JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – Approximately 50 subject matter experts across Air Force Installation Mission Support Center and the Air Force gathered here June 8-12 to find solutions to challenges affecting military housing and infrastructure at Kadena Air Base, Japan.
It was the first phase of meetings for the Okinawa Infrastructure Operational Planning Team to identify requirements needed to ensure the installation maintains its status as a power projection platform.
The base has been plagued by deteriorating facility conditions such as corrosion, rust and separation of concrete for nearly two decades. Constrained resources, environment and a high humidity climate as some of the issues that have strained efforts to maintain homes, hangars and other infrastructure.
The team found hundreds of instances where corrosion and rust impacted aging infrastructure including a munitions storage facility, and a chapel. In some instances, the buildings have been condemned due to the safety risks they pose.
“Kadena is one of the most corrosive environments in the world, and getting this team together to fix a problem that keeps getting worse drove the urgency of this meeting,” said Col. Justin Morrison, Detachment 2 commander.
Pacific Air Forces leaders cited a constrained resource environment and a high humidity climate as some of the issues that have strained efforts to maintain homes and hangars and other infrastructure at the air base.
Tackling phase one of the project required the OPT to prioritize requirements into three lines of effort examining infrastructure, military, family housing, and execution and contracting.
“Our goal was to identify a list of requirements to improve the base infrastructure, but the challenge was figuring out which was the most critical,” said Maj. Alexander Wright, PACAF Civil Engineering, who traveled here from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Wright and his team sifted through an estimated 4,500 different requirements looking at facility conditions and many other factors to prioritize requirements.
“Everyone brought creative ideas,” said Lt. Col. L.J. Harris, Fifth Air Force. “We went through a full analysis, highlighting all the different things and talked about what’s within our span of control to change and what’s not and analyzed the whole picture to understanding the environment in Okinawa and all the challenges – and we’re getting after those challenges.”
After one week and many long hours working side by side in a unique opportunity, leaders walked away with a structure for three different courses of action and feedback from AFIMSC leadership.
Leaders are expected to present three recommendations to senior leaders later this month before an investment plan is approved.
“It sends out the fact that AFIMSC and the Air Force at large is serious about getting after this problem and coming up with solutions to help make housing safe and suitable for residents and ensuring Kadena’s infrastructure is recapitalized to deter today and tomorrow’s threats,” Morrison said.