John Turner, civil engineer for the asset visibility team at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, investigates how severe the rebar, or reinforcing steel, is corroded in a cracked column Sept. 15, 2015, at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Susan Lawson/Released)

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James Widmer, professional engineer at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, reads hot spots on electrical transformer equipment with a thermal camera Sept. 16, 2015, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Susan Lawson/Released)

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Asset visibility team assesses Patrick AFB and Cape Canaveral AFS

Published Oct. 6, 2015
By Susan Lawson
Air Force CEC Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Assessing over two-million square feet of building space for the Air Force is not an easy task but one that the asset visibility team, or AVT, from the Air Force Civil Engineer Center has readily taken on. A recent assessment at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, both in Florida, is the latest in a list of 21 bases that have received support over the past two years.

The AVT plays a critical role in implementation of asset management principles across the Air Force civil engineer enterprise by meeting federal and Department of Defense mandates.

The team traveled to the installations, in September, to comply with the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, which requires evaluation of 25 percent of high energy consuming facilities annually, and the Energy Conservation Mandate, and Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment 2013 memo, Standardizing Facility Condition Assessments. The mandate requires all real property assets within the Air Force Real Property Database to utilize BUILDER, PAVER, and the soon-to-be-fielded UTILITIES assessment tools. The mandates apply to active duty, Air Force Reserves, and Air National Guard bases worldwide.

In addition to the AVT performing energy audits and facility condition assessments, they also provided "Reach and Teach" training to 30 base personnel. The AVT also provided "hands-on" training for seven Air Force reservists from the 622nd CEF to enable them to perform future facility condition assessments, or FCAs, and data upload to support Air Force locations worldwide in order to meet the September 2017 mandate and execute industry-wide asset management principles across all installations in their inventory. Team chief, York Thorpe coordinated and approved augmentation requirements for the trainees.

"S-team members typically train with the active-duty organization that they are supporting during contingencies and other real world events so they can seamlessly roll in and help execute the mission," said Col. Judah Bradley, AFCEC Operations Division's senior individual mobilization augmentee and former S-Team member. They also bring a very senior level engineer to the fight."

During the S-Team's first AVT trip at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, in August, the team assisted in evaluating 99 base facilities to ensure that Air Force standards were being achieved.

"While most of the facilities were in good condition, we found that fire protection assessments were not being conducted. We performed the assessments at that time," said Arnaldo Vincenty, an AVT member assigned to the AFCEC Utilities Branch.

Air Force civil engineers and S-teams conduct FCAs by assessing seven areas in each building: exterior enclosure; roofing; interior construction; plumbing; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or HVAC; fire protection and electrical. The assessments help create a facility condition index which the engineers provide for financial improvement and audit readiness.

During evaluation, AVT teams identify and document such conditions as wall cracks, improper doorway seals, lighting usage, HVAC functionality, roof condition, equipment quality, mechanical and electrical status. They also conduct a fence to fence look for opportunities to identify energy and water conservation opportunities through a method they call "spearfishing."

"One of the things that is a challenge with aging facilities and infrastructure is the ability to clearly articulate requirements in a time of constrained resources and budgets," said Lt. Col. Jason Glynn, 45th Civil Engineer Squadron commander at Patrick AFB. "What the AVT is helping us do is get the data right to support funding decisions."

The bases have been appreciative of the support provided by the AVT.

"The experience with the asset visibility team was extremely positive. They were able to tell me what their mission was during the visit and they explained why they were here so I completely understood what their mission was for the wing," said Eugenia Tucker, fire chief at Cape Canaveral AFS.