Troop Talk
This concludes
the responses to the issues and concerns that came out in sensing sessions
during a recent TRADOC Equal Opportunity Staff Assistance visit.
Some Soldiers complained that housing needs improvement, particularly
in Van Horne, Kelly Park, and Lower Logan- i.e. they have seen insects
and skunks, water pipes are broken, and old electrical wiring causes
light bulbs to blow out on a weekly basis.
I am well aware that our homes are old and not in the best state of
repair. This is not just at Fort Bliss but across the Army. This
is one of the main reasons that the Army implemented the Residential
Communities Initiative. This program is due to start here next
July. The contractor will build more than 1,750 new homes in the first
six years. These will replace many of our old poorly maintained houses. In
the mean time we owe you a safe, secure and functioning house. Please
call the work-order desk at 568-1107 for routine work and 568-7239 for
emergency work. On the issue of insects and skunks — you can call
the same numbers and the entomology section will respond. A contract
was recently awarded in the amount of $314,000 to replace some family
housing roofs that are in bad shape. Another contract in place will
replace some dead trees around the various family housing areas as well
as to restore a park area on Ashburn Street (main post, close to South
Officer Housing).
Some Soldiers reported that the work order system for both housing and
barracks is broken and not responsive. It takes too long – three
requests over an eight month period and items are still broke –
and contractors do not keep scheduled appointments.
Every effort is made to complete service orders to customer satisfaction
on time, every time, and encourage customer feedback on our performance.
Service orders are closely tracked by performance in several key areas
and manage (or triage) service order work by the degree of urgency.
The goal is to respond to an emergency service order (priority 1) within
one hour during the duty day — 2 hours after duty – and
to complete repairs the same day. An example of an emergency is when
immediate action is required to eliminate life threatening or serious
injury hazards to personnel, prevent loss or damage to government property,
ensure security of sensitive government property, or restore essential
services. A response to rectify an urgent (priority 2) service order
within three days is the norm. An example would be when the failure
in service does not immediately endanger personnel or property, but
would soon inconvenience or affect the security, health, or well-being
of personnel. All other service orders are routine (priority) and we
respond and rectify within 30 days.
This past year fiscal year they successfully completed 70,951 service
orders – more than 1,300 per week – and an increase of 129
percent over FY03 (54,810 service orders). The latest quality assurance
checks indicate an overall 93 percent success rate on service-order
timeliness, 98 percent rate for work quality in FY04. The trend has
continued to improve by quarter. Our management challenge continues
to be timeliness.
Of note is that the timeliness metric measures grade the contractor
not only on timeliness of completing the work, but also timely completion
of all administrative actions and reporting. Customer satisfaction
as measured by the Quest for Quality cards has significantly improved
from FY03 to FY04. The complaint rate for FY03 was at 19 percent compared
with a .7 percent complaint rate for FY04. In some cases repeat calls
for the same work do happen (2 percent). At times a system (boiler,
cooler, appliances) can exhibit sequential problems requiring call backs.
Missed or late appointments are very rare and usually results from a
technician either responding to an emergency or on an extended repair.
Again, customer feedback is welcomed, and the DPWL customer service
representative can be reached at 568-6778. The service representative
is available to discuss and research any problems encountered by customers
and will also accept and relay any positive comments. Additionally,
customers may use the ICE system.
Some Officer Basic Course students complained that the Bachelor Officer
Quarters are substandard. Specifically they mentioned dirty swamp coolers
that blow out dust; insects in the buildings; rooms that are hot due
to no central air conditioning after 9 p.m., and skylights in bathrooms
that leak.
I am committed to keeping our BOQ’s properly maintained. The BOQ’s
have evaporative cooling and not central air conditioning. The
units are not cut off at 9 p.m., but should be on 24 hours a day. Humidity
has a large effect on how efficient the cooling is.The pads are replaced
in the units on a regular basis to control dust issues. Call in
to 568-1107 for routine work and 568-7239 for emergency work. Leaking
sky lights will be fixed, coolers checked, and any other issues with
the building will be evaluated. The same number will also get an entomologist
out to spray the area for insects.
OBC students also had a concern about the disparity of per diem between
active duty officers and National Guard officers.
After consulting with the Chief of Travel for the Regional Defense Finance
and Accounting Service, all students attending the current OBC class
in a TDY status will receive full per diem at the commercial meal rate.
This will require a letter from the 6th Brigade Commander on the availability
of meals. This will also take care of follow-on OBC classes. E 1-56
will provide a copy of this letter which will authorize per diem at
a full rate of $31.00 per day.
A number of Advanced Individual Training students complained that the
Fort Bliss Inn was charging a $50 room deposit.
Unfortunately, this practice was instituted without input from the chain
of command. The reason given for implementing the policy was due to
AIT students damaging the rooms. I expect all Soldiers to act like the
adults they are and to be treated as responsible adults. If they do
not live up to my expectations, the chain of command will deal with
them appropriately as with any other Soldier. I have put a stop to charging
AIT Soldiers the $50 room deposit.
There were also several complaints of over-charging by taxi cabs on
post. Some AIT students reported being charged $50 to go to the mall,
$15 to go to the PX, and taxi cabs taking circuitous routes to destinations.
Representatives from Garrison Command, 6th Brigade, and 1-56 ADA met
with the cab companies that do business on post. The companies were
informed of our concerns about price gouging. The companies agreed to
ensure that their drivers follow the established fares. Consequences
for not following the rules could be suspension of post privileges for
a cab driver or company. 1-56 ADA will brief all in-coming AIT students
on what fares to expect to the most common destinations and on reporting
procedures if they suspect that they are being over-charged. The fare
on post is $3 one way plus $1 per person for each additional person.
The fare to go from one post to another — Fort Bliss to Biggs
Army Airfield, Fort Bliss to William Beaumont Army Medical Center, and
Biggs to WBAMC is $5 one way plus $1 for each additional person. It
is a flat $10 fee from the airport to Fort Bliss. These rates have been
in effect since 1990 and we are in discussions with the taxi companies
about revising them. From Fort Bliss to anywhere else in the city, the
fare is per the price shown on the meter. Anyone who suspects that a
taxi is over charging them should call the taxi company dispatcher and
attempt to resolve the dispute. If unable to resolve it, they should
file a report with the driver’s name, cab company, and cab number
to the military police and the El Paso Police Taxi enforcement division
at 564-7056.
Maj. Gen. Michael A. Vane
Fort Bliss Commanding General