F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Assess, allocate, file, plan, budget, implement. These are the steps Facility Condition Assessment Teams take to upgrade a facility.
The team inspects all facility structures such as mechanical systems, fire systems, utilities, and transportation networks. The data is then put into a program and utilized by the mission support center to properly allocate funding.
“Here in FCAT we have seen every facility on base, which not many people can say,” said Tech. Sgt. Charles Hernandez, 90th Civil Engineering Squadron FCAT NCO in charge. “Through our inspections we will establish a multi-year maintenance program based off of life cycle replacements. Knowing that our work will help other shops prioritize their work and become more efficient in their jobs is a good feeling.”
The day-to-day operations of civil engineering has a vast spectrum of requirements, and the FCAT office creates a working schedule to help balance the work load.
“FCAT is the cornerstone of project authorization,” said Tech. Sgt. Grahame Evelyn, 90th Civil Engineering Squadron heating ventilation and air conditioning craftsmen. “Our inspections start the process of projects being granted funding.”
The data is also used to track trends to find root causes that are affecting large systems such as hard water or corrosion in old pipes, causing HVAC systems to fail.
“The balancing of our facility inspections with other day to day work can be difficult and somewhat stressful,” said Hernandez. “Thankfully we have a team that understands the demands of the base. Being flexible and prioritizing the work is vital to managing the stress.”
The data FCAT allocates helps units on F.E. Warren to build better and more accurate budgets, which in turn benefits big Air Force.
“Without our team the condition of facilities and necessary upgrades would go without recognition and lead to more issues that could have been prevented,” said Hernandez.