US Army Corps of Engineers / Fort Knox

The problem solvers┬áThe US Army Corps of Engineers is guiding Fort Knox through a massive building program as part of an Army-wide realignment of services. Karen Sweeney and Tom McQuary tell Gay Sutton how the Corps is changing its mode of operation and delivering greater cost efficiency for the taxpayer. In 2005 the Department of Defense announced a sweeping program of rationalization and change for the US Army. The Base Realignment and Closure Program (BRAC) is now well under way, and bases around the country are experiencing wide-scale change, from single unit movement through complete base closure. Fort Knox, Kentucky, is in the middle of a massive building program in preparation for an influx of more than 7,800 military and civilian personnel. The work in progress includes the construction of a new Human Resources Center of Excellence, new barracks and storage facilities for 3,500 soldiers returning from Iraq, plus the demolition of the old high school and the construction of a modern replacement.ÔÇ£To put this into context,ÔÇØ says area engineer Tom McQuary, ÔÇ£weÔÇÖre in the middle of a five-year period in which there is more construction going on at Fort Knox than had taken place since the Second World War.ÔÇØ And as a measure of the sheer volume of work involved, the Corps of Engineers, which oversees all the construction work, has grown from a team of 19 a few years ago to a team of 75. But finding staff members of the right quality to fill the vacancies has not been easy. Some have been recruited and others are contractors. ÔÇ£And weÔÇÖve also brought back some people out of retirement,ÔÇØ McQuary says, ÔÇ£original employees who have the special skills we need, and thatÔÇÖs worked out very nicely. They had all worked on this base, were familiar with our operations and were able to begin working immediately.ÔÇØThe role of the Corps of Engineers is to oversee all aspects of contract administration on the building program. Throughout the build the engineers also monitor and check the quality of the work that is being done and ensure the safety of the workforce. ÔÇ£But beyond that, weÔÇÖve been changing the way we do business,ÔÇØ McQuary says.┬á In the pastÔÇöeven on projects that had been technically classified as design buildÔÇöthe Corps had completed more than 50 percent of the design work. ÔÇ£This really tied the contractorsÔÇÖ hands. These are now truly design-build projects.ÔÇØ As an example of the extent of the change, the technical requirement document is now about 20 pages in all, whereas in the past it would have been a three-inch-thick binder. ÔÇ£From these 20 pages of standard Army requirements,ÔÇØ McQuary says, ÔÇ£the contractor now designs the facility from scratch and has the freedom to incorporate efficiencies through the types and methods of construction. The constraints include the amount of space required for different functions, the relationship between different areas and preferences on finishes.ÔÇØ┬á Relinquishing control over design in this way is a completely new experience for the Corps, and it has thoroughly embraced it. ÔÇ£I like this way of doing business, and I believe it has generated cost savings.ÔÇØ┬á The largest of the projects currently in progress is the construction of the Human Resources Center of Excellence (HRCoE). Currently the ArmyÔÇÖs HR services are scattered across three locations: Alexandria, Virginia; St. Louis, Missouri; and Indianapolis, Indiana. The plan is to bring them all together as a single unit under one roof and thereby improve the overall efficiency of the service and eradicate duplication and waste.A completely new complex of buildings is being constructed by Turner Universal, to provide 880,000 square feet of airy, open-plan office space for the centerÔÇÖs 4,294 staff members. An interesting feature of the design is that, though the majority of the staff will be civilian, the center has a military theme consisting of six buildings grouped into two distinctive chevrons.┬á The $185 million center is due for completion in June 2010, and adherence to the schedule is vitally important. Hand-over from the old three-location system to the new one has to be seamless. ÔÇ£The contractor is very aggressively committed to meeting our schedule,ÔÇØ says resident engineer Karen Sweeney, who is in charge of the project. Working together, the engineers and contractor have put a great deal of forward planning into the project, not only to ensure timing doesnÔÇÖt slip, but alsoÔÇöby buying many of the long-lead-time items such as structural steel ahead of requirementÔÇöto protect against the rising cost of raw materials. ÔÇ£After the HRCoE, the biggest single entity coming to Fort Knox as part of BRAC is an Infantry Brigade Combat Team of about 3,500 soldiers,ÔÇØ says McQuary. The unit is currently serving in Iraq but will be returning to the US and then relocating to the base this summer. In preparation for its arrival, $250 million of work is being done on construction and renovation. Two barracks buildings are being built to house 1,442 soldiers. A new dining facility has already been completed, and work is under way to provide equipment storage facilities, offices, conference rooms and so on. ÔÇ£Most of the work is complete, and all of it will be ready by the end of May,ÔÇØ McQuary says. Attention is also being focused on improving the infrastructure on the base. The arrival of the 4,294 civilian staff and 3,500 soldiers will vastly increase the number of vehicles entering and moving around the base, particularly as people arrive for work in the morning. So the Eastern Access Corridor, a two-lane highway that stretches from one side of the base to the other, is being largely upgraded to five lanes. ÔÇ£We have funding for half the distance at the moment, and weÔÇÖre hoping to get funding for the other half and complete the upgrade work this year,ÔÇØ McQuary says. The final large project is not directly mandated by BRAC, but with so many soldiers and their families arriving onsite, is closely related to it. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre building a new high school for the Fort Knox community. It has a very intensive and compressed schedule,ÔÇØ McQuary says.┬á"The teachers need to begin moving in by the end of May so that the old building can be demolished while the children are off campus and the site made safe before school commences again in the fall. ÔÇ£While itÔÇÖs far from the most costly project we have, itÔÇÖs the one thatÔÇÖs getting most of my focus these days, to make sure it finishes exactly when itÔÇÖs supposed to.ÔÇØPressure of work seems to be a feature of the engineersÔÇÖ job, but they are ready and prepared to do what is required of them. ÔÇ£ThereÔÇÖs a perception that government employees are not happy and motivated. I can tell you that the people working here are enthusiastic and proud of what they do,ÔÇØ McQuary concludes. ÔÇ£I believe we make a really positive impact on the Army as a whole by providing quality facilities for them. And no matter how busy we are, I canÔÇÖt remember ever saying, ÔÇÿNo, we canÔÇÖt do that.ÔÇÖ WeÔÇÖre problem solvers.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Joe Louis┬á