Photo By Elvia Kelly | An image of a Fort Bragg barracks provides a visual for DPW crew members who conducted...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - As the Department of Defense initiated guidance and safety measures to the workforce in response to the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in March, Fort Bragg leadership came together to discuss a way forward in an effort to flatten the curve while still maintaining mission readiness.
While Fort Bragg stood ready to make necessary adjustments to limit the spread of the virus, the Directorate of Public Works had to determine the best course of action to keep Fort Bragg’s infrastructure operational while functioning with half of its workforce.
“We essentially changed our execution methodology to only have 50 percent of our work force physically on Fort Bragg while the other 50 percent worked from home, where possible,” said Monica Stephenson, DPW director. “It worked pretty well, but was slower than our norm.”
DPW is among the largest garrison organizations on Fort Bragg with approximately 378 employees and over 200 contractors. It is responsible for the installation’s infrastructure such as buildings and roads; the environment such as wildlife, forestry, endangered species, and cultural resources; engineering such as design and construction; operations and maintenance such as works order and repairs; business operations; and Housing such as on-post residential living and the barracks.
While DPW oversees a large scope on Fort Bragg, the limited manpower did not affect their ability to meet the mission.
“From a leadership perspective, we had many more meetings via telephone than we would have had outside of COVID-19,” Stephenson said. “It became readily apparent how much easier it is to communicate and collaborate face to face. Moving forward, we have been using a healthy mix of teleconferences and face-to-face meetings to manage DPW operations.”
She said it was difficult to meet facility requirements with only 50 percent of the work force present at any given time.
“From the workforce perspective, it was a challenge to coordinate work execution given that the majority of our customers were teleworking,” Stephenson said. “Like any other organization, much of our work execution relies on relationships. Having strong relationships with customers made the communication challenges easier to navigate.”
In spite of the challenges, DPW still ensured the requirements were being met.
From March 1 to May 31, the Environmental Division’s Forestry Branch conducted 176 prescribed burns totaling 16,876 acres.
“Based on the data over the past five years, we average 203 prescribed burns averaging 21,800 acres from March through May,” said Rod Fleming, chief of the Forestry Branch. “Based on this information, we have seen some reduction in our prescribed-burn numbers related to COVID-19 while having half of our staff.”
Fleming added his concerns in the beginning were personnel and keeping his personnel safe. He explained there are three-to-four burn crews with up to 20 staff members on each crew when conducting a prescribed burn.
“We provided leniency and flexibility with the crews’ time both during work days and burn days,” he said. “We didn’t have to shift focus from one area to another as we managed pretty well, but keeping everyone’s safety was a priority.”
Between March 1 and May 31, the Operations and Maintenance Division completed 11,961 Demand Maintenance Order requests. These requests included a combination of repairs for roads, facilities, grounds, electrical, plumbing, doors, windows, and signs.
“It was a learning curve,” said Ashley Gore, acting Chief of OMD. “During COVID-19, we had to figure out how to protect our working groups, protect our staff as some were high-risk, and the possibility of being exposed while working in the barracks all while operating at 50 percent capacity.”
Gore said his team had to learn how to work in isolation and quarantine areas in the barracks. He added they developed a better practice by working with the Housing Division.
“Housing provided a daily list of known quarantine and isolation areas within the barracks,” he said. “This information was pertinent for our working groups and staff, so they can prepare PPE (personal protective equipment) accordingly. Our communication got better, and now we’ve developed a working SOP.”
From March 16 to May 31, the Housing Division’s contract partner Corvias completed 8,329 work order requests for on-post Family housing. There are 11 neighborhood communities covering approximately 6,500 homes and apartments on Fort Bragg proper.
“Routine work orders were suspended in March for the safety of both our residents and technicians and due to limited resources, such as manpower,” said Aaron Brown, acting Chief of Housing. “Only emergency and urgent work orders were being completed and, interestingly enough, there was only a slight increase of work orders during this time.”
Michaelle Eide, an on-post housing resident, said she placed work orders in late April or early May and was impressed with the technician’s customer service, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After placing the work orders, he came within the next day,” Eide said. “He was polite and considerate. Before coming into my house, he wore a mask, and asked if he should take off his shoes or put covers over them. With all the delays going on with services, I thought there may be a delay with responding to the work orders, but there wasn’t. He responded quickly! He was great.”
Stephenson added leaders placed emphasis on flattening communication and worked hard to ensure a common operating picture. She praised the team for their efforts.
“I want to put emphasis on the team,” she said. “They did a great job and were patient working through the myriad of challenges that this situation presented. They rose to and met every opportunity.”
| Date Taken: | 06.03.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2020 16:15 |
| Story ID: | 371390 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 219 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, DPW helps flatten curve while still getting job done, by Elvia Kelly, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
