Maintaining operational readiness through housing upkeep

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William A. O'Brien
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  One section of the Civil Engineering Squadron that people may overlook is the dorm managers. At Incirlik, they are responsible for maintaining all 637 dorm rooms and 94 unaccompanied houses that a large portion of our force lives in.

Readying living quarters for a new occupant starts before the prior occupant leaves by ensuring when the room is vacated, it is clean and all the furniture is there and functional.

"On average, the rooms are vacant for five days; and when the new Airman arrives we don't want them cleaning up after other people or worrying about calling in broken furniture, so we try to get all that resolved before the room is assigned to someone else during the outprocessing inspection," said Staff Sgt. Marcus Pierce, 39th Civil Engineer Squadron dorm manager.

When Airmen arrive, during their check in inspection, a representative inspects the room with them to ensure all the furniture is there and relays Incirlik-specific information, as well as addresses any issues the new resident may have.

"We go through the room with them and look at furniture with them and review its condition. We also show them which outlets are 220 volts and which are 120," said Staff Sgt. Rose Ciano, 39th Civil Engineer Squadron dorm manager. "We ensure they've set up their phone number for the room or show them how to do it and tell them about the internet service options here."

In between inspecting the dorm rooms of incoming and departing Airmen, the unaccompanied housing management section manages the bay orderly program.

Each dormitory's common areas must be cared for and kept clean. One resident from each dormitory is selected to serve as bay orderly for their dorm building for a week as part of the program.

"Each morning, the bay orderlies report to us; and we give them a checklist and make sure they have access to the dorm's supply cabinet. Throughout the week, we check on them periodically to make sure they're working and to see their progress," added Pierce.

With so many residents using the common-area facilities, things break down and it's up to the unaccompanied housing office to ensure these are fixed in a timely manner to minimize the inconvenience on the residents.

"We are responsible for ensuring dorm facilities remain operational -- things such as the televisions and things like that in the day rooms, but also the washing machines, dryers and kitchen appliances, too. Those have a big impact on residents because they need them for everyday things," explained Pierce.

They also do weekly checks of the oil levels in the water heaters for each dorm and refill the oil, when necessary. The unaccompanied housing section will be responsible for ensuring the fire department has access to each room when they do their annual fire alarm inspections.

The dorm managers assist Airmen with settling in to their new living situations and ensure the maintenance of common area facilities like laundry rooms and kitchens, which provide Airmen means to perform rudimentary tasks.