three-year subscription $222 in the United States and Canada; $458 elsewhere. Agency discount available; Air Mail extra. For details go to www.same.org/subscribe. Annual subscription rate for SAME members is $15 and is included in dues. Address Changes: Send mailing label with changes to The Military Engineer Circulation Department, 607 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3117; allow 60 days for change to take affect. Article Submittals: We invite and encourage manuscript submissions for possible inclusion in The Military Engineer. TME editorial staff consider each manuscript on the basis of technical accuracy, usefulness to readers, timeliness and quality of writing. SAME reserves the right to edit all manuscripts. Before submitting an article, please read the Writers’ Guidelines at www.same.org/TME. Submission of an article does not guarantee publication; unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned. Disclaimer: Statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect official SAME or TME policy unless so stated. Publication of advertisements does not constitute official SAME endorsement of products or services. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Military Engineer Circulation, 607 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3117.
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Government & Industry News Compiled by John M. Nank, M.SAME
Improvement Plan Recaptures Air Force Acquisition Excellence When the U.S. Air Force Secretary and Chief of Staff signed the Acquisition Improvement Plan (AIP) in May 2009, they launched a significant effort to help the service recapture acquisition excellence. “A key element of this plan was the revitalization of the (Air Force) acquisition workforce,” said Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, USAF, the Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. “In fact, the emphasis on workforce improvements is one of the main differences between AIP and previous acquisition reform efforts. In the past year, Air Force officials progressed toward their goal of a revitalized acquisition workforce, adding almost 2,000 positions at the various product centers, filling acquisition positions across the Air Force, and increasing training opportunities for acquisition personnel, Gen. Shackelford said. Air Force Institute of Technology officials are supporting the AIP by creating new courses and increasing capacity in several existing courses, including the Intermediate Project Management course (available to all acquisition professionals) and initial skills courses such as Fundamentals of Acquisition Management and the Mission-Ready Contracting Officer course. Acquisition officials also achieved a 50 percent increase in its acclaimed Acquisition Leadership Challenge Program courses. Along with expanded training opportunities for acquisition professionals, Air Force officials offer personnel in acquisition-coded positions 100 percent tuition assistance at accredited academic institutions, to satisfy the business hours and acquisition-related degrees (such as engineering, finance, or business) needed for Acquisition Corps eligibility. Military members can apply through the Air Force Virtual Education Center via the Air Force Portal; civilians—regardless of grade level— can contact their respective career field 6
team at the Air Force Personnel Center for details on how to apply. Air Force officials still have many openings for civilian acquisition professionals, said Pat Hogan, the Air Force Director of Acquisition Career Management. Openings at a variety of grade levels exist for program managers, engineers, logisticians, financial managers, cost estimators and contracting officers at acquisition locations across the country. In an effort with officials from the Office of Personnel Management, professional recruitment materials and websites are being developed for all acquisition centers. Recruitment websites are currently active and accepting resumes at the Electronic Systems Center (www.afesccareers.com) and the Space and Missile Systems Center (www.smcciviliancareers.com). “These are also great opportunities for military personnel who are transitioning to civilian life and want to continue using their acquisition skills and training,” Hogan said. “Because of the immediate and high demand for qualified acquisition professionals, the Department of Defense (DOD) delegated an expedited hiring authority to significantly reduce the time required to fill these positions.” (Contributed by U.S. Air Force Public Affairs)
BRAC Construction Hitting Targets at Fort Sam Houston Grass, sidewalks and landscaping have replaced dirt and construction equipment at several Base Realignment and Closure Act 2005 (BRAC) facilities and other military construction sites, as the number of completed projects on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, continues to increase. After reaching the peak of construction activity in 2009, it is anticipated that close to 20 facilities will have been turned over for tenant use by the end of 2010. Medical Instructional Facility 1 (MIF 1) was officially unveiled June 30, and is part of the new Medical Education and
Training Campus (METC) being built on the post. The ceremony also commemorated METC’s initial operational capability, with initial training courses also beginning in June. Subsequent courses were phased in throughout the summer and new courses with be added this fall and into 2011, when the campus will become fully operational. METC is consolidating the enlisted medical training programs of all branches of the military, providing instruction for a variety of medical specialists, such as combat medics, radiology technicians and biomedical equipment technologists. The completion of METC facilities was sequenced to correspond with student arrival intervals. The headquarters and administration building, Dorm 1, the 80,000-ft2 dining facility and MIF 1 are ready for use. Dorm 1 is one of three 1,200-person dorms. Dorm 2 is slated to be available for occupancy by the end of the summer and Dorm 3 is scheduled to be ready for students by the end of 2010. Not only is METC construction hitting its marks, but the facilities are being built in accordance with stringent environmental standards. In June, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) representatives assigned to the METC project received notice that the U.S. Green Building Council had certified the METC dining facility as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver. The METC dining facility is the first project in the METC program to apply for and be granted LEED certification. Certification is also being sought for other facilities that are part of the METC campus. In addition to new construction on Fort Sam Houston, several projects to renovate historic structures are nearing completion or have already been completed. While these efforts were not funded by BRAC dollars, several of them are associated with BRAC requirements. Building 2265 is one of a group of structures being renovated to accommodate the relocation of Headquarters Installa-
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Government & Industry News
(continued)
tion Management Command (IMCOM) BRAC and other types of military confrom Virginia. Work on the building is struction projects. Of these contracts, 76 involve projects on Fort Sam Housexpected to be finished in September. To the west, the rehabilitation of ton and Camp Bullis. The Joint Program Building 2000 has created office space Management Office (JPMO) is overseefor IMCOM’s West Region headquarters, ing project design and construction which moved into the building from an- for the San Antonio BRAC and military other location on post. The West Region construction program. JPMO is a joint headquarters was created by a 2005 military service entity that represents BRAC mandate to combine IMCOM’s a partnership between USACE, the Air Northwest and Southwest Region head- Force Center for Engineering and the quarters into a single headquarters. Environment and the Naval Facilities Next door to Building 2000, the reno- Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and vation projects for Buildings 2001 and is supported by private-sector contractors. (Contributed by Brian Dwyer, USACE) 2007 have wrapped up, as well. BRAC construction on Camp Bullis, Texas, also has concluded. The Armed Navy Secretary Recognizes Forces Reserve Center is finished and NAVFAC for Acquisition a medical field training site for METC Excellence students is in the final stages of being Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in June readied for use. presented NAVFAC Marianas and NAVThe overall military construction FAC HQ with Department of the Navy workload at San Antonio installations (DON) Acquisition Excellence awards between FY06 and FY11 includes 156 for improving DOD acquisition pro6706 KW Upd Military Eng to 4c 8/3/10 3:00 PM Page 1 contracts worth more than $3 billion for cesses. The DON Acquisition Excel-
lence awards are presented annually to teams and individuals that exemplify the Navy’s five principles of improving acquisition processes, which are clearly identifying requirements, raising the bar on performance, rebuilding the acquisition workforce, supporting the industrial base and “making every dollar count.” “It is because of your efforts, and the thousands of dedicated acquisition professionals that you represent, that our sailors and Marines have the right tools and equipment to defend our country, serving forward deployed and in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Mabus said during a ceremony at the Pentagon. NAVFAC Marianas received a Field Acquisition Activity Award for its work in preparing for the future relocation of 17,000 Marines and family members from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam. NAVFAC HQ received a Major Acquisition Activity Award for its critical role in military
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Government & Industry News
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construction, environmental restoration, BRAC, Navy housing, contingency engineering, Seabee readiness, base operations support, energy and utility rate intervention worldwide. NAVFAC Assistant Commander for Acquisition Robert Griffin, who attended the awards ceremony on behalf of the NAVFAC workforce, said “These acquisition excellence awards are testaments to the contributions the NAVFAC acquisition team continues to make to the Navy’s acquisition goals and represent the hard work and dedication of all members of the NAVFAC team worldwide.” (Contributed by Mason Lowery, NAVFAC Public Affairs and Communications)
GSA Solidifies Commitment to Sustainability The General Services Administration (GSA) took a major step in strengthening its role as the federal government’s leader in sustainability with the selection of Eleni Reed as the GSA Chief Greening Officer. In that role, Reed will be responsible for aggressively pursuing innovative sustainable practices within GSA’s large portfolio of government-owned and -leased buildings. Under Reed’s leadership, the agency will continue its commitment to developing a higher-performing, greener federal building inventory and serve as a green proving ground for the American real estate industry. In October 2009, President Barack Obama issued an executive order on sustainability that called on the federal government to lead by example in greening and modernizing the nation’s infrastructure; this appointment expands GSA’s capacity to respond to the president’s challenge. “Eleni Reed’s role as Chief Greening Officer is central to building a sustainable, better-performing portfolio as GSA strives to meet its commitment of achieving a zero environmental footprint in our 1,500 owned and 8,100 leased buildings,” said GSA Commissioner of Public Buildings Robert A. Peck. “Her unparalleled work in sustainability and green buildings will help The Military Engineer • No. 667
drive GSA’s efforts to be a green proving ground and a market-maker for stateof-the art and emerging technologies.” Prior to coming to GSA, Reed was the Director of Sustainability Strategies with Cushman and Wakefield’s Client Solutions Group. She led the effort to enhance the environmental performance of the firm’s portfolio of U.S.-managed properties. She played a key role in the development of a memorandum of understanding between Cushman and Wakefield and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed to enhance energy efficiency, reduce water use and waste, and reduce the carbon footprint of the firm’s U.S.-managed properties. Reed’s prior public service includes working with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations, where she led the implementation of the city’s green building standards law and served on the mayor’s task force on sustainability. (Contributed by MaryAnne Beatty and Marie-Alice Denis, GSA)
Navy and Government of Guam Sign MOU on Utility Solutions The Navy signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Consolidated Commission on Utilities (CCU), Guam Waterworks Authority (GWA) and the Guam Power Authority (GPA) on July 16 in Hagatna, Guam. In signing the MOU, the Navy is agreeing to collaborate on solutions to improve utilities on Guam in preparation for the relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan. During a signing ceremony, both military and government of Guam officials convened in the spirit of partnering to formalizing months of technical meetings and cooperative discussions. “This is a great day,” said Capt. Peter Lynch, P.E., M.SAME, USN, NAVFAC Marianas Commanding Officer. “This MOU is a historic document which signifies many months of technical discussions to identify utility requirements and solutions. We are extremely pleased to agree in principal to a collaborative approach to solutions for power, water and wastewater requirements.” The intent of the partnering sessions was to ensure capability and capacity
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Government & Industry News
(cont.)
of government of Guam assets and resources to handle the increased demand resulting from the impending military surge in the realignment effort. “These MOUs provide the conceptual framework to address viable solutions to insure that GPA and GWA can serve the energy, water and wastewater needs of the proposed military buildup without compromising or adversely affecting the quality or cost of service to meet all future needs of Guam—both civilian and military,” said CCU Chairman Simon Sanchez II. Sanchez said the Department of Defense (DOD) and GWA are already working collaboratively with the University of Guam’s Water and Energy Research Institute, the U.S. Geological Survey and EPA to determine how best to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Northern Guam lens aquifer. In addition, a civilian-military advisory group is proposed to help provide long-term aquifer management. As it concerns electricity requirements, the MOU states DOD and local team will work together to identify ways to meet the projected power demand of the military buildup. The projected demand is 30-MW, according to the CCU. The MOU provides an agreement that the team will work toward upgrades and reconditioning of three or more of GPA’s combustion turbines to meet the additional load at no cost to ratepayers. The group has also agreed to explore opportunities to work together on renewable energy projects. “We expect this to be a mutually-beneficial arrangement for the entire community, both our civilian neighbors, military service members and their families,” said Rear Adm. Paul Bushong, USN, Commander of Joint Region Marianas. “We are committed to minimizing the impact on the island’s utilities and protecting our natural resources.” While infrastructure improvements or construction associated with the military buildup will not take place until the record of decision is signed, this team of DOD and local government representatives continue to work on technical solutions to ease the impacts associated with population growth. (Contributed by Catherine Cruz Norton, NAVFAC Marianas)
People Maj. Gen. Bud Ahearn, P.E., F.SAME, USAF (Ret.), of CH2M HILL will receive the 2011 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award in the government category from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Col. Stephen J. Ressler, Ph.D., P.E., USA, of the U.S. Military Academy, will receive the 2011 OPAL award in the education category. Gregs Thomopulos, P.E., of Stanley Consultants Inc. will receive the 2011 OPAL award in the management category. The awards will be presented at a black-tie dinner in March 2011. Edmond D. Alizadeh, P.E., President of Geotechnology Inc., was named 2010-2011 Chairman-Elect, Daniel M. Wilson, P.E., Executive VP of Kuhlmann design Group, Inc., was named Vice Chairman, and Tom J. Ratzki, P.E., VP of Black & Veatch, was named Director, American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri Board of Directors. The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Government & Industry News Sandra Loy Bell, CEO of Skelly and Loy, was named one of Central Pennsylvania’s 25 Women of Influence of 2010 by Central Penn Business Journal. Cdr. Donald Chandler, P.E., USN (Ret.), was apChandler pointed Director of Engineering and Science, MACTEC. Col. Michael Crall, USA (Ret.), was named Department Manager for the PittsCrall burgh office of HDR. Brian Curtin, P.E., was named President, BRPH Architects–Engineers Inc. Curtin Brian J. DuChene, P.E., was named VP, MACTEC. James W. Emery Jr., Chief Financial Officer of J.M. Waller Assoc. Inc., was DuChene named a finalist for the Virginia Chief Financial Officer of the Year in the Large Private Company in Virginia category by Virginia BusiEmery ness magazine.
(continued)
Col. Edward Fleming, USA, became the 61st District Engineer of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New Orleans District, assuming command from Col. Alvin Lee, USA. Dan Jackson, P.E., was appointed to VP of Aerospace and Defense, RS&H. Col. Edward J. Kertis, USA, became Division Commander, USACE Pacific Jackson Division, assuming command from Brig. Gen. Mark W. Yenter, USA. Todd K. Wager, Parsons Group President, was Wager named to the Council on Foreign Relations. Arthur H. Walz Jr., P.E., was honored with the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award by the United States Walz Society on Dams. Lt. Col. Neal Wright, P.E., PMP, F. SAME, USA (Ret.), was named Vice President, Department of Defense Market Segment Leader, and Principal, Virginia Beach, Va., Office, Dewberry.
Partners with Government
(Editor’s Note: This section contains a correction. The previous issue of The Military Engineer announced Brian DuChene’s new employment status with an incorrect photo.)
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tract, which is for an initial period of one year with options to extend for seven successive one-year periods, holds a maximum total value in excess of $179 million. GEI Consultants Inc. was selected to provide geotechnical engineering and related services for the USACE North Atlantic Division under an indefinitedelivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at up to $1 million per year with a one-year minimum period and four optional one-year periods. Greenhorne & O’Mara Inc. was named the 2010 Member Firm of the Year by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Metropolitan Washington. Innovative Technical Solutions Inc. was acquired by construction management services firm Gilbane Building Co. CDI Corp. announced its acquisition of the business of L. Robert Kimball & Assoc. Inc. McDonough Bolyard Peck Inc. was selected by the Virginia Department of Transportation to be part of the program management team of the Midtown Tunnel project in Hampton Roads, Va. Parsons has been selected by the USACE Omaha District for award of an IDIQ multiple-award task order contract for the DOD Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). URS Corp. was awarded two new contracts to provide logistics and maintenance support services to the U.S. Army at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Carson, Colo. The Orlando office of VOA Assoc. Inc. is serving as architect for the designbuild contract for the new, $15-million Security Forces Complex at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Weston Solutions Inc. was awarded a contract with the USACE Omaha District for MMRP services at projects located throughout the United States and its territories. Submit Government & Industry News items, with high-resolution (300-dpi) electronic images, to John M. Nank, M.SAME, at industrynews@same.org.
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The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Military News Compiled by Meighan Altwies, M.SAME
USACE ‘Bolt-Together’ Water Towers Go Up in Afghanistan
with cross bracing on all four sides. The towers come in two heights: 15-m, which use three stacked sections and 1,458 sets of nuts and bolts; and 20-m, which require four stacked Construction crews across Af- sections and 1,752 sets of nuts and bolts. The parts arrive at ghanistan are beginning to erect construction sites pre-designed, pre-cut and pre-drilled, so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ construction crews need only to assemble the parts. Even the (USACE) newly-designed, bolt- water tanks that sit atop the towers are made of bolt-together together water towers at national parts. A 15-m tower was surprisingly easy to assemble at Police police stations. Hundreds of the towers will stand as monuments to Station 9, currently under construction in downtown Kabul, the concept of standard design, ac- said Levent Donmez, the Construction Manager for Zafer Tacording to Mark Hoague, the Chief ahhut Insaat ve Ticaret A.S., the Turkish construction comof Engineering at the USACE Af- pany building the station. Zafer’s crew assembled the first ghanistan Engineer District–North 5-m section in place on the foundation, then built the next two sections on the ground and used heavy-duty cranes to headquarters. Structural engineers in Kabul, lift the sections into place. The job took three days, excluding Afghanistan, and Mobile, Ala., construction of the tank and plumbing. In remote locations, worked together late last year to design water towers that construction crews use ropes and pulleys to hoist individual could be constructed and maintained in remote locations parts into place as they assemble each section atop of one where electricity is unavailable, construction expertise is another rather than using cranes to lift entire sections. The ease of construction underscores the value of stanscarce and materials are limited by what can be transported dard design, Hoague said. “That was the whole intent of this by donkeys. Those limitations ruled out any welding. The engineers designed four-sided towers constructed thing,” he said. “It seems to be a success.” by Paul Gilpin, USACE Afghanistan Engineer with 3.5-in by 3.5-in steel angle bars to concrete founDRI_SameAd_FINAL.qxd:Layout 1 affixed 7/15/10 6:12 AM Page(Contributed 1 dations. The structures feature series of stacked 5-m sections District Public Affairs)
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Airmen assigned to the 809th Expeditionary Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Squadron are in the process of completing the first paved runway the unit has built since the Vietnam era. Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force active-duty airmen deployed from the 200th RED HORSE Squadron, Camp Perry, Ohio, and the 820th RED HORSE Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., comprise an 88-member team that has worked around the clock since putting boots on the ground three months ago. The RED HORSE engineers are working diligently day and night in the austere landscape surrounding Camp Dwyer, located in the Garmsir District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, where temperatures surpassing 120°F are the summer norm, blinding sandstorms hit without warning and equipment issues cease to surprise. The mission of the airmen is to construct an all-weather concrete runway and two aircraft parking ramps. The project will accommodate large fixedwing aircraft, such as the C-17 Globemaster III, that can provide rapid delivery of troops and cargo, enabling sustainment of combat forces close to potential battle areas. “We’re opening up the logistical channels for southern Helmand Province,” said Capt. Oliver Barfield, USAF, deployed from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron. “The logistics in Afghanistan are tougher than it is in Iraq because of the terrain and lack of infrastructure.” The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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Military News
(continued)
The capability this runway will bring to the fight will lead to fewer potentially dangerous rotary-wing convoy missions currently being conducted between forward operating bases surrounding Camp Dwyer. With a budget of approximately $16.5 million, the scope of the project makes it the largest troop labor construction project in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the team was confident it would meet the anticipated scheduled runway completion date of August 2010. “The rotation before us really set us up for success,” said Capt. Barfield. “They made this happen because they spent their six months doing the entire earthwork [for the runway].”
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According to Capt. Barfield, the earthwork portion of this project was critical because the construction must be handled with extreme precision in order to meet strict Unified Facilities Code specifications for airfields. If specs aren’t met every step of the way, it be a loss of time, manpower and resources, and the runway would not be able to handle the wear and tear of continual C-17 traffic carrying full payloads. Valuable lives and assets could also be at risk. The runway is composed of concrete slabs that are built by staggering the construction of paving lanes. This allows steel dowel rods to be inserted at regular intervals at the end of each concrete slab, as well as along the side of each lane to form joints. These joints are connected together by 5/8-in Styrofoam backer rod and topped with silicone sealant, creating an air- and water-tight seal. There are additional projects to complete before the runway is ready to be used, such as paint striping, airfield marking and the emplacement of gravel used to serve as shoulders on each side of the runway, but the work of the RED HORSE team demonstrates that even a small team can create a huge impact. (Contributed by Master Sgt. Kimberley Harrison, USAF, U.S. Air Forces Central Combat Camera)
NMCB-7 Completes Dire Dawa Water Well After 672 hours, Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7’s Detachment Horn of Africa successfully completed the drilling of their first freshwater well in the village of Adgia Falima, located in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. A detail of 18 Seabees detached from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, in April to establish a base camp in Dire Dawa and began operations shortly thereafter. The detail has been tasked with completing the construction of seven hand pump-operated wells in the Dire Dawa and Shinele regions, through the use of the mud rotary drilling technique, the most versatile and dependable method for drilling freshwater wells. Each completed well will possess the ability to pump 9-gal of freshwater per minute. Detail personnel were divided into three separate crews, led by Equipment Operator 1st Class Brad Williams, USN, Equipment Operator 1st Class Jackie Hazeltine, USN, and Equipment Operator 2nd Michael Chevere, USN. Each crew worked equal eight-hour shifts, allowing drilling operations to continue around the clock. The completed well was drilled to a depth of 224-ft and was composed of 6-in PVC casing, 2-in galvanized steel draw pipe, sanitary seals, a concrete base with catch basin, and a galvanized steel hand pump. The Seabees’ success did not come without minor setbacks. Delays in getting needed equipment across the border into Ethiopia, along with drill malfunctions, were a couple of obstacles the Seabees had to hurdle. “An important step of the drilling process was monitoring what type of surface we were drilling through,” said Equipment Operator Constructionman Justin Flowers, USN. The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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Military News
(continued)
“Sometimes clay, then sand, but most often we had to drill through solid rock, making the operation very difficult and time consuming.” Security was provided by a 14-man detail of Army soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment, also based out of Camp Lemonnier. The battalion is currently on deployment from their home base in Puerto Rico to provide security to Camp Lemonnier and forward operating locations throughout U.S. Africa Command. (Contributed by NMCB-7 Public Affairs)
GRD Provides Maintenance Facility to Iraqi Army The USACE Gulf Region District (GRD) is currently managing the construction of a Signal Company Maintenance and Storage Platoon for the Iraqi Army in Mosul, Iraq. The facility is located at Al Kindi Iraqi Army Base and will serve as the Iraqi Army’s (IA) vehi-
cle maintenance and communication maintenance facility. “The completion of this facility will be one step forward in making the Iraqi Army more independent in this area,” said Muhamad Al-Jawaree, Senior Deputy Resident Engineer at the GRD Mosul resident office. “The facility will also be the area where they will be storing their communication equipment, so we are providing the Iraqi Army the space to help them do their jobs.” Due to the construction site being on an Iraqi military base, there have been several obstacles USACE has had to overcome to begin and continue construction, the main one being security. “There are very stringent security procedures the contractor has to follow in order to gain access to the base and the construction site,” said Al-Jawaree. In spite of the security issues, construction at the base is going well and is scheduled to be completed before fall.
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“Without this facility, IA divisions will be limited in maintenance and sustainment ability which could adversely impact the Iraqi Security Forces’ ability to conduct independent operations,” said Al-Jawaree. “So our goal is to definitely complete the project on time.” (By LaDonna Davis, GRD Public Affairs)
Quarry Enables Seabees to Support Navy on Guam NMCB-11 and the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) in late June conducted an explosives blast at the Mineral Products Rock Quarry on U.S. Naval Base Guam. Although quarry blasts are performed about once a month, it was NMCB-11’s first since arriving on the island and taking charge of Camp Covington in May. The blast used about 520-lbs of explosives. Senior Chief Equipment Operator (SCW) Joe George, USN, Resident Quarry Manager for the 30th NCR, oversaw the
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Military News
(continued)
event. The 30th NCR is a detachment that advises Seabees battalions on mineral products production and quarry blasting, among other duties. “One pound of explosive will yield about one cubic yard of rock material,” Senior Chief Petty Officer George said. The aggregate of rock fragments produced by quarry blasts are then used in construction projects handled by Seabees. These projects include a wide range of upgrades, renovations and new work done for laying down roads, concrete pours for roofs, walls and other infrastructure. Seabees working daily at the quarry collect and crush rock material to produce varying rock sizes including 2.5-in minus, 3.25-in minus and 4-in minus. Equipment Operator 1st Class (SCW) Robert Sullinger, USN, Quarry Supervisor and Head Blaster for NMCB- 11, said the goal is to make available approximately 450-yd3 of material daily. Because explosives are needed to
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loosen the rock from the quarry, Senior Chief Petty Officer George said blasts are carefully planned both to maximize the life expectancy of the quarry and keep all participants safe. Warning announcements are provided one month in advance and roads leading to the quarry are blocked the day of a blast. The area surrounding the quarry also is evacuated to negate the risk of fragments, and safety briefs are given frequently. The 30th NCR, which comprises only three personnel, is tasked with outfitting resident Seabees battalions and providing planning, training and oversight. It is in charge of 54 facilities, 397 pieces of civil engineering support equipment, more than 10,000 line items of property and more than 200 militaryowned demountable containers, which are used for shipping cargo. (Contributed by Jesse Leon Guerrero, U.S. Naval Forces, Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs)
Strategic Airlift Capability Expanded at Camp Bastion In an ironic twist, the United Kingdom “declared dependence” from the U.S. on July 4, 2010, as the U.S. Air Forces Central-funded and Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment-executed strategic airlift apron was opened for beneficial occupancy at the U.K. Joint Operating Base, Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. The apron accepted C-17s just 13 months after contract award—impressive considering much of the task order’s site was outside the wire when construction first began. “Delta Ramp,” as it is known by the U.K. Senior Airfield Authority is the first step in a massive plan for turning the once-fledgling outpost into a fully operational strategic hub for the Helmand Province, Afghanistan’s most volatile battle space. The plan includes a new 3,500-m runway, and multiple rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft aprons.
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Military News
(continued)
AFCEE’s lead engineer, Col. Terry Watkins, USAF, M.SAME, and contracting officer, Col. Geoffrey Ellazar, USAF, made a visit to the site in July to monitor the progress. AFCEE is currently executing nearly $1 billion in Military Construction at Camp Bastion and the U.S. Marine Corps-run adjacent Camp Leatherneck under its Heavy Engineering Repair & Construction indefinitedelivery, indefinite-quantity contract to support USACE. (Contributed by Maj. Patrick Suermann, Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP, M.SAME, USAF)
Unique RED HORSE Equipment Key to Success, Savings The landscape at Camp Dwyer, located in the Garmsir District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, is vast and wide, hot and dusty. Operations here—including construction of a 1-million-ft2 runway—have presented a unique deployment environment for the airmen assigned to the 809th Expeditionary
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RED HORSE Squadron. “The most unique part of this [deployment] is that we do everything ourselves,” said Capt. Oliver Barfield, USAF, Site Commander, deployed from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. “We have our own quarry, we have our own concrete plant and we’re self-sufficient so we can produce everything for ourselves.” “When it came to beginning the construction portion of building the runway, it all began with the rock crusher,” said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Mathis, USAF, Rock Crusher Operations Non-Commissioned Officer in-Charge (NCOIC), also deployed from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron. The rock crusher, a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand, or rock dust, has already saved the Air Force $3.5 million through the production of base course, with an expected overall savings of just under $8 million, according to Sgt. Mathis. Locating the crusher
near a quarry saved time, energy and transportation costs. “By providing our own sand, stone and trucks, we’ve taken three very big aspects out of the equation by having our own plant,” said Staff Sgt. Josh Barker, a Heavy Equipment Operator deployed from the 200th RED HORSE Squadron, Camp Perry, Ohio. With this piece of machinery, the airmen can quarry their own materials by using resources that are naturally available in this austere environment. “We have a 50,000-ft2 hole in the ground that we’re digging out of,” said Sgt. Mathis.
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Military News
(continued)
“The quarry itself is around 75,000-ft2, including all the land used for the stockpiles of material we’re producing.” One of the many benefits of having an onsite crusher is the amount of material the RED HORSE airmen are able to produce compared to local contractors. “Once we were able to produce our own sand, it actually saved us quite a bit of money and a lot of time,” said Sgt. Mathis. “We can produce 300-T to 400-T a night per shift, whereas the contractor was only able to supply us about 200-T per night in a 12-hour shift.” Because of the increased amount of
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material the rock crusher plant can produce, the newly established $3 million concrete batch plant can now run fully operational without delays, which was an issue in the past. “The best part of the concrete plant is that it’s quick and has a much larger capacity,” said Sgt. Barker. “We are three to four times faster than the other plants on Dwyer.” The concrete batch plant, located just down the road from the quarry, is where cement, water and aggregates are mixed together to make the concrete necessary for the runway. “With the size of the plant we have, it’s big enough to cover more concrete output than what the other batch plants here on Camp Dwyer can do together,” said Tech. Sgt. Douglas Fox, Batch Plant NCOIC, from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron. This is good news for the night paving crew, who need the concrete to complete their job by the completion date of late summer.
“Our goal is to complete at least 600-ft a night in the 12 hours we work,” said Master Sgt. Jon Narvarte, USAF, SlipForm Paving Operations NCOIC, deployed from the 820th RED HORSE Squadron. “It takes about 425-M3 of concrete for about 600-ft of runway.” Having an onsite batch plant makes this goal accessible. Each dump druck can hold 8-M3 of concrete which equals more than 53 loads of concrete per night. At this time, the batch plant operations have saved more than $750,000 and expect to save another $2.6 million before the runway work is complete. (Contributed by Master Sgt. Kimberley Harrison, USAF, U.S. Air Forces Central Combat Camera)
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Sustainability News Compiled by Wendi Goldsmith, M.SAME
Sustainable Living at Fort Hood Fort Hood Family Housing, the privatization partnership at Fort Hood, Texas, between the U.S. Army and developer Actus Lend Lease, recently completed Texas’ largest green community. The 232-home community is slated to receive Leadership in Environmental and
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Sustainability News Climate Change Program as well as the potential impacts of climate change, interagency efforts, strategies for dealing with climate change and more. The Responses to Climate Change Program recognizes the importance of a nonstationary paradigm in which water resources managers must make decisions. The website will help convey the evolving body of practical knowledge developed through the program. The Responses to Climate Change Program addresses the need to reduce potential vulnerabilities to the nation’s water resources and infrastructure from climate change and variability. Its mission is to develop, implement and assess adjustments or changes in operations and decision environments to enhance resilience or reduce vulnerability of USACE projects, systems and programs to observed or expected changes in climate. Current program activities include the development of guidance on sea-
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level change impacts to USACE projects. In July 2009, USACE released Engineering Circular 1165-2-211, which addresses how to apply sea-level change scenarios to civil works planning. This document will be updated and incorporated into an Engineering Manual. An interagency team is also developing an Engineering Technical Letter delineating sea-level change impacts, responses and adaptations for all civil works projects and missions affected by potential changes in sea level. The Responses to Climate Change Program also supports USACE involvement in the federal interagency Climate Change and Water Working Group (CCAWWG). CCAWWG held a workshop in January 2010 on stationarity and proposed alternatives, and a team from the Reservoir Control Center Program will use findings from this and other efforts to develop hydrological tools and methods capable of supporting climate change adaptation.
IWR leads the Responses to Climate Change Program while working with other federal agencies and stakeholders. The projects that will be enacted under this program will focus on developing methods, policies and processes for implementing effective adaptation. Vulnerability assessments, demonstration projects and communication will also comprise important components of the program. (Contributed by USACE IWR)
Recovery Act Project Delivers Renewable Energy for Marines A ribbon-cutting ceremony held July 15 celebrated the completion of a solar photovoltaic roof project at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego, California. Guest speakers included MCRD Commanding General Maj. Gen. Ronald L. Bailey, USMC, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest Commanding Officer Capt. Keith Hamilton, CEC, USN,
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Sustainability News Syska Hennessy Group Construction Inc. President Bill Line, San Diego Gas & Electric Federal Account Director Dave Gueberg and MCRD Energy Manager Richard Hatcher. The $2.9 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contract was awarded by NAVFAC Southwest in September 2009 to install a 500-kW direct current system of photovoltaic panels on multiple rooftops to deliver renewable power to the base’s power distribution system. The project was completed June 2010—ahead of schedule. To help reduce the carbon footprint, specific low-energy electron diffraction accomplishments were made. “The system is currently providing solar power to the facility and has increased MCRD’s renewable power generation up to 8 percent,” said Phu Vu, NAVFAC Southwest Senior Project Leader for the photovoltaic roof project. An estimated 1,220-MWh a year is ex-
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pected to be generated by the system, an annual savings of $174,000. (Contributed by Mario Icari, NAVFAC Southwest Public Affairs)
USACE Parks in California Going Solar Solar electricity systems are being installed at nine USACE Sacramento District park and dam operation offices in California, part of a USACE-wide effort to improve the sustainability of its projects. The systems, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, are expected to provide an average 41 percent of each office’s electricity needs, said Phil Holcomb, USACE Sacramento District Northern Area Operations Manager. The solar panels at New Hogan Lake will reduce energy consumption while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 28,000-lbs annually, the equivalent of planting six acres of trees. District-wide, the panels will cut annual
carbon emissions by 156,000-lbs. The solar panels are just one of a series of measures Sacramento District park offices have taken to reduce energy consumption, Holcomb said. Installation of the system at New Hogan Lake was completed in February, with all system installations completed by June. Offices at Englebright Lake, Stanislaus River Parks, Lake Isabella Dam, Black Butte Lake, Eastman Lake, Pine Flat Lake, Hensley Lake and Lake Kaweah also received solar electricity systems under the contract. (Contributed by U.S. Army)
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Sustainability News
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EPA Funds Puget Sound Restoration, Protection The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July announced nearly $30 million dollars in federal grants to help protect and restore Puget Sound. The funds are the latest infusion of federal dollars in an ongoing effort to address decades of industrial contamination, urban pollution and habitat alteration in Puget Sound. The grants are geared towards tribal projects, watershed projects, and outreach and education initiatives. EPA received more than 100 grant applications for this round of grants. The grants cover a wide range of projects including: • removing invasive species from watersheds; • improving salmon migration and increasing fish population; • protecting watersheds from the impacts of urban growth; • reopening shellfish beds; • purchasing and preserving critical habitat and watershed lands; • funding research to track progress; • protecting shorelines; and • educating communities, homeowners and students about reducing impacts to Puget Sound. The grant recipients included the State of Washington, tribes and local governments, many of which will work directly with communities and homeowners on projects to restore and protect the sound. The Suquamish Tribe received a
grant worth nearly $600,000 for a project that will restore the Chico Creek estuary, which will result in improved fish passage and water quality in shellfish growing areas. The State of Washington and grantees are together matching dollar for dollar the $30 million announced. Since 2006, EPA has dedicated $58.4 million dollars to protecting and restoring Puget Sound. (Contributed by EPA)
DOE Awards $92 Million for Energy Projects U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced 43 cuttingedge research projects that aim to dramatically improve how the U.S. uses and produces energy. Funded with $92 million from the Recovery Act through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the selections focus on accelerating innovation in green technology while increasing America’s competitiveness in grid-scale energy storage, power electronics and building efficiency. The projects announced are based in 18 states, with 36 percent of projects led by universities, 33 percent by small businesses, 24 percent by large businesses, 5 percent by national labs and 2 percent by nonprofits. These awards complete ARPA-E’s grants under its Recovery Act funding: in three rounds of awards since last year, the agency has selected a total of 117 projects for $349 million in funding, supporting research that can deliver breakthrough changes in how the U.S. generates, stores and utilizes energy. (Contributed by DOE)
Departments of Energy, Interior Announce Solar Demonstration Site Energy Secretary Steven Chu, U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada announced an agreement to develop a 25-ft2 Solar Demonstration Zone on federal lands in Nevada to demonstrate cuttingedge solar energy technologies. The Solar Demonstration Zone will be located in the southwest corner of the Nevada Test Site, a former nuclear site, on lands owned by the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and administered by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Secretaries Chu and Salazar signed an interagency memorandum of understanding that will enable DOE to develop innovative solar energy projects at the site. These projects will serve as proving grounds for new solar technologies, providing a critical link between DOE’s advanced technology development and full-scale commercialization efforts. Under the agreement, the federal government is dedicating an area larger than Manhattan to solar energy research. DOE will use the site to demonstrate innovative Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies. CSP systems concentrate the sun’s energy and capture that energy as heat, which then drives an engine or turbine to produce electrical power. The Solar Demonstration Zone will complement BLM’s establish38
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Sustainability News ment of 24 Solar Energy Study Areas on public lands across the Southwest by helping to ensure that the most advanced CSP technologies are ready for commercial deployment. Plans are underway to create a new DOE funding opportunity for demonstration projects at the Nevada test site that will include matching investments from the private sector. DOE selected the site after reviewing 26 possible locations, evaluating factors including solar conditions, suitable terrain and existing infrastructure to support solar projects. In addition to collaborating with each other, BLM and DOE are working in close coordination with the U.S. Air Force to identify and address potential problems with locating and operating the Solar Demonstration Zone at the Nevada test site. DOI and DOE will continue to collaborate with the Air Force and the Department of Defense. The site will serve as a test
(continued)
bed for other solar projects proposed near military installations throughout the Southwest. Before selecting the site for the Solar Demonstration Zone, the federal government consulted with relevant stakeholders, including state, tribal and local governments, as well as local utilities. Under the interagency agreement, DOE and DOI will continue collaborating to effectively implement the project, including working together to conduct environmental reviews, make any land status adjustments and coordinate necessary infrastructure planning. (Contributed by DOI)
USGS Unveils New Method to Assess Carbon Storage Potential The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has finalized an innovative new methodology to assess the potential for storing carbon dioxide in underground formations and will use it to begin an
assessment of U.S. potential for geologic carbon sequestration, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced in July. “This research could lead to techniques for reducing the impacts of climate change,” said Salazar, who announced a draft of the methodology in March 2009. “Rather than emitting carbon into the air, our nation can and should move toward capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground,” he said. (The concept of injecting liquid carbon dioxide into rocks below the earth’s surface is called geologic carbon sequestration.) “After public comment and extensive internal and external scientific peer review, the USGS updated the methodology to help us find the best places in the United States for storing carbon dioxide in subsurface rocks.” Salazar said. “By sequestering carbon produced by electrical energy generation for tens of
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The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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Sustainability News
(continued)
thousands of years, we could diminish greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.” USGS, an agency of DOI, developed the methodology as called for in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. As a senator in 2007, Salazar authored the provision of the act that authorized USGS to develop the methodology. USGS scientists updated and refined the 2009 draft methodology during the past year to meet the challenges of estimating the CO2 storage resource potential in geologic formations. “This methodology combines innovative calculation tools with robust geologic interpretation and allows for an assessment that can characterize the storage potential in a uniform manner across the United States,” said Brenda Pierce, USGS Energy Resources Program Coordinator. The updated methodology addresses the processes by which rock formations can trap and seal CO2 and also estimates the storage potential for an entire storage formation, which includes both saline formations and petroleum reservoirs. USGS is conducting research on a number of fronts related to carbon sequestration. These efforts include better characterization of underground CO2 storage formations and processes that occur in these underground storage formations during sequestration, evaluation of potential biological sequestration in a variety of ecosystems, potential release of greenhouse gases from Arctic soils and permafrost, mapping
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the distribution of rocks for potential mineral sequestration efforts, and the possible role of gas hydrates in carbon sequestration. (Contributed by DOI)
USACE Suspends Nationwide Permit 21 in Appalachian Region USACE announced in June it would suspend the use of Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21) in the six-state Appalachian Region. NWP 21 is used to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters for surface coal mining activities. The suspension is effective immediately and applies to the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. NWP 21 continues to be available in other regions of the country. The suspension in Appalachia will remain in effect until USACE takes further action on NWP 21 or until NWP 21 expires in March 2012. While the suspension is in effect, individuals who propose surface coal mining projects that involve discharges of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters will have to obtain Department of the Army authorization under the Clean Water Act, through the individual permit process. The individual permit evaluation procedure provides increased public involvement in the permit evaluation process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects. On June 11, 2009, the Department of the Army, DOI and EPA signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to work together to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian Region. As a part of the agreement, USACE agreed to issue a public notice to seek comment on the proposed action to modify NWP 21 to preclude its use in Appalachia. On July 15, 2009, a Federal Register notice was published soliciting public comment on the proposal to modify NWP 21. The notice also proposed to suspend NWP 21 in order to provide more immediate environmental protection while the longer-term process of modification is fully evaluated. The comment period was extended in response to many requests, and public hearings were conducted in October 2009 in each of the six affected states. Approximately 6,000 individuals attended the public hearings and about 400 individuals provided oral testimony. USACE received approximately 23,000 comments during the comment period that concluded in October 2009, of which 1,750 were substantive comments that were nearly evenly divided for and against the proposed modification and suspension actions. USACE determined after a thorough review and consideration of comments that continuing use of NWP 21 in this region may result in more than minimal impacts to aquatic resources. Activities that result in more than minimal impacts to the aquatic environment must be evaluated in accordance with individual permit procedures. Therefore, NWP 21 has been suspended in this region and coal mining activities impacting waters of the U.S. in this region will be evaluated in The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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Sustainability News accordance with individual permit procedures. NWP 21 verifications provided in writing by USACE to mining companies before the suspension will continue to be valid until the NWP expires on March 18, 2012. Modification of NWP 21 will continue to be evaluated and a decision on this proposal will be made before NWP 21 expires. (Contributed by USACE Norfolk District)
NAVFAC Southeast Moves to Electric, Solar-Powered Vehicles Capt. John J. Heinzel, P.E., CEC, USN, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast Commanding Officer, test drove a new solar-powered truck in Jacksonville, Fla., on July 29, as the command begins its shift to solarpowered, slow-moving vehicles (SMV) to offset utility demands as the U.S. Navy moves into the electric vehicle market. “I am impressed with the power it
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has,” said Capt. Heinzel. “I am glad to see that we continue to bring new products like this to our transportation fleet. We need to be in the forefront as technology changes and improves.” The Navy has begun implementing new environmentally-friendly techniques in work spaces, and the electric vehicles are part of that effort. With the focus to reduce energy consumption, NAVFAC is also looking seriously at future impacts on the electrical grid. NAVFAC is reaching out to new technologies and is hoping that solar technology will help offset utility demand to its customers. “The new vehicles are electric powered with solar integration, which is designed to increase the range capability and provide charging which will increase the life of the battery and reduce the electrical demand,” said Jesse Evans, NAVFAC Southeast Transportation Specialist. “The Secretary of the Navy calls for more than 2,500 SMVs to be in the Navy fleet. The Southeast has the third
largest fleet in the Navy and our goal is a 750-SMV inventory fleet by 2015.” There are currently 314 SMVs in the NAVFAC Southeast inventory, 23 of which are solar integrated. The fleet inventory includes sedans, pickup trucks, passenger and cargo vans, and maintenance utility configurations, all vehicles capable of accommodating the majority of mission requirements. The SMVs are designed (and speedgoverned) for 20-mph to 25-mph operations, and are confined to the installation. Evans said SMVs are not a “green substitute” for a fossil fuel vehicle, but rather are designed to meet mission minimum requirements at a reduced rental cost. (Contributed by NAVFAC Southeast Public Affairs) Submit Environment & Energy News items, with high-resolution (300-dpi) electronic images, to Wendi Goldsmith, M.SAME, at sustainabilitynews@same.org.
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Technology News Compiled by Jill M. Jackson, M.SAME
Army Deploys Innovative Battery-Recharging Kit The U.S. Army has begun deploying to Afghanistan battery-recharging kits that run on renewable energy. Developed by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s communications-electronics center at Fort Monmouth, N.J, the Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System (REPPS) combines “[It] reduces the enemy’s detection besolar panels, connectors and adaptors cause before, troops would have to confor increased charging options. The 10-lb REPPS is portable and uses stantly go [to their vehicles or the nearest a flexible, 62-W, anti-glint solar panel. tactical operation centers] and replace Moreover, REPPS can charge the most batteries, and then give away where they common military battery types in five to were hiding,” said Bui. REPPS evolved from the Soldier Phosix hours. If devices with higher power need to be charged, several REPPS may tovoltaic Portable Power Pack, a simpler technology that consisted of a solar panbe daisy-chained together, officials said. Ultimately, REPPS facilitate a soldiers el with only battery-charging capabilimission and help save lives, said Tony ties. Comparatively, REPPS “is capable Bui, an engineer with the Army Power of a whole spectrum of delivering power Division of the Communications-Elec- and charging,” Bui said. It has a larger #5211Research, SAME ad.qxp 6/24/2010 11:43panel AM and far more connectors and tronics Development and Enadapters that allow for new functions gineering Center (CERDEC).
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such as alternating current to direct current conversion and pass-through assembly, which enables batteries and external devices to be charged simultaneously. The first shipment of REPPS was sent to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar, Afghanistan, in early July. So far, Bui has received positive feedback on REPPS from Soldiers who have used it in the field. More REPPS are scheduled to be sent overseas in the near future. “The feedback that we have received from units who have used it is overwhelmingly positive. Feedback from the units ranged from ‘reduced fuel consumption’ to ‘provided a charging source for reconnaissance missions.’ The units expressed great content with the ease of use, ruggedness, durability and operational flexibility, extending their capabilities,” he said. Technology that relies on renewable energy is a critical focus area for the CERDEC Army Power Division. Not only is renewability important because it’s convenient and sometimes even essential when soldiers are operating in areas that are far removed from main power distribution lines, but also because it addresses the problems of rising fuel costs and the security risks associated with delivering fuel. (Contributed by Debra Bathmann, CERDEC Public Affairs)
AFIT Begins Cyberspace Education Program The U.S. Air Force’s new Cyber Professional Continuing Education (PCE) Program at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has officially started its efforts to produce skilled and knowledgeable cyber leaders to support joint warfighting efforts. The Cyber PCE courses—Cyber 200 and Cyber 300—will graduate 600 Air Force leaders per year capable of applying cyber support at the operational and strategic level in support of Air Force missions and joint requirements. (Continued on page 52)
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The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION CAMPS
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WWW.SAME.ORG/CAMPS
SAME/U.S. ARMY ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION CAMP JUNE 13-19, 2010 VICKSBURG, MISS. The eighth annual SAME/U.S. Army Engineering & Construction Camp was held June 13-19 in Vicksburg, Miss. As in previous years, the one-week program was supervised by professional engineers and volunteers from engineering organizations in the lower Mississippi Valley. This year’s camp hosted 40 students hailing from Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, Minnesota, California, Colorado, Alabama and Hawaii. The camp is designed to provide highschool students with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in engineering and construction skills in Vicksburg’s wide-ranging engineering community. The campers, consisting of 15 girls and 25 boys, were exposed to various activities to provide insight into available career choices in the fields of engineering and construction. Topics covered in this year’s curriculum were civil engineering, environmental engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, geotechnical engineering, river engineering, military engineering, geospatial information systems and information technology. The campers were divided into four teams of 10. The camp counselors, known as pilots and firstmates, led the students 48
during the weeklong journey into the field of engineering. The teams were scored on each activity for accuracy and team spirit. The winning team members were awarded North Face backpacks. The campers worked hard on the engineering activities and engineered some fun during the week. They participated in a Mardi Gras-themed jambalaya cookoff, a swim party cookout, a college-themed bowling night and a luau. The campers also were impressed with the insightful words of Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, USA, Mississippi Valley Division Commander, who was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony. The camp was funded largely by contributions from individuals, SAME Sustaining Member Companies, SAME Posts and other professional societies. The local engineering community all pitched in to make this camp happen. Special thanks go out to: The 168th National Guard Engineer Group, the 412th Engineer Command, the Vicksburg Warren School District, Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mississippi Valley Division and the USACE Vicksburg District. Each of the groups took an active role in
the planning and execution of the camp. The parents of the campers were able to follow the week’s activities by visiting the camp website, which was updated daily with photos of the camp activities. The staff at the SAME/U.S. Army Engineering & Construction Camp is dedicated to providing each student with information on the field of engineering and enabling each student to make an informed career choice. As such, the camp helps in growing the field of engineering, which is a critical need for our nation’s prosperity and defense. Contributed by Henry A. Dulaney, USACE Vicksburg District For information on any of the 2011 SAME Engineering & Construction Camps go to www.same.org/camp.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
SAME/U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION CAMP JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2010 COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. Seventy-two of the nation’s brightest high-school students attended the 11th annual SAME/U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) Engineering & Construction Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. All 72 students were competitively selected by their local SAME Post based on their grade point average, class selection, extracurricular activities, desire to enter into an engineering or construction field in the future and interest in the military. Once at the camp, the students were broken into six flights, Alpha through Foxtrot, and mentored by USAFA cadets and 12 SAME Young Members from the private and public sectors. Each of the mentors brought a unique background in a variety of engineering fields and experiences to share with the campers. This year’s camp featured its first senior enlisted mentor, who brought his own unique construction and deployment experiences. For the past 10 years, the camp motto has been “Build, Then Design,” emphasizing hands-on learning for the students. This year’s camp was no different. Students used their math and science skills to build concrete beams, wood storage sheds, water balloon launchers and sprinkler systems with little The Military Engineer • No. 667
time spent on design and more energy focused on “learn-by-doing” construction. Each of the events was scored and ranked to create friendly competition during the week while promoting teamwork and leadership opportunities. The program of events also included a geology tour of Garden of the Gods, visits to local architecture-engineering firms and a tour of the USAFA campus. During the campus visit, campers toured the academic buildings, labs, sports facilities, visitor’s center and chapel. The campers were introduced to academics, sports and military commitment that are central to the cadet lifestyle. The USAFA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering provided tremendous support to the camp. We extend our thanks to the entire team of volunteers without whose support the camp would not have been successful. Over the coming weeks, each student who attended the camp will deliver a presentation to his or her sponsoring SAME Post about the camp experience— one that was full of personal challenges, teamwork and spirit. Contributed by Maj. Christopher Senseney, USAF, and Briana Noonan, MacDonald-Bedford LLC
The mission of the SAME Engineering & Construction Camps is, simply put, to produce engineers. Proving that the system really does work, students attending this year’s USAFA camp were fortunate to have three former campers return as mentors. Kaylee Bush, left, who attended the 2003 USAFA camp, is an electrical engineer who began her first professional engineering job with Aligent Technologies immediately following the camp. Alex Kirchoff, center right, who also attended the 2003 USAFA camp, is a mechanical engineer soon to be commissioned into the Army as a second lieutenant and has already served a tour of duty in Iraq with his National Guard unit. Lt. Luke Johanson, USAF, far right, who attended the 2003 Seabees Camp, received an Air Force commission through ROTC and is currently stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. All are pictured with SAME Executive Director Robert D. Wolff, Ph.D., P.E., F.SAME.
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SAME/U.S. NAVY SEABEES ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION CAMP AUG 1-7, 2010 PORT HUENEME, CALIF. From Aug. 1-7, Naval Base Ventura County–Port Hueneme, Calif., hosted the annual SAME/U.S. Navy Seabees Engineering & Construction Camp. Fifty high-school students between the ages of 15 and 17, with an interest in military engineering, descended upon the base for a week of classroom engineering education, hands-on activities, tours of engineering organizations, inspirational speeches, mentoring and camaraderie. The students—sponsored by their local SAME Posts—journeyed from across the U.S. and beyond, with one student traveling all the way from Naples, Italy! Camp staff members included a senior retired Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officer, several active duty U.S. Navy CEC officers, enlisted Seabees petty officers, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) civilian engineers, a U.S. Air Force Academy student, a graduate student from Florida, a private-sector engineer from Kansas and a construction manager from Maryland. The majority of the staff consisted of veteran members who had attended anywhere from one to five previous camp cycles, bringing considerable experience to bear on the event. Core camp technical activities spanned topics in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, naval architecture, construction, fabrication, surveying and equipment operation. The construction of a wooden water balloon launch tower served as an introduction to basic construction skills. A class on concrete beam design was coupled with the creation of small concrete beams, which were tested to failure for all to watch. A class on bridge truss design was paired with a popsiclestick bridge design and fabrication exercise. As with the concrete beams, the wooden bridges were loaded to destruction to the delight of the students. A class on naval architecture was presented, followed by the design and fabrication of human-sized boats from cardboard, plastic 50
wrap and duct tape. The boats were pitted head-to-head in several race heats at the base pool. Students were treated to training sessions courtesy of Naval Construction Training Center instructors including Seabee builders, steelworkers, equipment operators, engineer aides and utilitiesman. The NAVFAC community was highly supportive of the camp, as evidenced by a visit from Rear Adm. Christopher J. Mossey, P.E., CEC, USN, the NAVFAC Commander, FORCM (SCW) Michael Holdcraft, USN, the Force Master Chief of the Seabees, and several other high-ranking CEC officers. Tours included the NAVFAC Engineering Service Center and Underwater Construction Team Two.
Every year, a few students arrive at camp depressed and convinced the engineering camp is going to be lame; these are usually the campers who are the saddest when the camp draws to a close. Several students depart camp convinced that a career in engineering lies in their future. Others who thought that engineering was their path may leave camp with a different mindset. In any case, the camp never fails to provide many valuable lessons and help steer students towards greater futures. Contributed by Cody M. Reese, P.E., NAVFAC Engineering Service Center
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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Technology News
(continued)
The courses refresh and provide greater breadth on concepts taught in Undergraduate Cyber Training at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Graduates of Cyber 200 and 300 understand the complexities of operating in the cyberspace domain and its integration with the other warfighting domains. “We are learning to operate in the one domain which is interoperable with all domains—land, sea, air, and space—to achieve mission success,” said Capt. David Gordon, USAF, USSTRATCOM/J6, and Cyber 200 student. If adversaries are allowed to influence the environment by applying cyber power, Combatant Commanders may make incorrect decisions. Similarly, the combatant commander’s goal is to influence the decisions of the opposing commander; one of the ways to do this is through information operations (IO), which has a large cyber component. “Capable Air Force cyber operators enhance the tools that a joint IO planner can employ to bring about effects on the battlefield while minimizing collateral damage.” said Capt. Jack Skoda, Cyber PCE Instructor. “Cyber capabilities require a depth of technical knowledge and a broad understanding of military operations that courses like Cyber 200 and Cyber 300 can provide.” Cyber operations enable joint operations and can be used to significantly impact an adversary’s command and control capabilities, enhancing the effectiveness of joint operations. Cyber 200 and Cyber 300 will prepare joint cyber warfighters—in support of the U.S. Cyber Command mission—to achieve and maintain information superiority in 21st century warfare. (Contributed by Bill Hancock, 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs)
ONR’s Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department as a Future Naval Capability (FNC), LCITS equips the unguided Hydra-70 rocket with a low-cost imaging infrared guidance solution to more accurately strike an intended target. Steve Smolinski, Office of Transition FNC Director, explained the importance of the FNC program to fulfilling naval missions such as LCITS. “The FNC program represents the requirementsdriven, delivery-oriented portion of the Navy’s science and technology investment,” Smolinski said. “FNC enabling capabilities draw upon technologies that can be developed, matured and delivered to acquisition programs within a three- to five-year period.” The seeker is composed of three main subsystems: a targeting integration system aboard the helicopter; a digital smart launcher; and the guided imaging rocket. The helicopter uses its targeting system to lock on to and track the target’s position and velocity, and transfers the information to the rocket launcher prior to weapon release. Once locked onto the target, the weapon follows the LCITS commands to the target. From a pilot’s perspective, the entire process can be handled in a matter of seconds, increasing the number of targets that can be engaged in a short amount of time. LCITS also can engage targets in a 120° cone centered off the nose of the helicopter at ranges up to 7-km. The seeker now moves forward to the Medusa Joint Capability Technology Demonstration phase. Started in 2009, Medusa ensures that a military utility assessment will be completed on the LCITS, which will lead the way to a naval acquisition program. (Contributed by Rob Anastasio, ONR Corporate Strategic Communications)
Advanced Weapon System Helps ONR Respond to Navy Needs
Airmen, Engineers Execute Groundbreaking Satellite Test
The Low-Cost Imaging Terminal Seeker (LCITS), an Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored technology, could soon give the U.S. Navy and coalition military ships an upper hand in swiftly defeating multi-axis attacks by small swarming boats. Managed by
In late July, airmen with the U.S. Air Force 3rd Space Operations Squadron (SOPS), along with engineers from Lockheed Martin and The Aerospace Corporation, successfully demonstrated the capability to correct a wayward satellite using the spacecraft’s reaction wheels.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Technology News
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The successful procedure represents an important achievement and provides wide-ranging benefits to satellite systems and American taxpayers because it can potentially boost the lifespan of onorbit satellites. “The reason this successful test is so significant is it shows we don’t necessarily need to use a satellite’s thrusters, and thus, its valuable fuel, to recover a vehicle,” said Capt. Karl Meyer, USAF, the test’s executer. Satellites are launched into orbit with a finite amount of hydrazine fuel. Any maneuvers required to reposition them while in orbit require fuel and limit the lifespan of a satellite. During the test, 3rd SOPS operators intentionally spun a test satellite off of its operational axis, rendering the spacecraft virtually blind. When the same anomaly occurs on an operational satellite, this would sever communication to deployed forces. After confirming the spacecraft had lost sight of earth, opera-
tors executed a series of commands to the vehicle to correct its orientation, using only the satellite’s reaction wheels. The original procedure for a recovery from attitude loss called for burning the satellite’s valuable fuel and shortening its lifespan while trying to recover. More importantly, when a satellite’s thrusters are engaged to complete a recovery, the effort creates momentum, which forces operators to complete a second maneuver to stop the vehicle. This action not only requires additional fuel, it also requires an additional day and renders the vehicle inaccessible to the warfighter for a longer period. 3rd SOPS officials operate the Defense Satellite Communication System constellation, a critical communications link used by the Department of Defense (DOD) members and U.S. allies. The successful test represented a culmination of months worth of work. Engineers at Lockheed Martin developed a generic plan for the test and sent it to
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the 3rd SOPS, where Capt. Meyer further developed the plan into an operational procedure. Both parties simulated the test on computers at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., and at Lockheed Martin’s factory location. Following simulations, corrections and adaptations were made and a new procedure was initiated for the actual test. The careful planning and simulation limited the risks to the test satellite so that a real emergency didn’t occur. (Contributed by Scott Prater, 50th Space Wing Public Affairs)
New Way to Destroy Old Munitions In a remote area of Redstone Arsenal, Ala., explosive ordnance experts quietly and safely went about the business of detonating munitions that herald mainly from the World War II era. The munitions destruction operation was conducted without the noise, work interruptions and environmental damage associated
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Technology News
(continued)
with controlled open burn or open detonations of unwanted ordnance thanks to a transportable Explosive Destruction System brought to Redstone by the Army Chemical Materials Agency, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The system minimizes the risk to life and environmental impact of detonating old munitions. “They will destruct 16 rounds of projectile that we currently have in storage at Redstone Arsenal,” Col. Bob Pastorelli, USA, Garrison Commander, said in July at the site of the Explosive Destruction System. Col. Pastorelli said all safety factors were considered and measures taken to ensure a safe disposal of the 16 munitions, 15 of which are World War II era and another a World War I mortar discovered at Fort McClellan, Ala. To use the Explosive Destruction System, munitions are “overpacked” in cylinders and moved to the system, where they are surrounded with linear-shaped charges and placed in a fragment suppression shield. That assembly is then placed in a stainless-steel containment
chamber featuring a 5,000-lb, 9-inthick door sealed by hydraulic clamps. The chamber has 4-in-thick walls and a 7-in-thick back wall and can safely contain detonations of up to 4.8-lbs of TNT equivalent. Operators then detonate the charges, cutting open the munitions to detonate any explosive materials inside. All vapors and fragments remain contained in the chamber. The chamber is then be filled with chemicals to neutralize the smoke-producing liquid in the munitions, heated and rotated to mix the contents to ensure full neutralization. The liquid is then extracted and put into hazardous waste containers. The munitions undergo a rinse and are heated if necessary, and finally removed once the operators ensure all residuals are neutralized. The Explosive Destruction System has been used to safely detonate and dispose more than 1,600 rounds of munitions at both public locations and military installations. Redstone Arsenal officials requested its use because of the
risk associated with continuing to store the munitions, which were destroyed under a Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act removal action. The disposal operations are estimated to cost about $600,000, which includes coordinating all state, Department of Army and DOD approvals, planning and preparing the site, and conducting the operation. (Contributed by Kari Hawkins, USAG Redstone)
New Research Improves Composite Material Durability A partnership between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), industry and academia produced a novel erosion protection technology that greatly increases the capacity of composite materials to withstand degradation from erosive sand, wind and rain—forces that might otherwise lead to catastrophic failure of mission-critical components. With AFRL Manufacturing Technology funding support, researchers from
Where leadership meets learning November 8-9, 2010 New Orleans, La. The SAME Executive Forum brings together senior executives from the uniformed services and the private sector to discuss issues of shared interest. The forum will consist of five tracks covering timely topics for senior executives working with the Department of Defense: • MILCON Project Delivery • Sustainable Installations: Policy to Practice • Building Information Modeling • DOD Contracting • Joint Engineer Contingency Operations (by invitation only)
SAME EXECUTIVE FORUM • NOVEMBER 8-9, 2010
Register today at www.same.org/execforum The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Technology News
(continued)
Nanosperse Inc. and the University of Dayton Research Institute created the new multilayer, nano-enhanced film, which offers distinct advantages over traditional paint coatings. The environmentally-friendlier technology eliminates the volatile organic compounds, toxic primers and oven baking cycles associated with paint and, further, supplies a five-fold improvement in terms of erosion resistance. Although their low weight makes composites preferred materials for weapon systems, they degrade rapidly when subjected to elements such as sand, wind and rain. Among the possible consequences of this vulnerability are decreased service life and mission readiness, as well as increased inspection and repair costs. The research team worked to address this shortcoming by devising a more effective and seamless mechanism for designing, developing and transitioning new nano-composites for use
in Air Force systems. Accordingly, the researchers concentrated their efforts not only on incorporating wear-resistant nano-materials at the surface of composite parts, but on creating a protective film to coat those components. The resultant film comprises three hybrid layers, delivered to parts manufacturer as one film. Consisting of compatible, 350° F-cured epoxy resin co-cured into a given part, the new film eliminates all painting operations and the undesirable byproducts thereof. The co-curing process involves laying the film around a pre-form and injecting resin between surfaces. This unique filler technique produces a coated outer surface that provides exceptional erosion protection. In addition to benefits already noted, the new film improves the impact and damage tolerance of coated composite materials and is also fully repairable, characteristics fueling plausible expectations that the technology will
likely generate up to a 73 percent reduction in composite lifecycle costs (including parts and repair expenditures). The technology has importance beyond its initial application during parts production as well, given that additional multifunctional surfaces can later be cocured into composite structures via high loadings of specialized fillers in order to impart properties such as electromagnetic interference shielding, anti-icing and fire protection. With the film having undergone transition and qualification for military engine parts, the research team is working to identify other DOD applications as future technology transition candidates. (Contributed by Heyward Burnett, Materials and Manufacturing) Submit Technology News items with highresolution (300-dpi) electronic images, to Jill M. Jackson, M.SAME, at technews@ same.org.
Oct. 19-21, 2010 • Baltimore, Md.
Earn your PDHs at SAME University SAME U offers a collection of educational workshops geared toward architects and engineers, construction and project managers, designers, contractors and contracting professionals working with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. The following workshops and review courses are being offered in Baltimore, Md.: • Project Management for DOD Practioners • Best Value Source Selection for DOD Practioners • Design-Build for DOD Projects • Creating Sustainable High Performance for Existing Buildings within DOD
• LEED for DOD projects • Building Information Modeling (BIM) for DOD Projects Seminar • CMAA—Construction Management Standards of Practice
Space is limited, so register before Oct. 4 to guarantee your spot and receive the early registration rate! Rates increase Oct. 5. (Government credit cards will not be charged until two weeks prior to the event date.)
Register today at www.same.org/SAMEU SAVE THE DATE: SAME U, Norfolk, Va., April 26-28, 2011 56
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Leader Profile
Rear Adm. Christopher J. Mossey, P.E., CEC, USN The new Commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and Navy Chief of Civil Engineers discusses the challenges facing his command as it looks to the future.
Q
What are your goals for your new leadership position in the Navy?
Sustainability, low energy consumption and a concern for total lifecycle cost now drive the way we design and construct facilities for our supported commands.
667 The Military Engineer ••No. No. 667
First, I’d like to say that I am tremendously honored to take the helm as Commander of NAVFAC and Chief of Civil Engineers. Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of my predecessor, Rear Adm. Greg Shear, I believe that NAVFAC’s contribution to the mission of our supported commanders has never been more highly valued. I am immensely proud of NAVFAC’s 168-year tradition of service to the Navy-Marine Corps team, and firmly believe we are on the right course. Going forward, I believe our concept of operations and organizational structure are fundamentally sound. We have worked hard to standardize how we do business, wherever we operate, and to continuously improve our processes. Our organization has been strenuously tested during a period of unprecedented workload growth over the last several years. It has been a challenging period, but the men and women of NAVFAC have answered the call and delivered magnificently. There are a few themes I’m paying close attention to as I look ahead to the next several years. One area on which we’ve been very focused in the Navy is understanding and reducing the total ownership cost of our warfighting platforms, and that includes our instal-
lations. More than ever, we need to deliver to the Navy and Marine Corps sustainable and flexible facilities that cost less to own and operate. Of course, a big component of lifecycle costs for our facilities is driven by energy consumption. The Secretary of the Navy has laid out some very aggressive goals for us during the next decade to enhance energy security and reduce the Navy’s dependence on fossil fuels. As an example, he has directed that by the year 2020, 50 percent of the energy consumed at our installations come from alternative sources; we’re at about 11 percent now. To get there, we must have a multifaceted approach that makes smart use of technology and goes after energy conservation opportunities very aggressively. Another general theme on which I am focused is technical competence. I intend to ensure NAVFAC sustains and enhances our engineering competency, so that we can support our Navy and Marine Corps warfighters with innovative and responsive technical solutions, whether developed in house or through our industry partners. Safety performance is also a key area for me. Our contractors have among the best safety records in the industry and I look forward to finding ways to work with them to continue the drive toward zero mishaps.
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Q
Seabees were among the first American military units to deploy to Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and remain deployed to this day in support of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and the Philippines. While these frequent operational deployments have required the full range of Seabee tactical and technical skills, they haven’t required that we substantially alter the construction and engineering capabilities we’ve carried forward from the Vietnam and Cold War eras. Our supported commanders still look to their Seabees for technical expertise and construction know-how. On the other hand, knowledge and proficiency in joint operations has never been more important. We greatly value our historical ties with the Marine Corps, but Seabees today are as likely to be working alongside Army and Air Force personnel—predominantly engineers, but also medical, civil affairs and security forces. Our regimental and battalion commanders are comfortable commanding, or falling in under the command of engineers from the other services. Key to our ability to command and control Joint Task Forces is the rigorous certification exercises that our units complete prior to deploying. Keeping abreast of the ever-changing tactics, techniques and procedures of the enemy has resulted in some adjustments in the capabilities of Seabee units. The most readily apparent change is that Naval Construction Force (NCF) units now deploy with organic intelligence personnel, who provide the full spectrum of intelligence products and analyses. During our deployments to Iraq, Seabees refined convoy security operations to better support critical supply lines. While convoy operations are not a new capability for Seabee units, we’ve fo-
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Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist James G. Pinsky
Have recent deployments changed the skills and capabilities required of Seabees battalions?
Q Adm. Mossey addresses the audience in May during the change of command ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard during which he relieved Rear Adm. Greg Shear, USN, as NAVFAC Commander and Chief of Civil Engineers.
cused extensively on improving convoy training during the homeport cycle to prepare our security elements for the improvised explosive device threats that have characterized the current fight. It continues to be a great time to be a Seabee and it’s a great time to be Chief of Civil Engineers. The young men and women who are serving in our units today are truly inspirational. They have risen to every challenge and excelled in every environment. It’s an honor to be associated with them.
Q
What are some of the major initiatives in NAVFAC to respond to the tremendous workload and high volume of procurements for military construction?
Our construction workload has more than doubled from a little over three years ago. A variety of programs have contributed to this, including the Marine Corps’ “Grow the Force” initiative, Base Realignment and Closure,
barracks upgrades and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act workload. We’ve developed a number of strategies to execute this challenging workload using the design-build process as our primary execution tool. We’ve leveraged this tool by developing templates for common facility types, such as child development centers, bachelor enlisted quarters and aircraft hangars. This has enabled us to produce requests for proposals quicker and get to contract award sooner. Because of its many proven advantages, I expect that design-build will continue to be our execution method of choice. But it’s not the only tool in the tool box: One size does not fit all. We will use all of the tools at our disposal, including the design-bid-build process, where and when it makes the most sense. Robust acquisition planning and strategies, such as packaging projects by type and location, also have allowed us to more efficiently execute the work
The 2010 TheMilitary MilitaryEngineer Engineer•• September-October September-October •• 2010
Photo by Cody Reese
tal Design Silver certification for new buildings and major renovations, and incorporates energy-saving and sustainability requirements into our design criteria. Our energy performance standard is 30 percent below ASHRAE 90.1 requirements, and we continue to pursue even higher efficiency levels. We are implementing a new tool that communicates energy and sustainability requirements to our contractors and evaluates lifecycle cost, including energy, during the design, operation and maintenance of our facilities.
Adm. Mossey speaks with aspiring engineers during the weeklong SAME-Seabees Engineering & Construction Camp, which hosted high-school students from across the country at Port Hueneme, Calif., in August.
while still achieving our small business goals. To supplement our in-house staff capacity, we have established procedures to use more contract support for certain functions. I’d say our biggest challenge has been predicting construction costs in this uncertain economic environment. But we’ve worked to turn this challenge into an opportunity to enhance the energy efficiency of our facilities. The use of a best value source selection process has allowed us to optimize program resources and consider desirable energy enhancements and contractor proposed betterments in our projects. The innovation and expertise that our industry partners are bringing to this process is helping us deliver on the total ownership cost reductions that our supported commanders need. Sustainability, low energy consumption and a concern for total lifecycle cost now drive the way we design and construct facilities for our supported commands. NAVFAC requires Leadership in Energy and Environmen-
The Military Engineer • No. 667 The Military Engineer • No. 667
What changes do you anticipate in the training and professional development of Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers and NCOs to meet the challenges of the future? More and more of our CEC officers and Seabees are operating in a joint environment. Additional exposure to the engineers of other services, and more training about how other service engineers operate, what their capabilities are, and how this all comes together to support the Joint Commander is, I think, increasingly important baseline professional knowledge for our officers and senior enlisted leaders. And, while not a change, I think that it is vital that we maintain our emphasis on professional registration and contract acquisition training for our officer corps—both our active and reserve components. The synergy of these two capabilities in a uniformed officer is very powerful, whether running a Public Works Department, serving in a Joint Task Force, or leading a unit in a contingency environment.
Q
In what areas do you see opportunities for SAME to support you, NAVFAC and the CEC?
Navy leadership is depending on NAVFAC to develop innovative solutions in an increasingly pressurized
fiscal environment. Enhancing energy security through conservation and development of smart renewable investments will be a key focus… a challenge in an area undergoing rapid technological change. Meanwhile, we are increasingly supporting humanitarian and contingency operations; for example, NAVFAC was recently tasked to provide engineering support after the earthquake in Haiti and environmental support following the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Our relationship with SAME can be a key contributor to the successful accomplishment of these various objectives. SAME is a unique organization that brings together interdisciplinary, inter-agency and inter-service professionals of all types—from the uniformed, civil service and contractor communities—all dedicated to the engineer’s contribution to our national security. These qualities allow SAME to create training opportunities and an invaluable open forum and professional network. From my perspective, this is the important support that SAME has always provided, support that will be more important as we move forward with today’s challenges.
Rear Adm. Christopher J. Mossey, P.E., CEC, USN, assumed command of NAVFAC and became Chief of Civil Engineers on May 21, 2010. Previously, he served as the as Vice Commander of Navy Installations Command and Director, Shore Readiness Division (N46) on the Chief of Naval Operations staff. His other command tours include NAVFAC Atlantic in Norfolk, Va.; NAVFAC Pacific in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; NAVFAC Washington, D.C.; Navy Public Works Center, Washington, D.C.; and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7, homeported in Gulfport, Miss. Adm. Mossey was commissioned as an in 1981 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Cornell University.
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Register today to attend the SAME Small Business Conference (SBC). The conference offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity for small business leaders to gain the tools and education they need to position their businesses for success in the joint-service Department of Defense (DOD) contracting environment. For the 2010 SBC, SAME has prepared a program that’s sure to attract attention—and attendance—from the industry’s most senior decision makers. The program will provide unique insight from seasoned experts about doing business in the DOD market. Training sessions and panel discussions will address the ins and outs of business practices with the uniformed services and DOD agencies, as well as how best to navigate the maze of federal contracting. Almost 1,500 people attended the 2009 conference including more than 250 government attendees representing USACE, NAVFAC and Air Force Civil Engineering. If you weren’t one of them, you need to be at the 2010 SBC. Sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are still available for this event. For more information, contact Kathy Off, Conference and Registration Manager, at koff@same.org.
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www.same.org/SBConference
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
The Energy and Process Assessment Protocol
The Military Engineer • No. 667
An Adaptable Approach Many industrial assessment methods, protocols and guides exist to improve energy efficiency of both private and government facilities. They have different emphases and thoroughness, depending on the audit objectives and available human and financial resources. USACE funded CERL to develop EPAP in coordination with multiple agencies and stakeholders. The effort was also part of the International Energy Agency’s initiative, “Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems.” EPAP is based on information available from trade and professional literature, training materials, documented and undocumented practical experiences of contributors, and successful showcase energy assessments conducted by a diverse team of experts at Army facilities. The protocol addresses both technical and non-technical organizational capabilities required for successful assessment geared toward identifying en-
A comprehensive, multiphase assessment protocol has helped USACE identify energy waste in existing military buildings, recommend retrofits and secure funding to improve installation energy efficiency.
EPAP energy audits include checking performance specifications of HVAC system components, such as this direct expansion air-conditioning unit, against actual operating conditions.
Army photo courtesy ERDC-CERL
I
nstallation Directorates of Public Works (DPW) must comply with a growing number of national and Department of Defense directives to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. For example, all new military construction after 2008 will achieve a Platinum rating under the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design rating system. However, thousands of buildings—many built in the days of lower-cost energy— could be targeted for retrofits or other measures to reduce energy consumption in the future. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has established a process to assess buildings and identify potential savings through new technologies or process changes. This capability exists under a joint effort involving the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Ala. (USAESCH) and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) developed the comprehensive Energy and Process Assessment Protocol (EPAP) in coordination with an international standards group and other participants. The protocol describes how to find and assess energy inefficiencies in existing facilities using three levels of audit. USAESCH uses the guidance, along with information from the Federal Energy Management Program to manage the Energy Engineering and Analysis Program (EEAP), which is funded by the Army Installation Management Command. The program is used to conduct energy surveys and provide rationale for future investments to be included in the installation master plan.
By Maj. Gen. Merdith W.B. Temple, P.E., F.SAME, USA, Franklin H. Holcomb and Tammie L. Learned, PMP
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ergy and other operating cost reduction measures without adversely impacting facility quality, safety, occupant morale, or the environment. EPAP distinguishes between the preassessment phase—Level 0, which focuses primarily on selection of targets for energy assessments—and three tiers of energy audits with different levels of effort. Each of these three levels can be implemented in different ways, from a simplified to a more detailed assessment, depending on energy usage and other available data. During the selection phase (Level 0), auditors can choose the installation buildings and systems with the most promising energy-saving potential. In addition, they can select from a specific building the systems to be audited or, within a system, the components to be considered for more detailed analysis. A Level 1 audit is a preliminary energy and process optimization opportunity analysis, which consists primarily of a walkthrough review and consultation of existing documents and consumption figures. The Level 2 effort includes an in-depth analysis in which all assumptions are verified. The end product is a group of “appropriation grade” process improvement projects for funding and implementation. Finally, the Level 3 audit is a detailed engineering analysis with construction or installation as appropriate, performance measurement and verification, and fully-instrumented diagnostic measurements. Under EEAP, the EPAP tool is used to identify appropriate fixes, estimate costs and potential energy savings, and produce project documentation needed for funding and implementation. Due to the limited effort and funds allocated to a Level 1 assessment, the EEAP survey also recommends for further analysis many other potentially significant measures.
EEAP Successes Program management for EEAP started in FY06 at USAESCH. Since FY06, EEAP has completed 32 surveys, and the program has grown from two surveys per year in FY06 to eight in FY10, with an anticipated nine surveys to be completed in FY11. EEAP studies identify energy inefficiencies and wastes, and also 62
propose energy-related projects with recommended funding or methods of execution that could help the installation meet nationally-mandated energy reduction requirements. In the first 24 surveys, 2,369 energy conservation measures (ECM) were identified. If implemented, the annual energy savings would be more than 6.2-trillion-BTU, resulting in an estimated annual savings of $125.4 million. The capital investment of $438.80 million would see an average simple payback of 3.5 years. In FY09, EEAP identified 300 ECMs at eight installations. If all the ECMs are implemented, the annual energy savings is 2.1-trillion-BTU, which equates to $19.8 million in annual savings. The average simple payback would be 4 years. Energy assessments in FY08 at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., and Fort Polk, La., illustrate how installations can reduce energy use. The Level 1 assessments included central energy plants and associated steam distribution systems providing heat to buildings, representative administrative buildings, warehouses and small repair shops, and an analysis of their building envelopes, ventilation air systems and lighting. For Rock Island Arsenal alone, there were 259 different ECMs, divided into eight ECM packages that addressed a central energy plant; steam distribution system; building envelopes; HVAC; potable water; and lighting. If the packages are implemented for maximum energy savings, the post could reduce its energy use by up to 225-billion-BTU per year, or 26 percent of its annual usage, with simple paybacks for four of the packages in 4.7 years to 6.1 years. The study at Fort Polk identified 248 potential ECMs presented in four packages: low-cost improvements, lighting improvements, HVAC improvements and central energy plant improvements. These packages have simple paybacks between 0.8 years and 4.2 years. If these ideas are implemented, they have the potential to save Fort Polk about $3.7 million in annual energy costs and an additional $1.1 million in annual maintenance costs while reducing annual energy consumption by nearly 28 percent.
The Way Ahead EEAP is succeeding where previous programs did not because identifying sources of energy waste and potential ECMs is only the beginning. The EEAP end product is a capital investment strategy that sets the schedule for implementing projects to achieve installations’ overall mandated energy reduction goals. The minimum is three percent per year since 2003, with the ultimate goal being a 30 percent reduction by 2015. Through meetings with the DPW staff and garrison commander, an acquisition strategy is selected for each project so that the project documentation necessary to obtain funding can be prepared in a timely manner and the full spectrum of project funding sources can be brought into the mix. These sources can include the Energy Capital Investment Program; Military Construction; Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization; and private-sector financing sources such as Energy Savings Performance Contracting, Utility Energy Savings Contracting, EnhancedUse Leasing and alternative energy Power Purchase Agreements. Energy security roadmaps are part of the updated master planning effort now underway at more than 40 installations. More installations will be assessed and updated master plans incorporating energy security solutions will be provided in the next two fiscal years. USACE centers are playing a vital role in energy security, sustainable operations and leadership in this dynamic nationwide effort.
Maj. Gen. Merdith W.B. Temple, P.E., F.SAME, USA, is Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; 202-761-0002 or bo.temple@usace.army.mil. Franklin H. Holcomb is Chief, Energy Branch, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory; 217-373-5864 or franklin.h.holcomb@ usace.army.mil. Tammie L. Learned, PMP, is Program Manager, Energy Engineering Analysis Program, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville; 256895-1298 or tammie.l.learned@usace.army. mil.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
Large-Scale Facilities Condition Assessments
The Military Engineer • No. 667
ecute the program—the assessments cost just pennies per square foot. ISR-I is unique in that it leverages the workforce across the Army to conduct facility ratings, thus eliminating the requirement for expensive and virtually indefinite contracted services.
Facility Self Assessments The central tenet of the ISR-I program is that a few qualified professionals can lead an Army-wide inspection program that is conducted by facility occupants. Developed during the past two decades, the practice of using building occupants to “self-assess” condition has come into vogue. The underlying rationale—besides cost avoidance—is that building occupants have a vested interest in their surroundings and nurturing this stakeholder relationship will improve the accuracy and reliability of the data.
The U.S. Army’s method for facilities condition assessments leverages stakeholder interests to produce consistent, accurate and reliable results at low costs.
ISR-I data support many analytical and decisionmaking processes in the Army. In this example, ISR-I facilities condition data are a primary data source used to help calculate the adequacy of assets versus requirements for facilities by type at a specific location.
Image by Mike Ryan
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he facilities portfolio of the Department of Defense (DOD) reflects an aging inventory for which considerable resources are programmed for maintenance and repair. For example, over 55 percent of the U.S. Army’s facilities are more than 30 years old, and the Army has budgeted almost $3 billion in FY10 to sustain an inventory that continues to age. Thousands of military-owned buildings and their supporting infrastructure have not received adequate periodic maintenance or timely major building component renewals due to competing priorities for limited funding. As commanders plan for portfolio sustainment, they must fully understand the status of their existing facility inventories and have a reliable and trustworthy source of information on these facilities. The Army manages the largest facilities and infrastructure inventory in the free world and performs annual portfolio-wide condition assessments for the lowest cost anywhere in the facilities management industry. Termed Installation Status Report–Infrastructure (ISR-I), the assessment program’s annual work cycle produces inspection ratings and improvement cost estimates—both maintenance and repair, and facility deficit reduction—that have been proven accurate during years of performance. ISR-I has been used by installation commanders to help prioritize limited available resources for maintenance and repair, and by the Department of the Army to support congressional testimony during scrutiny of the Army’s budgets. What differentiates ISR-I from other facility condition inspection models and processes is the extremely low cost per square foot of facility space to ex-
By David Leinberger and Mike Ryan
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To support this model, industry criteria are used to build algorithms independently for assigning costs to observed conditions. These algorithms are used in conjunction with documented facilities standards to produce improvement cost estimates that can be implemented by personnel who might lack formal training, such as occupants. The process requires a modest contracted professional services engagement wherein a few technically-qualified personnel develop the algorithms, create and verify inspection checklists in conjunction with the organization’s facilities proponents, establish supporting tools, train occupant groups, and collect and assemble the resulting data. As the work cascades down to building occupants, a train-the-trainer model is employed that enables the few to teach the many. The beauty of this approach lies in its flexibility, because different protocols (algorithms, checklists, instructions and data collection tools) can be tailored to individual and unique facility types. Office buildings have a different inspection criteria from housing, academic buildings, or hospitals, and critical components can be isolated. Because the model employs a measured degree of abstraction, inspection data from individual buildings do not precisely translate to specific maintenance and repair costs for individual buildings. However, this work has been shown to be highly accurate for groups of similar buildings in a given location, for component evaluations across multiple buildings, and for budget formulation and decision support at the portfolio-wide level.
Delivering Real Value Highlights of the Army’s ISR-I process include: • cost factors that are independently developed based on industry standards; • inspection criteria and standards documents for each facility type that are developed in conjunction with headquarters-level facility proponents; • a training process accomplished by training standard inspection techniques both regionally and locally— 64
the Army inspects its portfolio consistently; • building inspections that are performed predominantly by occupants who have received standard training and who use a single set of rating standards that are applied portfoliowide; • data that are aggregated by location and are ultimately consolidated at the headquarters level for the entire portfolio; and • facilities that are re-inspected during the year, as needed, for occasions where the condition has dramatically changed, for instance, following a fire or severe weather event.
widely, the ISR-I activity itself has never been diluted with extraneous efforts in modeling or presentation. The Army focuses on sustained data quality, and thousands of users enjoy a resource of continuously high integrity. ISR-I is constantly improved and kept up-to-date. As a result, the core capability and performance of ISR-I for facilities and infrastructure remains stable and reliable while evolving to meet increasing customer data requirements. Furthermore, ISR-I facilities and infrastructure component rating criteria are designed so that local employees can conduct inspections and submit results in a non-obtrusive way. The ISR-I support contractor and the government jointly provide recurring annual training for program managers to ensure skills are refreshed and that data quality can be sustained at high levels at the lowest possible cost to the government.
“Considering the enormous size of the Army’s portfolio, generating accurate data annually for Supporting Portfolio just pennies per square foot Sustainability Inspecting the condition of the built delivers real value.” environment to determine the nature At the conclusion of each year’s assessment cycle, the Army has a fresh database of facility condition information and both quality and quantity improvement cost estimates. While the ISR-I facility-level improvement costs are not intended for use as the basis for individual repair or maintenance projects, the cost data, when rolled up to the portfolio level, are highly accurate and are used to support budget submissions. Considering the enormous size of the Army’s portfolio, generating accurate data annually for just pennies per square foot delivers real value. This result directly supports Army commanders and staff, who have a broad range of data analysis and decision support tools, reports and displays of ISR data available from perspectives ranging from installation building detail to Army-wide roll-ups. This value has been sustained over time and ISR-I is now a primary data source for more than 20 Army enterprise systems and recurring standard reports. Because ISR-I data are used so
and extent of needed repairs is nothing new. Building owners and managers have been conducting inspections for years. Cost-effective annual facilities condition assessments of all Army facilities through ISR-I creates baseline information that drives operations and maintenance budgets while supporting priorities for major component renewals and overall portfolio sustainability. Data from ISR-I inspection activities form a cornerstone of the Army’s overall infrastructure repair and maintenance program. The Army has a time-tested and proven cost-effective process in place that is providing significant value at the lowest costs in the industry. Any large portfolio-managing organization could adopt this process and realize similar efficiencies and returns on investment in quality information for budgeting and decision support. David Leinberger is Installation Status Report Program Manager, Operations Directorate, Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, Headquarters, Department of the Army; 703601-2544 or david.leinberger1@us.army.mil. Mike Ryan is Program Manager, VISTAtsi; 703-403-4875 or mike.ryan@vistatsi.com.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
Energy Planning for Laboratories tion Agency (EPA) for an existing facility, energy-modeling software was used to model energy use across a six-building laboratory campus. In general, the existing HVAC system in each laboratory cycles through a minimum of eight air changes per hour during the day and a minimum of four air changes per hour at night. The fume hoods have two-position exhaust air terminals. The hoods allow maximum airflow during the day before ramping down to 50 percent at night. Each lab also has a two-position supply air terminal with a hot water reheat coil. Power inputs to the modeling software for all laboratories and offices in the buildings being modeled mirrored this profile, with the heat gain caused by the laboratory equipment estimated at 4-W/ft2. EPA provided the utility bills for electricity and natural gas. The central utility plan efficiency also received a rating. The model assumed
Master planning and smart phasing are the first steps to reduced utility costs and energy compliance at federal laboratories that have outlived their electrical and mechanical systems.
A smart phasing plan can help planners ensure that measurable benefits are achieved in each budget year of a multiyear project.
Photo courtesy SSOE
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aboratories generally do not age gracefully. This is, in part, because laboratories guzzle energy. Their HVAC systems do not re-circulate air and instead must bring in large volumes of outside air. These demanding HVAC profiles, new standards, new technologies and rising utility costs ensure that, sooner or later, a lab’s mechanical systems will grow inefficient and the building will begin to falter in its capacity to support research missions. After 20 years to 25 years, the whole of a laboratory’s HVAC infrastructure will have exceeded its life expectancy. The good news is that old labs can be re-energized, so to speak, for a fraction of the cost of building a new facility. Lab owners can commission infrastructure upgrades and new, energy-efficient systems fitted to new engineering standards. In short, evolving research needs can find support in old laboratories with renovated, more efficient and sustainable engineering systems. Such laboratory renovations require an energy master plan, a supportive budget and an intelligently-phased approach to construction. The first step in developing a master plan is to construct a model of how the facility uses energy, how much energy the facility uses and how much it costs. The energy model, which will reveal where more energy is being used than necessary, may suggest a number of more efficient options. An analysis of the options will produce a cost estimate for each as well as a payback period based on the energy that the renovation will likely save.
By Eduard Royzman, P.E., and Meredith Mayes, P.E., LEED AP
Establishing a Model In a recent master plan commissioned by the Environmental ProtecThe Military Engineer • No. 667
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that the boilers operated at 70 percent efficiency, with the chillers using .6-kW per ton of refrigeration. To calibrate the model, the energy usage estimates were compared with actual energy use in the building. The model’s results were 6 percent lower than actual energy use, given a reasonable margin of error attributed to the energy model not accounting for system losses, variations in chiller and boiler efficiencies, as well as variations in actual lighting and laboratory equipment electrical usage. With the calibrated model in hand, it was possible to model renovation options and build the energy master plan.
The Master Plan The project team developed three basic option models for reducing energy use. Up to three variations of each option were also developed. Each showed the amount of energy and related cost savings as compared to the existing system. • Option One: The first option proposed adding heat recovery to the existing supply and exhaust systems. With heat recovery, the calculated energy consumption would be about 10,000-MMBTU or 4.81 percent less than the existing system, with a cost savings of $143,000 annually. • Option Two: Option two suggested replacing existing fume hoods with new high-performance fume hoods. This would save about 23,372-MMBTU or 11.71 percent compared to the existing fume hoods, which equates to an approximate annual savings of $327,000. • Option Three: The third option would replace the existing two-position supply air terminal system with variable airflow technology, saving approximately 27,400-MMBTU, or 12.8 percent, and $355,000 per year. Suggested variations of each option also identified the boost in savings that pertained to the particular technique being evaluated. Next, the team compared the annual projected energy cost savings with construction estimates and created a payback schedule for each. Option one, for example, would cost $1.8 million, save $143,000 per year and pay for itself in 66
about 12 years. The life of the system would likely range over 20 to 25 years. Options two and three (or a variation), which could be carried out along with option one or a variation, also posted attractive annual utility savings and payback schedules.
Smart Phasing For most renovation projects, it makes sense to start at the beginning and build the entire project; however, because of the nature of federal budgets, the same approach may not always work with government projects. While an agency’s distribution of funds is planned years in advance, there is no guarantee that a project receiving funds this year will receive funds next year. Smart phasing implements a project over time when funding, implementation cost, scheduling constraints and system performance is iteratively evaluated. The completion of each phase will produce instant benefits, as well as bring to the forefront any changes necessary to the master plan.
“Smart phasing provides assurance against lost capital if the funding situation changes before the full scope of the plan has been executed.” In the case of the EPA facility, components from each of the three options might form a phase to be completed in a single year; a cost analysis could suggest the order in which the work should be implemented. For instance, with option one, adding heat recovery to the existing system would require a budget allocation of $1.8 million. Option two, replacing the existing fume hoods with new, high-performance hoods, would cost $5.4 million. Option three, replacing the existing two-position supply air terminal system with variable air-flow, would cost an estimated $4.7 million. To create a smart phasing plan for these three options, the owner might decide to start the project as soon as it is possible to fund option three, the most
expensive piece of work, choosing to postpone option one, the least expensive piece, and option two, which can be divided into smaller implementation tasks, if necessary, during lean funding years. For instance, it would be a mistake to start working on all three options at once on a two- or three-year schedule, finishing some of each option within the first year but failing to deliver any benefits. If such a schedule fails to deliver benefits within the first year and the agency’s budget declines in future years, requiring the energy projects to be placed on hold, the agency will have spent several million dollars and received no benefits. A better option is to phase the project so that a year’s budget produces results within that year.
Lighting the Path Energy savings starts with a master plan based on a validated model of a facility’s energy use. Depending on the facility’s age, the master plan can generate annual savings that will pay for projects long before renovations reach the end of their useful lives. This will yield a return on investment through lower energy costs and result in a sustainable system, which could prove valuable should sustainable building requirements grow stricter. In the case of the EPA energy master plan, an overall investment of approximately $12 million would cut energy costs at the facility by more than $800,000 per year, pay for itself in about 15 years and start producing a healthy return on investment. In a way, smart phasing provides assurance against lost capital if the funding situation changes before the full scope of the plan has been executed. It ensures the agency will receive some benefit and payback for money allocated in any one year. That means realizing immediate returns, and that’s the path energy master planning in the laboratory ultimately seeks to illuminate. Eduard Royzman, P.E., is Principal Division Manager, and Meredith Mayes, P.E., LEED AP, is North Carolina Operations Business Leader, SSOE Group. They can be reached at 703-2514814 or eroyzman@ssoe.com, and 919-3619606 or mmayes@ssoe.com, respectively.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
Computerized Maintenance Management
The Military Military Engineer Engineer •• No. No. 667 667 The
achieve a desired level of service or reliability, while mitigating risk. One of the tools being introduced throughout USACE to collect data to support that process is a maintenance tracking tool called the Facility Equipment Maintenance (FEM) system. FEM has been fully utilized in the USACE Portland District for four years and is currently being deployed at other USACE dams. It is a central system that tracks what maintenance work was planned and accomplished, as well as what wasn’t accomplished and why. All labor hours are tracked against the work and the asset being worked on, and the history is documented. Job plans that describe the steps of work to be performed are beneficial; especially as institutional knowledge is lost to retirements, the plans help
The FEM system provides USACE a foundation for documenting and archiving transparent and defendable data on asset maintenance activities.
Ensuring the safe operation of all structures and equipment at John Day Lock and Dam requires the ability to document, archive and easily retrieve and interpret defendable data about the USACE Portland District maintenance program.
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Photo courtesy USACE
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anagers of federal multipurpose dams are responsible for ensuring the safe operation of all structures and equipment to meet those dams’ congressionally-authorized purposes. At the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) John Day Lock and Dam, which spans the Columbia River between the states of Washington and Oregon, those purposes include flood damage reduction, hydropower generation, navigation, irrigation, fish and wildlife management, recreation, water quality, and municipal and industrial water supply. Meeting all these purposes requires managing a significant number of physical assets. Asset management refers to the process of making conscious business decisions, based on defendable data, to manage the lifecycle of an asset to
By Kimberley C. Oldham
to guide and teach new personnel. Associated information like photos, test results and activity hazard analyses can be linked documents. Another component of FEM is the warehousing function, which accounts for all supplies and spare parts. The system can be accessed remotely, enabling asset managers to search the warehouses of other facilities for critical spare parts that could potentially be used while a replacement part is ordered—a valuable function considering the long lead times often required when replacing parts at USACE facilities. Once a part has been removed from the warehouse and used in an asset, the cost of the part is tracked against the cost of the asset. In short, FEM tracks labor, material and purchases against an asset for the life of that asset.
Supporting Informed Decision Making FEM also can be used to inform business decisions about investments and maintenance on a particular piece of equipment. For example, the crane is a critical asset in support of the powerhouse mission and is the only crane capable of supporting water management emergencies and upcoming scheduled maintenance. If the crane isn’t meeting its reliability target, a summary of all trouble reports assessed against the crane might identify that the crane’s generator regularly trips off line and shows signs of impending failure, and that repairs have been assigned to the electrical shop many times over the past months or years. Rather than relying on a hunch or gut feeling, FEM provides managers real data to justify a repair, replacement, or both. Maintenance philosophy is an important element of asset management and highlights what a facility is willing to do to achieve a desired level of reliability of that asset. There are many philosophies: run to failure, preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, reliability-centered maintenance and so on. A good model may encompass the best of several of these concepts. Although run to failure—the “no maintenance” approach—is generally the most inefficient philosophy, it may be 68
appropriate if the asset is not critical to the mission. In FEM, each asset is assigned a rating from 1 to 4, 4 being most critical. A similar rating is assigned to any preventive maintenance for that piece of equipment and added to the asset rating. Therefore, reduced manpower or funds might drive the decision to focus only on critical work on critical pieces of equipment and run other assets to failure. Using preventative and predictive maintenance philosophies together, FEM reports the status of open critical preventive maintenance requirements and open trouble reports. Further reporting out of FEM can help managers identify exactly what work is outstanding. This is an extremely helpful aid to decision making and prioritization.
“FEM tracks labor, material and purchases against an asset for the life of that asset.” For example, if an asset that was not scheduled for any work fails, a manager might use an itemized preventive maintenance list with the associated critical rating and weigh it against the value and importance of maintaining other assets. This may lead to a decision to move labor forces to the failure and defer non-critical monthly preventive maintenance activities to the next month’s maintenance cycle.
Data Analysis Managers want to know where their workforces are spending their time. In FEM, work is articulated in categories called “command work types.” The running data for the current fiscal year can be depicted in a pie chart that describes the state of a facility. At the John Day Lock and Dam, 38.6 percent of the work performed is operations and inspections; 17.5 percent of the work is repair maintenance, which is very high and indicates that the facility is in a reactto-failure mode; 13.7 percent of the labor is accomplishing preventive main-
tenance, which is low and reflects that non-critical preventive maintenance activities are being deferred due to lack of funds; 14.9 percent of labor is in administrative business; 8.1 percent of labor is in other work, which for USACE can be overseas deployments, research and work for others; 5.5 percent of labor is support of capital improvements to the facility; 1.3 percent is emergency work. An industry goal is six to eight preventative maintenance actions for every repair maintenance action. The FEM data for John Day Lock and Dam illustrate that that the facility is undermaintained and reacting to problems rather than preventing them. Aligned with staffing charts, asset condition assessments, budgets and other information, the information describes defendable needs. It may indicate a need to increase capital investment, labor forces, or budget, depending on the service life goals of that facility. In the Pacific Northwest, the data provide justification to stakeholders for budget increases and investment in hydropower, because the desired service level is a reliable power supply. In a heavily-regulated industry, an important feature of FEM is the ability to tag maintenance that is a regulatory requirement. For example, USACE managers can pull distinct maintenance data with associated test results to satisfy North American Electric Reliability Corporation or Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulatory requirements during an audit. The challenge with asset management is that it is not prescriptive; rather, it requires supporting data to feed and make good business decisions. FEM is the USACE foundation for documenting and archiving transparent and defendable data from any desk, making the USACE asset management program more inclusive and effective.
Kimberley C. Oldham is Maintenance Manager and Assistant Operations Manager, John Day Lock and Dam, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District; 541-298-7697 or kimberley.c.oldham@usace.army.mil.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
Facilities Capital Planning and Management
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recording and reporting rules are written for installations with many buildings. Facility conditions can impair the performance of the Department of Defense (DOD) mission, and current funding levels will accelerate the deterioration of the assets. Because WHS must provide a defensible position based on solid assessment criteria from an independent inspection source, a team of contractors is conducting facility condition assessments (FCA) over a five-year period, as well as providing related consulting services for prioritization and project planning. The FCA includes identification of immediate and long-term cost
A five-year condition assessment process is helping planners at the Pentagon— the world’s largest single office building—prioritize and schedule necessary projects and repairs.
An ongoing effort to assess the condition of the Pentagon and supporting facilities is critical to the long-term viability of the building and its supporting real property portfolio.
Photo courtesy VFA Inc.
upporting more than 8.5-millionft2 of facilities—including the Pentagon, the world’s largest single office building and its supporting facilities—Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) requires objective facility condition data to develop capital plans and projects. Facilities capital planning and management is critical to an organization of this size, providing the ability to spend valuable funds on the right projects and avoid costly downtime due to emergency repairs. The challenges faced in the Pentagon are security, access, timing, space types and size. The Pentagon is an installation inside a large building; the present asset
By Lawrence Norve
The Military Engineer • No. 667
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liabilities for deferred maintenance, building component lifecycle renewal, code compliance and functional inadequacies. The assessments will document current building deficiencies, advising of corrective actions and estimating the associated cost for repair, renewal and code compliance. In addition to identification of short-term requirements, contractor VFA Inc. will determine where the building systems are in their lifecycles. The FCA will help keep the newlyrenovated and modernized areas of the building compliant with current codes and allow personnel to track new codes for upcoming projects. “It will also help to prioritize numerous projects, defend our budget requests and requirements in a time of scarce resources and ward off predators who want a disproportionate share of the DOD budget,” said Julie Jones-Conte, Real Property Assets Manager for WHS. The data collected during the FCA will be entered by VFA into customized facility software, where capital plans and various funding scenarios will be developed. R&K Solutions, another contractor, will provide management for the WHS real property portfolio and will keep an accurate inventory of the real property database, which is used annually to calculate funding requirements for facility sustainment and operations.
A Self-Contained Universe In general, the Pentagon buildings are in good condition. All military branches and DOD are housed within the campus. The Pentagon is a self-contained universe, with restaurants, a post office, CVS, Best Buy, a dry cleaner and an athletic center. Perhaps the most significant symbolic area of the Pentagon, especially for the public, is the Pentagon Memorial, a permanent outdoor memorial to the 184 people killed in the building and on American Airlines Flight 77 during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. One hundred and eighty-four illuminated memorial units are arranged according to the victim’s ages in a landscape across nearly two acres. Each memorial unit is engraved with the name and 70
birth date of a victim. The memorial units representing the victims that were inside the Pentagon face the Pentagon’s south facade, where the plane hit; memorial units dedicated to victims aboard the plane are oriented along the plane’s flight path. The condition of the memorial also will be assessed as part of the project. To date, 20 percent of the Pentagon portfolio has been assessed, and the process will continue over the next five years. The teams are looking at the mission-critical infrastructure, as well as conducting site assessments on structures such as parking lots, garages, underground utilities and sidewalks. The data being gathered includes Federal Real Property Council (FRPC) data elements, which must be captured and reported by all executive agencies, supporting the goals of Executive Order 13327. Pentagon facility data also is tracked by floor level, ring, corridor and category code, which is a governmental code used to track the use of a particular section—for example, administrative offices, laboratories, or data processing centers. Up to 25 codes are used to track use within the Pentagon building itself, and the ability to identify building deficiencies by their category code will prove useful in planning and budgeting. The WHS staff will be able to sort requirements by category code and prioritize funding requests by missioncritical use.
Developing a Plan Turning these facilities data into an actionable annual budget can be a challenging process. WHS will be taking an objective, credible approach, beginning with selecting and ranking project attributes relative to the mission goals and objectives. Using a decision model with an established mathematical approach (hierarchical decision theory), complex decisions are reduced to a series of pair-wise comparisons. Each project receives a composite score, resulting in flexible, meaningful analytics and reports and an intelligence-based capital budget. WHS will begin with the prioritization process by categorizing identified requirements into major “buckets.”
These categories typically include major operations and maintenance projects, including system renewal, strategic capital projects such as construction of a new facility, and mandated projects such as those involving regulatory compliance. For categorization, WHS will use category codes, as well as other custom fields in facility software for items such as funding source, impact of failure and probability of failure. With projects categorized, consistent criteria for evaluating each project and a consistent process for applying those criteria will be created. WHS will use a variety of categories including use (commercial, police, military, site, recreation, administration, parking, etc.), security level, condition, functional and energy-efficient adequacy, and vision, which includes whether the project will improve appearance and quality of life as well as whether it is in step with the master plan. Applying weights based on overall organizational criteria yields a comprehensive picture of how projects should be prioritized for budget allocation. Statistical ranking methods, such as pair-wise comparisons, can be used to facilitate the process, effectively tying requirements to organizational priorities. After each capital request is enumerated individually, all requests for a funding source can be ranked by score. WHS can then develop a strategic capital plan and budget with the most critical projects receiving priority funding.
Conclusion The Pentagon holds great operational significance and also symbolizes the center of DOD. This project is critical to the long-term viability of the Pentagon and its supporting real property portfolio. Accurate data on the current condition of facilities and their associated systems enable long-term planning, bringing the Pentagon up to modern building standards and codes, and allowing for this critical building at the heart of the military to continue to support the mission.
Lawrence Norve is Director of Professional Services,VFA Inc.; 617-451-5100 or lnorve@vfa.com.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
Challenges and Solutions By Lt. Col. Jared Ware, GISP, M.SAME, USA
Balanced Approach USACE is the steward of the fourthlargest asset portfolio, by value, of all U.S. federal agencies. USACE operates, maintains and manages more than $232 billion of the nation’s water resource infrastructure assets. The total portfolio includes navigation locks, hydropower plants, dams and recreational areas, as well as other real estate and infrastructure that support the USACE water resource mission. These assets are a vital part of the nation’s economy, safety The Military Engineer • No. 667
and security, and USACE is entrusted to manage all assets with a sense of accountability to federal, state and local stakeholders. Ultimately, USACE carries out this responsibility through asset management. The overall goal of the asset management program is to develop a common set of best practices to inventory, assess and categorize all assets, as well as define the value of all assets within the portfolio. Through this process, USACE will be better positioned to develop a time-sensitive approach to resourcing and funding assets based upon the most critical requirements of the organization, its customers and its stakeholders. Taking a balanced approach in which all portfolio items are nested within and linked to the USACE Campaign Plan has thus far provided a common degree of consistency within the district’s asset management program. The key to success has been with nesting the district’s asset management program into the division’s implementation plan, as well as the USACE Campaign Plan. Currently, the district is providing leadership to the development of the regional asset management program and has a full-time asset manager assigned to the task. The district’s real estate office is working in concert with Rock Island Arsenal’s installation command to implement a revised set of standard operations procedures to improve the Domestic Leased Housing Program, which began in 2007 with 50 homes, and is now reaching 77 homes in the Quad Cities region along the Illinois-Iowa border. This unique program provides support to military personnel for leased housing, and assets are managed in partnership with the Rock Island Arsenal Garrison Command.
The USACE Rock Island District’s cycle-of-life approach helped address the challenges of developing and maintaining a robust, innovative and district-wide asset management program.
The historic Clock Tower Building, which houses the USACE Rock Island District headquarters offices, is one facility in a diverse set of assets the district now operates and maintains through its comprehensive asset management program.
Photos courtesy USACE Rock Island District
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he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Rock Island District has embarked on a robust asset management program that is based upon leveraging best practices and integrating stakeholder priorities. Areas of management include operations and maintenance, utilities management and facilities engineering for assets located throughout five river basins covering a five-state area. The program includes inventory management for critical infrastructure along the Mississippi River, the Illinois River and three lakes in Iowa. It also includes facilities management by a district-level facilities board focused on operations and maintenance, as well as developing a support plan for a historically-registered headquarters building. A recent addition to the program includes a partnership with Installation Management Command–Rock Island in managing the garrison’s Domestic Leasing Program, which provides quality housing and services for military members and their families. The assets within the portfolio are managed using best practices in master planning, acquisition strategies, and optimizing the use of better technology.
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Challenges and Solutions
The Dresden Lock and Dam, located on the Illinois River, is one of 20 locks and dams in the USACE Rock Island District portfolio.
The program is further nested within the installation’s operational plan to ensure buy-in from its stakeholders. The district also has established a facilities board to program, plan and budget for all infrastructure and facilities projects that support the internal operations of the district. Members of the facilities board represent a cross section of the district’s staff and operational divisions, and each entity possesses a vote on the outcome of the agenda items that are directly related to the district’s operational plan. In 2010, the board approved a facilities maintenance plan based upon a structural engineering study that addressed freeze-and-thaw factors on the exterior surface of the historic headquarters building. This approach solved a longterm facilities maintenance issue that will save thousands of dollars in future maintenance and renovation costs.
Cycle-of-Life or Lifecycle? The benefit of a balanced asset management approach has been that as additional assets are added to the portfolio, these assets can be properly valued using a common and consistent set of parameters. Using a cycle-of-life approach focuses on the total usefulness of an asset and takes into account that the intended utilization does not necessarily equate to the end of an asset’s actual usefulness. An enhanced asset management program will enable risk-informed invest72
ment decisions, and allow for decisions on the overall portfolio to include assessments of sustainment, restoration, modernization and disposition projects for operationally-essential assets that may not have a true “one-for-one” replacement, such as an existing lock and dam structure or a historically-registered building. Establishing a cycle-of-life approach is imperative for the Rock Island District, as the district’s portfolio includes 20 locks and dams (each unique and past their intended design dates) and a historical headquarters building that was constructed in the mid 1800s. A recent example was an emergency project to address a scour issue at one of the lock and dam sites along the Illinois River. The lock and dam is well past its design life, but it still functions as intended and is maintained through a programmed operations and maintenance budget. Through careful analysis and innovative engineering, the scour issue was addressed using a cycle-of-life approach, which decreased future maintenance and repair costs that would not have been captured using a traditional lifecycle cost model. Additionally, the repair added years to the structure and alleviated any nearterm requirements for a new replacement structure. This allowed resources that would have been programmed to sustain the structure to be allocated to other critical requirements within the district’s asset portfolio.
Managing the lifetime cost of an asset remains the most significant challenge, within the Domestic Leasing Program. All policy for the program must be addressed through the Installation Management Command’s program, specifically through the development of a mutuallyapproved set of standard operating procedures. The goal of the program from the outset was to achieve a positive return on the investment. Given that each house is different in design, size and energy efficiency, the average unit costs per home per year are being recorded to achieve a consistent level of costs associated with each respective property. This baseline will be used to determine the points in the cycle where efficiencies can be gained to achieve a positive investment. Military families entering the program can immediately expect a property that is valued higher than what could be achieved by renting through the local private market with the basic allowance for housing. Moreover, the military family has the support network of the installation’s Directorate of Public Works housing office as well as district’s real estate branch to address any issues that arise. For the locks and dams, the major challenge is determining the asset condition with respect to service life, and determining asset risk. The asset management team began surveying and assessing the lock and dam assets along the Mississippi River to determine a baseline in order to establish risk factors, which will ultimately translate to program funding for future operations and maintenance. The cycle-of-life model is crucial to this analysis, as all of the structures have met and exceeded their intended design life. Thus far, the district has seen the benefits of taking a corporate and comprehensive approach to the development of its asset management program, and expects that as the portfolio grows, that the processes are in place to ensure a robust and effective program for the district, its customers and its stakeholders. Lt. Col. Jared Ware, GISP, M.SAME, USA, is Deputy Commander and Deputy District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District; 309-794-5253 or jared.ware@us.army.mil.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Asset Management
Choosing by Advantages S
By Maj. Peter P. Feng, Ph.D., P.E., M.SAME, USAF, Mark N. Goltz, Ph.D., P.E., F.SAME, Alfred E. Thal Jr., Ph.D., P.E., M.SAME, and Capt. Derek George, USMC
The Military Engineer • No. 667
Treatment Options The Helmand River, which stretches 715-mi and represents 40 percent of Afghanistan’s surface water, is an inadequate source of drinking water due to the presence of harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Leptospira, both of which cause debilitating symptoms when consumed. However, the military is capable of producing clean and disease-free water using the Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit (ROWPU). ROWPU is a skid-mounted, mobile or air-transportable unit capable of purifying fresh, brackish and salt water at a rate of 600-gal per hour. It weighs 3.5-T, requires a 22-kW power source and can operate for 20 continuous hours a day. ROWPU works in three stages: The first stage coagulates suspended solids; the second stage forces the water through a finer set of filters; and disinfection is accomplished through chlorination in the third stage. The filter elements are criti-
A decision analysis tool used to recommend a drinking water treatment process for deployed soldiers offers potential applications for asset managers in the U.S.
Air Force personnel prepare a Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit to support operations following the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this year.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Anthony Nelson
eventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by our planet’s most precious resource—water. However, only a small percentage of this water is available for consumption. And just as life cannot exist without water, our deployed soldiers cannot execute their contingency missions without water. As our presence in Afghanistan continues to grow, so too does our need for potable water. Currently, our soldiers consume bottled water to prevent disease from contaminated water. However, consuming bottled water comes at a price. According to a 2003 Department of Defense study, that price is $4.69 per gallon. While this may seem high, the water must be convoyed to soldiers, and securing the cargo is a difficult and costly task, as convoys are exposed to improvised explosive devices along supply routes. For planning purposes, the average soldier consumes 2-G of potable water per day. Therefore, 20,000 soldiers equates to more than 40,000-G of water, or $150,000 per day. While the military is capable of treating indigenous water supplies, the treated water is typically used for hygiene purposes, not for drinking. The Choosing By Advantages (CBA) decision-making system was used to determine the most advantageous pretreatment and post-treatment options for deployed water purification technologies. CBA is an analysis system that supports decision making by utilizing the relative difference in the advantages of multiple alternatives. This avoids the double-counting that is typically produced by an advantages-disadvantages analysis.
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cal to the operation of ROWPU. They have a service life between 1,000 hours to 2,000 hours, thus limiting how long ROWPU can operate. Pretreating the water can extend ROWPU filter service life. Water pretreatment can be accomplished through ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF). UF and NF are pressure-driven processes that separate impurities by forcing water through a membrane where pore size determines what constituents are separated from the water. Spiral-wound and hollow fiber technologies are the most widely available. UF membranes typically range from .005-microns to .1-microns in nominal pore size, which determines the size of contaminants that are removed from the water. Due to its ability to handle contaminated waters at a reasonable cost and with a small footprint, hollow fiber configuration for UF is the most common configuration used today for drinking water treatment. NF membranes have pore sizes in the range of .001-microns to .01-microns. Due to their small pore size and their charged nature, NF membranes can remove suspended solids, dissolved organics and divalent ions such as calcium. Because NF membranes remove hardness, they are sometimes called softening membranes. Post-treatment also can help disinfect water. Aside from chlorination, which requires additional supplies and thus increases convoy exposure, two posttreatment technologies exist that have small footprints and rely on power to operate: electrodeionization (EDI) and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. EDI is a continuous, chemical-free process that removes ionized and ionizable species from feed water using direct current. EDI is used to polish reverse osmosis permeate and to replace conventional ion exchange mixed beds, thereby eliminating the need to store and handle hazardous chemicals. UV radiation is a disinfection process that uses an invisible light from the violet end of the spectrum, ranging from 100-nm to 400-nm, to render microorganisms harmless. These microorganisms can range from bacteria and viruses to algae and protozoa. 74
Considering Alternatives
Findings
CBA is one of myriad decision analysis tools that exist. CBA employs three sound decision-making concepts: alternatives, attributes and advantages. The method is simpler than other decision-making tools because, unlike other tools, it does not consider disadvantages. Because the suggested alternatives are evaluated based on their relative advantages, the CBA decision-making process is less time consuming and more focused on selecting the best option from a list of attributes and advantages. CBA is implemented in five phases: The Stage-Setting Phase; The Innovation Phase; The Decision-Making Phase; The Reconsideration Phase; and The Implementation Phase. In the first phase, decision stakeholders determine must and want criteria. Must criteria are used to evaluate proposed alternatives and are established by decision stakeholders. Proposed alternatives not meeting must criteria are not considered further. For example, in the reverse osmosis example, a must criterion is compliance with U.S. Marine Corps policy on water quality management. If a proposed alternative does not meet water quality management standards, it is thrown out. The decision stakeholders determined the following must criteria: • Students must have a reasonable chance to pass a written, oral and practical application exam. • Training and licensing requirements cannot add to the required time for students to complete the basic engineer school. • The pretreatment technology must be mobile, air transportable and capable of treating water for 20 hours daily. Want criteria are used to elaborate on the advantages for each alternative and are established by the decision stakeholders. Unlike must criteria, proposed alternatives may not meet all want criteria. The decision stakeholders determined the following want criteria: • a lower operating pressure than the ROWPU (85-psi); • a longer service life and lower replacement cost than ROWPU filters; • no increase in chemical storage; and • a small footprint to reduce security risks.
CBA analysis showed that UF hollow fiber holds many advantages over UF spiral wound pretreatment alternatives. Specifically, it operates at a lower pressure, has a longer service life and consumes less power. Furthermore, because the cost of hollow and spiral wound are the same, a cost comparison between the two alternatives was unnecessary. For post-treatment, CBA analysis determined EDI to be the better alternative. EDI completely removes inorganic matter, has a longer service life and a lower power requirement. Among the findings was a $500 cost savings when using the UV post-treatment method. However, this savings was not considered an advantage because in CBA analyses, money serves only as a medium of exchange. As such, a decision was made about what would be exchanged for the $500, and what would be the scale to determine the value of the level of importance. The expert panel determined on a 1-to-100 levelof-importance scale whereby every 20 level-of-importance points would be represented by $100. The panel decided to buy 100 importance points for $500 in order to determine the trade-off between alternatives. This trade-off would give UV a total importance of 200 vs. 225 for EDI. The final recommendation was to include both pretreatment and posttreatment alternatives to achieve the longest-serving, highest-quality water. This treatment train would be UF hollow fiber, followed by reverse osmosis and then disinfected using EDI.
Maj. Peter P. Feng, Ph.D., P.E., M.SAME, USAF, is Assistant Professor of Engineering Management, Mark N. Goltz, Ph.D., P.E., F.SAME, is Professor of Engineering and Environmental Management, and Alfred E. Thal Jr., Ph.D., P.E., M.SAME, is Assistant Professor of Engineering Management, Air Force Institute of Technology. They can be reached at 937-255-3636 ext. 4648 or peter.feng@afit.edu, 937-255-3636 ext. 4638 or mark.goltz@afit.edu, and 937-255-3636 ext. 7401 or alfred.thal@afit.edu, respectively. Capt. Derek R. George, USMC, is Environmental Officer, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; 808-257-6920 ext. 243 or drgee101@yahoo.com.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Contracting & Acquisition
Understanding Government Acquisition U
By David A. Rose, M.SAME
nderstanding the purposes and requirements of the provisions that guide a contracting officer under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) will assist engineers in streamlining their marketing efforts and transform them into a value-added asset to the client. Possessing an understanding of these contract fundamentals will guide the engineer in obtaining the proper information to assist in the acquisition planning process. Understanding the contract limitations is critical to becoming a good contractor. The guiding principal behind selection of contract type is found at FAR ยง 16.103(a), which states that selection of contract type is a matter of negotiation and sound judgment. It goes on to explain that the objective is to negotiate a reasonable allocation of risk that provides a commensurate incentive for the contractor to perform economically and efficiently. There are basically two general
RISK V. FEE
contract types used in government contracting: cost-type contracts and fixed-price contracts. Firm fixed-price contracts place the greatest risk on the contractor, while cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts place the least degree of risk on the contractor. The basic objective is to negotiate a reasonable allocation of risk that provides a commensurate incentive for the contractor to perform economically and efficiently.
Knowing the ins and outs of
FAR can prove advantageous in a competitive federal contracting market.
The Eleven Factors FAR Part 16 provides the necessary guidance for the contracting officer to select the proper contract mechanism for each acquisition appropriate for a procurement based on eleven factors. Price Competition. The preferred method of contracting is to maximize competition, and nothing does this better than a fixed-price contract. This is the starting place for any contract. Price Analyses. Using the techniques found in FAR ยง 15.404-1, the contract-
Cost Plus Incentive Fee (Level of Effort) has the lowest risk to the contractor but in turn will offer the lowest amount of profit in fee, while a Firm Fixed Price contract will have the greatest risk but come at a higher price to the Government as the contractor will tend to insure the risk.
COST PLUS TIME & COST PLUS COST PLUS COST PLUS COST PLUS FIXED FEE MATERIALS INCENTIVE AWARD FEE INCENTIVE NO FEE (LOE) FEE FEE
The Military Engineer โ ข No. 667
COST SHARING
Graphic by Natalie Kirkpatrick
= RISK
FIXED PRICE FIRM FIXED FIRM FIXED INCENTIVE PRICE W/ PRICE FEE EPA
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ing officer will look at various methods of pricing the contract to determine if a reasonable price can be obtained using different contract types. This assists in evaluating if there are options available other than a firm fixed-price contract. Cost Analyses. When there are uncertainties in the cost of performance or risk in a contract, the contracting officer must begin to evaluate whether other contract types should be considered. A reasonable degree of risk placed on the contractor is expected, but if too much risk is placed on the contractor, the government expects the cost to be driven up. The government is expected to accept some risk in order to lower its costs, as well, so typically a balance is sought between contract type and risk in the particular acquisition. For instance, a contracting officer would never use a firm fixed-price contract in a research and development contract. Type and Complexity of the Requirement. The more complex the requirement, the greater the risk assumption by the government. The more mundane the task or routine, such as basic construction, the more likely the government is to move towards a firm fixedprice contract. Urgent and Compelling Need. When the requirement leaves little time for the government to adequately plan or assess the risk, it may assume greater risk or provide greater incentives to the contractor. This is seen in circumstances such as contingency operations or when military necessity takes precedence over normal contracting practices. Period of Performance or Length of Production Run. When the economy is uncertain, long-term contracts should have an economic adjustment component. This is often found as an economic price adjustment clause in a firm fixed-price cost contract or a re-determinable clause in a cost contract. Contractor’s Technical Capability and Financial Responsibility. The contract price can increase if contract financing is required or there are subcontracting requirements that require a subcontracting plan, etc. Adequacy of the Contractor’s Accounting System. FAR § 16.3 requires 76
that before a contractor can receive cost-reimbursable contracts, they must have an accounting system adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. The more complex the requirement and oversight responsibilities of the contract, the higher the G&A and overhead. A contracting officer may have limited funds and opt to push for less on a fixed-price contract to avoid some of these costs. Concurrent Contracts. The government will take into consideration a contractor’s workload in relation to the proposed new contract in deciding the type of contract to award. Extent and Nature of Proposed Subcontracting. If the contractor intends to subcontract a major portion of the work and require bonding of most of the subs, a contract type reflecting the risk minimization should be used. Acquisition History. Risk decreases as requirements become more repetitive and defined. This has become apparent with a move to more fixed-price contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq. As the risks become quantifiable, the government moves to a fixed-price scenario.
Contract Types The simplest form of contract is the firm fixed-price contract, which places upon the contractor the maximum risk and full responsibility for all costs and resulting profit or loss. It does, however, generally provide the greatest incentive for a contractor to work efficiently and reduce administrative burden. When there are factors other than cost involved in performance—such as schedule—that are important to the government, it can add additional incentives to the contract, such as an award fee or performance and delivery incentives. The primary factors present when a firm fixed-price contract is used are adequate price competition and acquisition history, a realistic estimate of cost of performance, and known and quantifiable uncertainties to minimize the risk of performance. The more complex contract type is a cost-reimbursement contract. These types of contracts provide more of a pay-as-you-go mechanism, but are cumbersome to administer, require a
great deal of oversight and an adequate accounting system, and place most of the cost and risk on the government. They are suitable when there are uncertainties involved in performance that cannot have a cost estimate associated with them, or that will drive the cost of performance up. This can lead to a potential windfall to the contractor in the event the contingencies do not occur should they be bid, or they simply cannot be estimated with sufficient accuracy to use any type of fixed-price contract. Limitations on the use of a cost-type contract include the need for an accounting system adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract and appropriate government surveillance during performance to provide reasonable assurance that efficient methods and effective cost controls are used. Furthermore, the use of cost-reimbursable contracts is prohibited for the acquisition of commercial items. There are also additional types of cost contracts that provide incentives for performance, including cost plus incentive fee, cost plus award fee and— the most common—cost plus fixed fee. Government contractors also will be exposed to multiple-award contracts more formally referred to as indefinitedelivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts, which are addressed in FAR Part 16.5. There is a statutory preference for the making of multiple awards when issuing an IDIQ contract, ergo often the two terms are used interchangeably. Of note and interest to architect-engineer firms is that the statutory preference for granting multiple awards to architect-engineer firms does not apply to granting IDIQ contracts to architectengineer firms; in other words, the statutory preference for making multiple awards under an IDIQ mechanism does not apply to architect-engineer firms, although agencies are not precluded from making multiple awards to architect-engineer firms. In such a competitive market, it pays to understand the rules. David A. Rose, M.SAME, is Attorney at Law, Rose Consulting LLC; 770-598-3139 or drose@roseconsultingllc.org.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Contracting & Acquisition
Integrated Order Contracting D
epartment of Defense (DOD) construction, repair, renovation, sustainability and management activities are required to demonstrate greater efficiencies and to link buildings and associated financial requirements to mission criticality. Specific to DOD construction, estimators and project managers must partner with contractors, subcontactors and architect-engineers to rapidly and accurately conceptualize, create, cost, prioritize, start and report upon construction projects. Integrated order contracting (IOC) is a concept that integrates all collaborative DOD contracting mechanisms, as well as the integrated components of integrated project delivery. The IOC framework includes and serves as a foundation for Job Order Contracting (JOC), Simplified Acquisition of Base Civil Engineering Requirements (SABER), Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity Contract (IDIQ), Multiple Award Construction Contract (MACC), Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC), Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) and others. Many DOD agencies need to simultaneously use several of these contracting and project delivery methods. Unless the processes for each are embedded within a supporting technology enabling effective communication and collaboration among those involved, the challenge can be daunting.
By Peter Cholakis, M.SAME
orative aspects various contracting and acquisition methods to meet the demands for rapid project deployment, enhanced professionalism, efficiency and transparency. The ability of IOC to efficiently and accurately consolidate the management of multiple contacting methods is critical to DOD initiatives. IOC embeds multiple competitively-negotiated, fixed unit prices and indefinite-quantity contract construction project procurement methods in a single collaborative resource. Departments and agencies can enter competitively-bid contracts with IOC contractors for specified time durations and values with procurement processes established when the IOC programs are put into place. The duration and value of various IOCs vary from single one-year projects to three- to five-year projects, with annual volumes from $1 million to more than $100 million. Complete design and specifications may not be required; thus negotiations may be necessary to define processes required to accomplish a specific construction task. A construction cost database of detailed and priced tasks span-
The IOC framework allows for expedited starts on DOD construction projects while providing enhanced cost efficiency and transparency.
Integrated order contracting software includes localized, standardized cost guides that enable planners to develop highly-accurate cost estimates for construction projects.
Background
The Military Engineer • No. 667
Image courtesy 4Clicks Solutions
IOC can be viewed as a process framework supported by an enabling software technology backbone. The combination embeds workflow; reference cost databases and cost guides; document management; web, cloud and desktop software; and the collab77
ning a variety of facilities construction, maintenance, repair and renovation work items is a core component within IOC. The cost guide and associated priced tasks form the basis for defining and negotiating task orders and projects.
The Benefits of IOC A professionally-developed and managed IOC program encourages collaborative communication, and leverages and expedites DOD construction repair, renovation, sustainable project planning, procurement, and delivery processes while enabling higher visibility into costs. Expedited Project Starts. The IOC framework allows DOD to begin construction projects in weeks rather than months. Project work orders spanning multiple project types can be assigned without bidding out each project. A higher percentage of construction funds are used for work projects rather than procurement costs. Whether JOC, SABER, IDIQ, MATOC, or SATOC, the IOC framework coordinates multiple projects and requires less time to start a project than the conventional designbid-build, design-build or Construction Manager at Risk construction methods. One of several time-saving features within IOC is the side-by-side technical evaluation function. Contractor estimates can be compared side-by-side at a highly detailed level to locate inconsistencies or areas that may require further negotiations or clarification. This feature saves time while reducing the chance of an error or omission. Standardized Cost Guides. IOC supports and leverages construction costs generated using standardized cost guides. These reference cost databases are specifically established for the types and locations of construction projects included in the IOC contract. Industry experts regard the use of a reference cost database as a best practice, and proper use cannot be under-emphasized. Standardized price guides also help to mitigate errors by providing a shopping list of detailed unit price line items to be included. IOC employs an averaging approach that applies a coefficient equally to “unit price items” from established 78
price guides and unit cost books. Although some of the unit prices in the reference database may be higher or lower than the regional or local market, the averaging process provides a very accurate construction cost estimate. IOC also empowers greater accuracy through its ability to localize costs. Examples of this include the City Cost Index global, regional, or local cost factor for materials, labor, or equipment, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers localized cost factors. Contractors can adjust for major variances using the coefficient, and owners can easily monitor and verify any changes. Expedited Facility Management. The repair, renovation, maintenance and renewal components are critical to sustainability. The value of implementing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and other green certification processes cannot be achieved without the ability to manage a facility portfolio’s wide range and high frequency of construction projects. IOC expedites the facility management process by minimizing associated procurement costs and costly construction delays. The need to improve the performance of existing buildings is well known. IOC can be readily applied to expedite the deployment of HVAC, exterior shell, lighting, building automation and similar construction projects needed to achieve high-performance building targets or mandates per LEED for Existing Buildings and similar guidelines. Performance Based. On-time and on-budget performance can be more readily monitored and becomes the norm through IOC. Contractors are motivated to meet and exceed owner expectations in order to receive additional task and delivery orders. In the process of awarding these types of contracts, past performance is normally evaluated and is a primary factor for contractor selection. Examples of standardized contractor performance rating systems are the Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (CCASS) and the Contractors Performance Assessment Reporting System. CCASS is a web-enabled application that supports the completion, distribution and retrieval of construction
contract performance evaluations. The evaluation assesses a contractor’s performance and provides a record, both positive and negative, on a given contract. Each evaluation is based on objective facts and supported by contract management data, such as contract performance elements that evaluate quality, timely performance, effectiveness of management, and compliance with contract terms, labor standards, and safety requirements. Similar systems provide appraisals for A/E/C firms. Higher Return on Investment. Collaborative, predefined IOC processes and defined accountability better integrate all project participants and mitigate change orders and legal claims. An IOC contractor may assume full responsibility for errors, omissions, execution of the design, or the contractual relationship may be with an A/E/C firm. Projects also can be started quicker, often enabling dramatic cost savings. Lower administration and procurement costs allow owners to focus scarce resources on projects. Design costs also are mitigated as the technical specifications are defined and included as part of the basic JOC contract, and a significant percentage of JOC projects can be scoped without full design documents. Economies of scale can be achieved as grouping of multiple small or similar projects can spread out indirect costs, general conditions and overhead costs.
Focused on Results The IOC framework supports processes that more efficiently conceptualize, create, cost, prioritize, start and report on projects. IOC helps overcome the inefficient components of some traditional methods while adding a higher level of transparency and accountability. In construction and facility maintenance, IOC emphasizes partnership and teamwork, and contractors are selected based on qualifications, performance and best value rather than low price or low bid alone. As a result, IOC brings higher-level performance, reliability and dependability to projects with a focus on results, from initial concept through final project close out. Peter Cholakis, M.SAME, is Chief Marketing Officer, 4Clicks Solutions LLC; 508-435-3096 or pcholakis@4clicks.com.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Contracting & Acquisition
Two-Phase Design-Build System
The Military Engineer • No. 667
tive Demonstration Program. The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., maintains the standards for the facility types, which include child development centers, physical fitness centers, fire stations, ranges and bowling alleys. This overall change in contracting business practices led to the employment of a best value source selection process. This process uses a two-phase (down-select) from a standardized request for proposal (RFP) and source selection plan. Widespread use of this approach across USACE has paid big dividends and leveraged the very best practices of industry based upon industry’s collective call for change.
Tackling an unprecedented workload has required USACE to incorporate new ideas into its evaluation and contracting processes.
USACE Pioneers While the two-phase selection process is not new under Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 36, the USACE Savannah District was a pioneer of this approach within USACE, releasing in FY00 a design-build construction
First lady Michelle Obama reads “The Cat in the Hat” to children in the Prager Child Development Center during a March 2009 visit to Fort Bragg, N.C. The post is due to get a new, Recovery Actfunded child care facility that was awarded last year through the two-phase source selection process.
Photo by Reginald Rogers
I
n 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) received one of its greatest contracting challenges. As the Army’s agent for Military Construction (MILCON), USACE needed to execute an unprecedented surge in construction requirements due to the imminent demands of Army Transformation, the Global Posture Initiative and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). Clearly USACE could not achieve this mission using a business-as-usual approach to awarding contracts. Indeed, the days of applying design-bid-build procedures on single facilities at installations had ended. The Army needed to change its methods for executing MILCON. It did this by leveraging its centrally-managed designs under the Centers of Standardization (COS). USACE also reached out to industry to seek input on how it could best accomplish its goals on a local and regional basis and under a programmatic national acquisition strategy. This input, combined with web-based market research, helped USACE gain a productive, working understanding as to the capabilities, experience and interest of industry. It also provided information on current construction techniques to help develop plans for 41 different facility types, from chapels and child care facilities to command and barracks complexes, while ensuring better, faster and cheaper execution. Further, this strategy ensured thoughtful consideration of the capabilities and opportunities for participation of a full array of small business types. In fact, USACE experts identified a number of facility types as being ideal for construction by small business entities via the Small Business Competi-
By Virginia Mitchell
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solicitation—a $70 million aviation brigade barracks complex at Fort Stewart, Ga.—that employed its first two-phased selection. John Moore, who served as USACE Savannah District Contract Specialist on the project, and Diego Martinez, who was Project Manager, have continued to play a large role in the development of the process at the Savannah District, now serving as District Contracting Chief and Army Program Manager (Military Branch), respectively. They have overseen and participated in hundreds of solicitations using the two-phase process and have applied many lessons learned. Rita Miles, Chief of the Execution Branch (Contracting) at Savannah District, assumed her position several years ago and found in place a wellestablished template for the two-phase source selection process, which she continues to refine and update. The district awarded more than $2 billion in construction work in FY09 and maintains one of the largest MILCON missions in USACE. While the Savannah District process does not precisely mirror the standard RFP, the differences are minor. The district retains the spirit and intent of standardizing the MILCON process. Just as importantly, the industry partners who submit proposals in support of the Savannah District mission know and understand its processes. This synergy enables the district to execute with great success while achieving the stated goal of standardization.
A Vital Tool In Phase 1 of the selection process, USACE experts perform a capability analysis and assessment of performance risk. To accomplish this assessment, offerors are evaluated in three areas: corporate relative experience; past performance; and an organizational or technical narrative. Preparing a proposal for this phase is fairly simple and straightforward. Once an offeror becomes familiar with the process, it can tailor the response to each new requirement. The government often receives many Phase 1 proposals. As many as 20 standalone “C”-type contract RFPs and 40-60 80
RFPs under single award task order contracts (SATOC) and multiple award task order contracts (MATOC) RFPs arrive for each project. This streamlined evaluation enables a much quicker determination of which proposals will make the cut for selection into the Phase 2 evaluation. Preparing a Phase 1 proposal also requires far less investment of money and time in terms of up-front investment in proposal preparation. Offerors not selected to proceed to the next phase in the competitive process can request a debriefing to learn where their proposals showed weakness. Offerors can then quickly turn their attention to other business opportunities. Generally, for a standalone RFP, the best three or four proposals will proceed to Phase 2 evaluation. For a MATOC, Phase 2 evaluation will include eight to 10 proposals, from which anywhere from three to seven contract awards will be made. During Phase 2 of the selection process, experts evaluate the design technical capability, remaining performance capability and price. Phase 2 involves a deeper look into what is being offered at what price and compares it with the expressed needs of the government to determine the bestvalue offeror or offerors, depending on whether the acquisition is for a standalone contract award or MATOC. Unsuccessful offerors occasionally protest contracting decisions; however, as a result of the openness and transparency of the two-phase selection process, offerors generally feel they have useful information regarding the results of their evaluation. Feedback on how future submissions can be improved is provided during the debriefings and, as a result, offerors walk away confident that they are being treated fairly. Districts like Savannah and Mobile, which have very large construction missions, also conduct industry days and small business conferences where prospective offerors learn of upcoming construction acquisitions. Such conferences help prepare offerors to propose under the two-phase source selection process. The two-phase, best-value selection process has proved itself a vital tool to achieve the historically-unparalleled
USACE construction mission. As existing contracts expire and are replaced, an increased RFP response is expected. Current processes will be continually refined and streamlined to meet the challenge.
Serving Military Families Although the Engineering and Support Center’s COS mission may seem small in comparison with other districts—in terms of both dollar values and size—the facilities encompassed are among the most important to the success of BRAC and are the most highly visible. In fact, the need for adequate child care for military families is a top priority for first lady Michelle Obama, who visited Fort Bragg, N.C., in March 2009. A medium-sized child development center for children up to five years old was awarded in September at Fort Bragg using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Two other large-sized child development centers for children aged 6-10 also are in progress. All three contracts were awarded under a MATOC restricted exclusively to 8a-certified small businesses. The first facility built using these contracts—a medium-sized child care center at Fort Campbell, Ky.—was completed recently. It will provide muchneeded affordable daycare for soldiers’ children. John Mayes, the Engineering and Support Center’s Contracting Chief, maintains a core competency of contracting staff who have been involved with the COS program since the first facility was awarded. “I believe that the key to our success in the COS arena has been the continuity of personnel in positions not only in contracting but in those leading the selection process,” Mayes said. As the Army grows and transforms, USACE continues to improve its processes to meet the challenge of building strong for soldiers and their family members.
Virginia Mitchell is Policy and Compliance Adviser, Operation and Support Division, Center Contracting Directorate, U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville; 256-8951229 or virginia.e.mitchell@usace.army.mil.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
SAME 2011 DIRECTORY OF MEMBER COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS www.same.org/Directory
Update or create your Corporate Profile by Sept. 30!
ESTABLISH VALUABLE CONNECTIONS
Conveniently available in print and online, the Directory of Member Companies and Organizations is the go-to publication SAME members refer to when seeking new partnerships and business contacts. Published annually, the Directory contains: • The Corporate Profile section, featuring details about the full capabilities, experience, key business information, and names of key senior executives or officials of member companies; • The Company Listing section, where member companies and organizations are listed according to their SAME Post affiliation in an easy to read, state-by-state format; and • The Public Agency section featuring contracting and engineering officials, small and disadvantaged business utilization offices of the uniformed services and select federal agencies.
STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
Build brand recognition by adding a company logo to your Corporate Profile. By purchasing a logo for just $400, your Corporate Profile is sure to stand out. As a bonus, you can submit a color company logo for placement with your listing in the online version of the Directory for free! Members who purchase a logo with their Corporate Profile also are given the opportunity to purchase B&W logos for their Company Listings by SAME Post for just $50 per listing.*
ADVERTISE YOUR COMPANY
Increase your company’s visibility with a strategically placed advertisement in the Directory. Purchasing an ad in the Directory will give your company year-long exposure to the top leaders and key decision-makers in the A/E/C fields. Contact SAME Advertising Coordinator, Emma Inwood, at 703-549-3800 ext. 145 for more information on placing a display ad in the 2011 Directory of Member Companies and Organizations.
Update your Corporate Profile today! And be sure to purchase a logo placement for your Profile.
www.same.org/Directory *To be eligible for the B&W logo for Company Listing by SAME Post, you must first purchase a logo for your Corporate Profile.
The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Executive Director’s Message Board Approves Initiatives to Support SAME Posts At the SAME Board of Direction meeting held in May at the Joint Engineer Training Conference & Expo (JETC), I presented the financial results from 2009. SAME HQ had prepared its 2009 budget of $5.7 million with a projected $32,000 loss from operations. However, SAME HQ ended the year with a surplus, $300,000 of which the board agreed to distribute to SAME Posts. The remainder was transferred to SAME’s general reserve and the national Education & Mentoring Fund. The surplus was the result of a 9 percent membership growth in 2009, continued strong advertising revenue and larger-than-projected attendance at the four major events hosted by SAME HQ in 2009: the annual DOD Program Briefings, which had 480 attendees; the 2009 JETC, with more than 1,500 attendees; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Infrastructure Systems Conference, with more than 1,600 attendees; and the Small Business Conference for DOD Engineering, Construction and Environmental Programs, which attracted more than 1,400 attendees. After much deliberation and input from the Board of Direction and SAME Large Posts, the following initiatives were approved by the SAME Executive Committee during its Aug. 6 meeting at SAME HQ in Alexandria, Va. • Dividend to Medium and Small Posts. The board approved a $2,000 dividend payable in August 2010 to all Medium and Small Posts in good standing—approximately $120,000 in total. The funds are designated for Post Education & Mentoring Funds to support SAME’s 2010-2011 focus on mentoring. The funds can be used for such activities as sending high-school students or mentors to an SAME Engineering & Construction Camp, stipends to Post award recipients to attend the 2011 JETC or a regional conference, stipends for continuing education or pursuit of professional licenses or certifications, or college scholarships consistent with the recently-published SAME scholarship guidelines. Large Posts were excluded from this distribution because these Posts have an average of $150,000 in their Education & Mentoring Funds (excluding one outlier, the New York City Post, which has over $3 million), while the fund balances of Small Posts and Medium Posts—if they have funds at all—average $7,000 and $48,000, respectively. Most Large Posts agreed with this decision. • Young Member and NCO Stipends for 2011 JETC. The board approved the expenditure of a $1,000 stipend for up to 50 Young Members and NCOs to attend the 2011 JETC in Grapevine, Texas. SAME HQ will send nomination criteria to Posts for nominations of deserving Young Members and NCOs based on active participation at the Post level. JETC is a great venue to illustrate to Young Members and NCOs the value of SAME at the national level. • Establishment of Post Education & Mentoring Funds. According to 2009 financial reports, 22 Small Posts and Medium Posts currently have no Education & Mentoring Fund and are therefore unable to support SAME’s education and mentoring goals. The board has approved a $5,000 contribution to each of these Posts to establish a fund, with some guidelines on how the money should be used. • Post Readiness Committee Members to 2010 TISP Conference. The board has approved a major revision to the Readiness and Homeland Security Streamer to include closer collaboration with The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP). One of the new elements of the Streamer is to require a member of the Post Readiness and Homeland Security Committee attend the TISP Annual Infrastructure and Regional Resilience (AIRR) Conference, which will be held this year in December in Grapevine, Texas, concurrent with the SAME Small Business Conference. Therefore, the board approved the award of a complimentary registration fee stipend to the 44 Posts that won the 2009 Readiness and Homeland Security Streamer to attend the AIRR 2010 Conference, with additional assistance to Small Posts as required. • Web Support for Small Posts. Many Small Posts do not currently have an active or updated website, which creates a significant obstacle for members trying to find information on Post activities. SAME HQ has issued an RFP and is evaluating proposals to put into place a Post website template and contract support to all Small Posts to assist in keeping their websites current. The initial effort will involve forming a user group to assist in developing the Post website template, after which SAME will provide contract support to all Small Posts that elect to use the template and assign individuals to provide the contractor with content updates on at least a monthly basis. The board hopes the financial success of SAME in 2009 can be translated into initiatives to support our Posts—especially Small and Medium Posts that lack the financial or volunteer resources of Large Posts. “I am truly proud of the strategic direction SAME has taken in the past several years, and I am delighted with the board’s decision to use a portion of SAME’s financial resources to reinvest in our members and support our Posts and SAME’s education and mentoring goals,” said SAME’s President, Maj. Gen. Timothy A. Byers, F.SAME, USAF. “While this is one-year commitment based on 2009 financial results, our mid-year financial results indicate that we can anticipate another surplus in 2010 that can again be used to reinvest in our Posts to help them go from good to great.” Robert D. Wolff, Ph.D., P.E., F.SAME Executive Director 82
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Society News Create or update Corporate Profiles—Deadline Sept. 30
New SAME University Workshop: Creating Sustainable High Performance Existing Buildings within DOD
For the past year, SAME University has Small offered sustainability training through its Business LEED for DOD Projects workshop. From Conference the success of this initial course offering, D Engineering, Construction & Environmental Programs SAME has begun development of a new workshop: Creating Sustainable High Performance Existing Buildings within DOD. The new workshop focuses on the challenges of implementing sustainability Small initiatives into existing buildings. Because Business the Department of Defense (DOD) hasConference such a vast inventory of existOD Engineering, Construction & Environmental Programs ing buildings, reaching sustainability objectives will necessitate projects to retrofit these structures. This workshop will provide valuable information on how both government and private-industry representatives can meet the military services’ sustainability goals. The new workshop will be one full day, and will include: • a basic introduction to sustainable design and the LEED-EB rating system; • federal policies and military services’ sustainable design requirements; • requirements for existing building renovation and repair work, funded within different appropriations (MILCON, SRM, etc.) in each service branch; • an explanation of LEED-EB credits and strategies; • discussion of government delivery methods and the challenges in meeting sustainable design goals throughout the delivery process; and • case studies of government LEED-EB projects. SAME will offer the course through SAME University, Oct. 19-21, 2010, in Baltimore, Md., and April 26,28, 2011, in Norfolk, Va. Attendees are eligible to receive eight Professional Development Hours (PDH), subject to state approval. SAME also is working to register the course through the U.S. Green Building Council to qualify for LEED accreditation maintenance credit. For a detailed look at the course, please visit the SAME University website at www. same.org/SAMEU. The Military Engineer • No. 667
Small Business Conference Dec. 6-8, Grapevine, Texas Registration is now open for the SAME 2010 Small Business Conference for DOD Engineering, Construction and Environmental Programs to be held Dec. 6-8 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. The SAME Small Business Conference provides business leaders an opportunity to identify key contracting partners, learn about upcoming projects and opportunities and generate new business. SAME is developing a high-quality, informative program through collaboration with the small business offices at USACE, NAVFAC and Air Force Civil Engineering, as well as the national SAME Small Business Council. Educational sessions and panel discussions will address the fundamentals of business practices with the uniformed services and DOD agencies, as well as how to navigate the maze of federal contracting. Full Conference Registration Fees: SAME Member Government $225 Small Business $350 Large Business $475 Speaker $200 Non-Member Government Small Business Large Business
$300 $450 $575
Fees noted are for full conference registration placed prior to Nov. 19, 2010. After Nov. 19, registration fees increase $50.
Exhibit and sponsorship opportunities remain. To register to attend, sponsor or exhibit, go to www.same.org/SBconference. Almost 1,500 people attended the 2009 Small Business Conference including more than 250 government attendees representing USACE, NAVFAC and Air Force Civil Engineering. 2010 is expected to be bigger with more opportunities.
Sept. 30 is the deadline to update or create your Corporate Profile for the SAME 2011 Directory of Member Companies & Organizations. DOD Engineering, & The Directory isConstruction conEnvironmental veniently available in P r o g r a m s print and online as both a searchable database and an interactive PDF. To update your company’s information, go to www.same.org/Directory and click on “Create/Update Corporate Profile.” Returning users will need their username and password. The Directory is used throughout the year by government and industry decision makers for partnering, and during the sources sought and pre-solicitation process to survey industry capabilities for future procurements. In addition, the Directory features organizational charts and contact information for the following uniformed service components: • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) • U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering • • U.S. Coast Guard Civil Engineering • U.S. Public Health Service In 2010, SAME expanded its agency coverage to include the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, making the SAME Directory one of the most comprehensive publications for doing business with DOD and related agencies. For more information and assistance, contact Emma Inwood, SAME Advertising Coordinator, at 703-549-3800 ext. 145 or einwood@same.org. Be sure to purchase a logo placement for your Corporate Profile or a display ad in the front, uniformed section of the Directory to increase brand recognition and enhance your company’s visability. www.same/org/directory.
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SOCIETY News
(continued)
Strategic Partners Add Value to SAME Membership
TOP POSTS FOR MEMBERSHIP FOR 2009 INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS Large Post Washington, D.C. 814 Northern Virginia 397 San Antonio 330 San Diego 278 Baltimore 258 Medium Post Orange County 142 Lake Michigan 139 Fort Leonard Wood 133 Tampa Bay 110 Minneapolis-St Paul 106 Small Post Tokyo 74 Mississippi Gulf Coast 66 Narragansett Bay 61 Carolina Midlands 59 Inland Empire 56 LIFE MEMBERS Large Post Washington, D.C. 197 Northern Virginia 69 New York City 52 San Antonio 49 Hampton Roads 40 Medium Post Portland 21 Tampa Bay 18 Lake Michigan 17 Middle East 16 Phoenix 16 Small Post Tokyo 13 Inland Empire 12 Narragansett Bay 11 Southern Arizona 9 Rhein Main 8 SUSTAINING MEMBERS Large Post Baltimore 600 Washington, D.C. 600 San Antonio 499 Jacksonville 462 Northern Virginia 439 Medium Post Pittsburgh 171 Huntington 168 Emerald Coast 161 Detroit 160 Orange County 158
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Small Post Chesapeake 74 Rhein Main 66 Carolina Midlands 57 Cape Fear 56 Frontier 54 FELLOWS Large Post Washington, D.C. 110 Northern Virginia 46 San Antonio 37 Fort Worth 33 Atlanta 31 Medium Post Portland 12 Pittsburgh 12 Huntington 11 Tampa Bay 11 Panama City 11 Small Post Illini 7 Chesapeake 5 Narrangansett Bay 5 Southern Arizona 5 Frontier 4 YOUNG MEMBERS Large Post Washington, D.C. 136 Baltimore 117 Northern Virginia 113 San Diego 112 San Antonio 104 Medium Post Lake Michigan 42 Pittsburgh 42 Huntington 40 Minneapolis-St. Paul 36 Middle East 34 Guam 34 Small Post Chesapeake 18 Narragansett Bay 18 Cape Fear 16 Southern Arizona 16 Caroline Midland 16 Frontier 16
Congratulations to all our SAME Posts for an outstanding 2009!
SAME has expanded your professional development opportunities by establishing strategic partnerships with leading professional associations. Whether you’re looking to obtain certification or a course to improve your knowledge and understanding of the A/E/C industry, SAME has something for you, at discounted member rates. Strategic Partnerships Provide Member Discounts. The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) both offer courses to SAME members at discounted member rates. Programs include webinars, workshops and courses that can be used for professional development and are often eligible for PDHs or Continuing Education Units required for licensing boards or recertification. Certification Programs. SAME members can earn the Certified Construction Manager (CCM) credential from CMAA’s Construction Manager Certification Institute and the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) credential from IFMA. The SAME member pass rate from previous SAMEsponsored review courses and testing has been close to 100 percent, compared to the average pass rate of 60 percent. These courses are now offered through SAME University. For dates of future courses, visit www.same.org/SAMEU.
Top 10 Sustaining Members with the Most Post Memberships (through July 31, 2010) URS 77 AMEC 63 AECOM 62 Tetra Tech 62 CH2MHILL 59 Weston Solutions 59 The Shaw Group 48 PBS&J 47 MACTEC 46 Stanley Consultants 45
Top 10 Advertisers for 2009 1. Weston 2. Conti KBR Michael Baker 5. AMEC Perini
7. Burns & McDonnell 8. EMCOR 9. HNTB 10. Tetra Tech
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
ADVANCE YOUR CAREER
as a member of the Society of American Military Engineers
Exclusive offer for those serving in uniform JOIN SAME FOR A ONE-TIME FEE OF $60 AND ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF SAME MEMBERSHIP THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER IN UNIFORM. As an SAME member, you’ll have opportunities to: • Receive The Military Engineer magazine both in print and online • Contribute to a joint environment that spans all branches of our uniformed services • Earn Professional Development Hours through workshops and training programs • Participate in local, regional and national training events at reduced prices • Participate in national committees that help shape your field • Take leadership positions in local SAME Posts • ...and much more!
Be a leader. Make a difference. Join SAME today. The Military Engineer • No.607 667 Prince
Street • Alexandria, VA 22314 • 703-549-3800 • www.same.org/join
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Humanitarian Assistance W
U.S. Air Force photos by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky
hether their mission is to provide engineering support in the aftermath of a natural disaster or to partner with and learn from their counterparts in the forces of allied nations, the engineers of the U.S. military are providing critical humanitarian assistance to communities in need around the world.
U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Matthew Lundin
TOP: Senior Chief Petty Officer Shawn Crosby, USN, left, and Staff Sgt. Oscar Perez, USAF, of the 820th Expeditionary Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Squadron, discuss the power production plan for the base camp in Meteti, Panama, that housed more 250 airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines who took part in New Horizons Panama 2010. LEFT: Spc. Michael Wiken, USA, a Construction Engineer with the 372nd Engineer Company, uses mortar on the first layer of bricks June 26 at Santa Librada elementary school in Panama. The Army reservist is deployed in support of New Horizons Panama 2010, a humanitarian assistance mission designed to strengthen partnerships between the U.S. and Panama.
Airman 1st Class Nicholas Studstill, 820th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron, mounts electrical conduit at Sanson Elementary School in Panama on July 2.
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RIGHT: Petty Officer 3rd Class Theron Cheney, USN, and Lance Cpl. Samuel Marshall, an Australian army combat engineer, both embarked aboard USNS Mercy, paint a gate during a Pacific Partnership 2010 engineering civic action program at the Hope Center school in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. Pacific Partnership is the fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors to strengthen regional partnerships.
Louisiana National Guard soldiers with the 1020th Engineer Company begin pouring concrete on June 22 for the foundation of a school at Mandrin as part of New Horizons Haiti 2010. New Horizons provides an opportunity for U.S. forces to train in a real-life environment while providing medical assistance and engineering and construction support.
U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Jon Husman
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky
U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez
Robert Shaughnessy, of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, poses for a picture with a local boy in May during the Fatuhada Community Center groundbreaking ceremony in Dili, TimorLeste. NMCB-11 deployed throughout the Pacific Rim in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Engineers in Action IN MEMORIAM SAME honors the brave engineers who have given their lives while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Spc. Christian M. Adams, 26, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.
U.S. Air Force photos by Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky
Spc. Scott A. Andrews, 21, of Fall River, Mass., was assigned to the 618th Engineer Support Company, 27th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineers Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C. Sgt. Robert W. Crow, 42, of Kansas City, Mo., was assigned to the 203rd Engineer Battalion, Joplin, Mo. Cpl. Daane A. Deboer, 24, of Ludington, Mich., was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Alaska, was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
TOP: Senior Airman Lorenzo Bookhart, USAF, of the 820th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron, works on the new electrical system at Rio Iglesia Elementary School.
Sgt. Zachary M. Fisher, 24, of Ballwin, Mo., was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat), Fort Bragg, N.C.
RIGHT: Airman 1st Class Sean Melville, USAF, (left) and Airman 1st Class Joseph Evanhoff, USAF, of the 820th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron, pour bags of concrete into a mixer at Rio Iglesia Medical Clinic, Panama, on July 2 as part of New Horizons Panama 2010.
Sgt. David A. Holmes, 34, of Tennille, Ga., was assigned to the 810th Engineer Company, Swainsboro, Ga. Pfc. Gunnar R. Hotchkin, 31, of Naperville, Ill., was assigned to the 161st Engineer Support Company, 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C. Spc. Joseph D. Johnson, 24, of Flint, Mich., was assigned to the 161st Engineer Support Company, 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C. Spc. Matthew J. Johnson, 21, of Maplewood, Minn., was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat), Fort Bragg, N.C. Cpl. Paul J. Miller, 22, of Traverse City, Mich., was assigned to 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif. Lance Cpl. Michael G. Plank, 25, of Cameron Mills, N.Y., was assigned to 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
U.S. Navy photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Spike Call
TOP: Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Timothy Gandini, USN, serves as a spotter for heavy machinery operators during recovery operations in March at the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Seabees from NMCB-7 supported Operation Unified Response after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage in and around Port-au-Prince in January.
U.S. Army photo by Maj. Scott Bell
Spc. Jesse D. Reed, 26, of Orefield, Penn., was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat), Fort Bragg, N.C.
Pvt. 1st Class Charlotte Hargrett, USA, of Task Force Kout Men installs scaffolding at a New Horizons Haiti 2010 school renovation project in Gonaives, Haiti.
The Military Engineer • No. 667
Sgt. Mario Rodriguez, 24, of Smithville, Texas, was assigned to the 264th Clearance Company, 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C. Cpl. Jeffrey R. Standfest, 23, of St. Clair, Mich., was assigned to 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, IIIMarine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. Spc. Chase Stanley, 21, of Napa, Calif., was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat), Fort Bragg, N.C.
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Small Business News Capability Statement: A Resume for Your Business There are many articles and checklists out there to help small businesses complete all the research, registrations and certifications needed to succeed in government contracting. But many small businesses unfamiliar with government contracting miss a vital marketing tool: the Capabilities Statement. A Capabilities Statement is a one- to two-page marketing document that can be easily created with basic word processing software. In it, describe some basic facts about your company. Where possible, use bullets, short sentences and clear language. Be sure to state clearly and succinctly why a contracting officer should do business with your company. Begin with an overview of your company, including a brief company history, socio-economic target information such as certifications for 8(a) and HUBZone, small disadvantaged and service dis-
abled veteran owned small business status. Include basic information like the number of employees. List company awards, trade certifications, accreditations and professional organizations to which your company belongs. Also provide information about office locations, geographic areas you serve, unique equipment or special resources your company offers. (But remember to save some details for subsequent, in-person meetings.) List your company’s unique Commercial and Government Entity code and applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, with descriptions of each NAICS code. Describe your company’s past performance. Provide information about your role as a prime or subcontractor. You also can include pictures of completed projects to make your handout interesting. (The projects highlighted can be changed depending on the customer to whom you are marketing.) Finally, be
sure your Capabilities Statement contains company contact information, with names, phone numbers, employee e-mail addresses and a company website. A Capabilities Statement helps convince potential partners and clients that your firm can perform responsibly. It provides contracting personnel a clear understanding of your company, what it can do, and why they should choose your company over others. In addition, your Capabilities Statement can help government contracting personnel share information about your company with other contracting personnel. Your company’s Capabilities Statement can serve as the foundation for information you put on your company website. It can be a convenient handout that accompanies your business card at outreach events or in one-on-one marketing meetings. You also can include it in responses to sources-sought notices and solicitations posted on the federal
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The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Small Business News government’s official website for contracting opportunities, FedBizOpps (www.fbo.org). Additional information about creating your Capabilities Statement and templates can be found on many websites. An example of online assistance can be found at the Maine Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) website at www. maineptac.org, which has a free template for government and commercial Capabilities Statements. The site also has a free online workshop presentation called “Capability Statement-A Resume for your Business.” Keep in mind that PTACs offer a wide range of services to small business concerns, including training and counseling. Most of the services provided by a PTAC are free. For PTAC help with your Capabilities Statement, locate a PTAC near you by visiting www.aptac-us.org/ new. Contributed by Jan Kaiser, Deputy for Small Business, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Midwest
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Do you know what a PTAC is? You should. Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC) help deliver success for small businesses. There are more than 94 PTACs across the United States and they are available to assist small businesses in better understanding how to locate and successfully secure contract opportunities. The PTACs are dedicated to assisting businesses seeking to compete successfully in federal, state and local government contracting. Most of the assistance is free of charge and includes formal training sessions, one-on-one counseling sessions, seminars, business matchmaking events and other activities. PTACs are the bridge between buyer and supplier, bringing to bear their knowledge of both government contracting and the capabilities of contractors to maximize fast, reliable service to our government with better quality and at lower costs. The Procurement Technical Assis-
tance Program (PTAP), authorized by Congress in 1985, is an effort to expand the number of businesses capable of participating in the government marketplace. Administered by the Defense Logistics Agency, the program provides matching funds through cooperative agreements with state and local governments and non-profit organizations for the establishment of PTACs to provide procurement assistance. PTACs come in many different sizes and shapes, reflecting the needs, priorities and resources of the areas they serve. Some PTACs are administered directly by state governments; others partner with universities, community colleges, local economic development corporations or other local institutions. Some PTACs operate within Bureau of Indian Affairs areas exclusively serving Native American-owned businesses. Many are affiliated in some way with Small Business Development Centers and other small business programs. All PTACs are staffed with counselors
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Small Business News experienced in government contracting and provide a wide range of services including classes and seminars, individual counseling and easy access to bid opportunities, contract specifications, procurement histories, and other information necessary to successfully compete for government contracts. Many PTAC counselors have backgrounds in government acquisitions and virtually all receive ongoing training to keep pace with continually evolving acquisitions procedures and policies. The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) provides a network that allows any PTAC counselor almost instant access to the expertise and experience of more than 500 colleagues, as well as real-time information from government agencies regarding new requirements and initiatives. After award of a contract, PTAC counselors are still there to help with information on activities such as bonding and
We’re cut from the same cloth.
(continued)
interim financing, negotiating and how to interface with an agency, or even how to develop a cost accounting system. When a small business needs assistance in any matter related to contracting in a local area, whether it is federal, state or local government, their local PTAC is one of the most valuable resources available. For a wealth of information and the location of your local PTAC, visit the APTAC website at www.aptac-us.org/ new/index.php. If your state is one of the few without a local PTAC simply contact one close to you. They will be more than happy to assist you. Information excerpted from the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, www.aptac-us.org/new/ index.php. Contributed by Mary S. Urey, Chief, Small Business Programs, Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment
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Many small businesses have asked, “Is there a difference between small business participation and subcontracting plans?” Short and sweet: Yes. Under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 215.304, in acquisitions that require use of the clause at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, the extent of participation of small businesses and historically black colleges or universities and minority institutions (HBCU/MI) in performance of the contract shall be addressed in source selection. [The exception is those based on the lowest price technically acceptable source selection process (see FAR 15.101-2).] The contracting officer shall evaluate the extent to which offerors identify and commit to small business and HBCU/MI performance of the contract, whether as a
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Small Business News joint venture, teaming arrangement, or subcontractor. Proposals addressing the extent of small business and HBCU/MI performance may be separate from subcontracting plans submitted pursuant to the clause at FAR 52.219-9 and should be structured to allow for consideration of offers from small businesses. When an evaluation assesses the extent that small businesses and HBCUs/MIs are specifically identified in proposals, the small businesses HBCUs/MIs considered in the evaluation shall be listed in any subcontracting plan submitted pursuant to FAR 52.219-9 to facilitate compliance with DFARS 252.219-7003(g). Also, the Army Source Selection Guide notes that for Large Businesses, subcontracting plans that are required by FAR Part 52.219-9, need to be consistent with the SB Participation Plan. How are small businesses able to participate? Large businesses achieve the goals through subcontracting, while, small businesses can achieve goals through
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their own performance and participation as a prime-without having to subcontract. Goals, what goals? The Small Business Participation Goal and Subcategory Small Business Goals percentages are based on market research. The contracting officers develops the goals for specific acquisitions and in some instances the contracting officer may not have realistic percentages and may replace actual percentages with “Best Effort”—the offeror’s will propose their own goals. However, they are evaluated as a meaning discriminator for award—weighted—and of importance— and the rating scheme cannot be pass/ fail. In other words, the contracting officer can ask offerors to propose their best effort, without providing a specific percent or goal. However, offerors must be advised that the evaluation will be based on best value and total dollars, and the offerors submitting the best value in terms of small business participation will be rated higher. (Contributed by Melea Crouse, Assistant Associate Director, USACE South Pacific Division/Southwestern Division)
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The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Kathy Off, National Conference Manager, at koff@same.org or 703-549-3800 ext. 153; for information on exhibiting, contact Necoya L. Tyson, Meetings and Exhibits Manager, at ntyson@same.org or 703-549-3800 ext. 152; or visit our website at www.same.org/JETC. Conference registration and program details will be available January 2011 at www.same.org/JETC The Military Engineer • No. 667
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Bentley Updates MicroStation, ProjectWise and Navigator The V8i (SELECTseries 2) versions of Bentley’s MicroStation, ProjectWise and Navigator support and extend the resilience of today’s practitioners, empowering them to move up to information-modeling levels. Bentley’s SELECTseries approach to software updates, new to V8i, facilitates such work process improvements without the disruption, cost and risk of competitors’ mandated upgrade policies. In particular, V8i SELECTseries updates: assure compatibility with and across all V8i products and prior SELECTseries updates, easing software administration; apply and leverage new horizontal technologies (such as SharePoint 2010 and touch screens) for infrastructure practitioners; and serve to mainstream once-specialist technologies (such as Luxology for rendering and Pointools for referencing point cloud). www.bentley.com
Off-Grid, Hostile Environment Generation Systems Outpost Solar’s Armored Mobile Solar Generator (AMS) is a fully-armored, easily-deployable, solar-powered generator, designed for remote area operations in hostile environments. The AMS is a tool that helps front-line responders do their jobs without the noise, pollution, or resupply nightmares of fuel-burning generators. The solar-powered generator is a standalone, off-grid power system, housed in a shipping container. This self-contained solution allows it to be shipped and deployed nearly anywhere in the world. The AMS is designed to withstand small arms fire and the system can be deployed, or secured, in less than three minutes. The Outpost Solar products can be linked together, or incorporated with traditional backup generators, to provide a scalable and adaptable intelligent solution to reduce fuel consumption. Outpost Solar custom-builds each unit, designing for mission-specific requirements for every client’s needs. www.outpostsolar.com
The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
Historical Perspective
A Message to Engineering Students By Brig. Gen. H.K. Kelly, USAF
Editor’s Note: The following is the complete text of the editorial feature “A Message to Engineering Students,” by Brig. Gen. H.K. Kelly, USAF, Vice Commander of the Ballistic Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, which first appeared in the September-October 1963 issue of The Military Engineer. Despite having first been published more than four decades ago, Gen. Kelly’s eloquent call to arms remains as poignant as ever. Recruiting and developing the next generation of military engineers continues to be a keystone of the SAME mission— as evidenced by this year’s extremely successful series of Engineering & Construction Camps—and this issue, with its special insert highlighting this summer’s camps, seems as fitting a place as any to rediscover Gen. Kelly’s message. For the purpose of this historical piece, the text herein in reprinted as published in the September-October issue of The Military Engineer.
E
ach year the challenges to the engineer become greater and the rewards more satisfying. There are opportunities of a variety and scope for the creative engineer such as have never existed before. Construction and communications for the increasing population of the United States as well as the production and use of resources an materials are growing engineer activities. Concerted efforts are being made to
The Military Engineer • No. 667
Adapted from: “A Message to Engineering Students” The Military Engineer Vol. 55 No. 367 September-October 1963
control the natural resources of great underdeveloped areas of the world for the benefit of the people. The success of such major engineering projects as the building of the Aswan Dam, the redemption of the Negev Desert, and the development of the Indus Basin will profoundly influence the future of the nations concerned by improving their living conditions and stimulating industry and trade. The sociological progress
Photos used in this feature accompanied an article adjacent to Gen. Kelly’s in the September/October 1963 issue.
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which enlightened engineering can make possible may be one of the best forms of long-range peace insurance. In addition to this massive re-engineering on earth, a new dimension is being added to the world as the first steps are taken in the exploration of space. This, too, promises new goals for the engineer. The American military engineer, involved as he is in defense necessities, has been profoundly affected by these conditions. The aerospace systems which have been developed in the last decade have brought a new breadth of responsibility as well as opportunity to engineers in the Armed Forces. The job of the civil engineer in the military service used to be considered largely a matter of designing and supervising construction of a variety of standardized ground installations and public works, insuring that they were maintained in operational condition, and keeping the drains in working order. Although it was never quite as simple as that, the picture has changed radically, beginning in the late 1940’s when new developments in weapons began and have grown rapidly ever since. Civil engineers became concerned in the problems of structural survival introduced with the development of the nuclear warhead. They were involved in the task of creating a 4,500-mile chain of distant early warning radar installations in the Arctic, and later the installations for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. The Arctic projects literally presented service engineers with new worlds to conquer. There were, for example, construction difficulties related to permafrost and unique and unpredictable logistical problems in the frigid, barren land. Communications lines from these elements and the hardened combat operations center in which they terminate presented equally complex problems in engineering. The effort required to bring these defensive elements into being has been enormous, and yet is has been overshadowed by the work of creating the American strike force of ballistic missiles. This missile force is being built so that, should as enemy risk attack, the United States would have maximum survival and the ability to retaliate with such force as to shatter the enemy offensive. 96 96
The ballistic missiles are weapon systems which comprise elaborate and complex launch facilities, equipment, and supplies. The activation of the ballistic missile sites has been called the biggest construction job that the United States Government has ever undertaken. Now the creative imagination and ingenuity of the engineer will be further tested by the development of defenses in space. Young engineers in the military service will have a major part in these tremendous undertakings. Opportunities are plentiful and responsibilities are given to young men as fast as they can take them. There are, of course, mundane things to do be done but there are more and more new and fascinating challenges to engineering abilities each day. The Armed Forces are going to need the best engineers they can get, men with imagination, ingenuity, and a wide variety of knowledge of engineering and related sciences. It is hoped that many of the student members of the Society and ROTC cadets will choose careers in engineering in the military services. It is not an easy career, nor is it one for the man who is content to dig out a com-
fortable rut with his diploma and settle into it. It demands, among other things, the capacity for continuous growth, for constant renewal and expansion of professional knowledge and skills. It demands hard work and the boldness of mind to reach out for new solutions to engineering problems for which the textbooks offer no precedent. It demands the pride of a craftsmen and the love of an artist for the thing being created by mind and hand. In return it offers utilizations of the engineer’s highest skills in a cause of deep significance to the security of the United States and of the free world.
The Military Engineer l September-October l 2010 The Military Engineer • September-October • 2010
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