Joint Base Balad's support team focuses on mission, quality of life

  • Published
  • By Maj. Bill Pierce
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  Base residents are the beneficiaries of additional benefits since the Base Operating Support-Integration team conducted its initial planning meetings 11 months ago.

In general, BOS-I is a changeover of base support functions that includes food service, lodging, vehicle operations, supply, fuel, base upkeep, construction and base defense.

In June 2008, the BOS-I team began the long process of transferring support functional authority to the Air Force here. Leading this initiative was the newly selected 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group Commander, Col. Sal Nodjomian.

"Fortunately for us we had about four months before the transfer of authority took place," said Colonel Nodjomian. "This gave us time to work with the former leadership team and learn how they conducted business. In addition, we had the opportunity to look at all of the projects they started, but were not able to finish."

Using this information, Colonel Nodjomian was able to successfully implement many processes typically conducted on Air Force bases stateside, bringing everything under the 332nd EMSG umbrella.

"One of the Air Force's core competencies is installation management," he said. "Traditionally, the Air Force fights from its bases. The installation is our warfighting platform. Therefore, we look at things differently than other services; not necessarily better, just different."

Today, results of the changeover can be seen around JBB. Whether the changes affect sanitation or electricity, food services or force protection, the 332nd EMSG's efforts have a direct impact on mission execution, quality of life and process improvement.

"Every member of the mission support group, from the top-down, to the bottom-up, understands anything and everything they do on a daily basis must fit into one of these categories. Our focus is the customer," added the Baltimore native deployed here from Headquarters Air Force, the Pentagon.

Mission execution

For example, the 332nd EMSG consolidated the base master plan. Under the old system, various organizations would create individual plans and then execute them. Today, the base master plan provides a single focal point allowing all organizations on JBB to routinely present their plans to the 332nd EMSG.

Overall, implementing this system eliminated more than $5 million in facility construction the first six months alone.

"Once we found out what our customers' needs were and we had a good idea of our inventory, we were able to match their needs with existing inventory, preventing unnecessary development," said Colonel Nodjomian.

Moreover, the group understands development is sometimes necessary. When that time comes, Colonel Nodjomian's team is ready to serve.

"Col. John Decknick (332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group commander) came to our organization saying, 'here is a system we inherited. Here are the deficiencies, and we would like your help to fix them.' We took their information, analyzed it, came up with a plan to improve the overall security of JBB, and engaged," said Colonel Nodjomian with a smile.

Meeting the needs of customers like the 332nd ESFG ultimately resulted in improved security and safety for more than 26,000 JBB residents. By and large, more than $50 million was devoted to lighting, entry control point construction, badging stations and overhead protection.

"This is just one example of meeting our customers' needs," said Colonel Nodjomian.

Quality of life

Since BOS-I transferred in November 2008, the 332nd EMSG has focused on improving the quality of life for all JBB residents. To develop other housing areas around the base, the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron used the Housing Area 6 model. "Our initial goal was to raise the other areas to the H6 standard," said Colonel Nodjomian. "To get there, we developed a comprehensive community-development plan. All JBB construction projects fit into one of three phases: completed, under construction or planned."

"Our goal is to improve the quality of lives for everyone; they deserve it," added the colonel.

While the 332nd EMSG looks for ways to improve quality of life, the group is always mindful of funding.

"Most improvement items we implemented have a relatively low cost, but a high rate of return," said Colonel Nodjomian. "Today, residents are enjoying one of three fitness centers, a remodeled USO, a new post office, TV and radio stations, self-help centers, sanitation upgrades and the numerous AAFES enhancements."

Process improvement

Since the Air Force and the 332nd EMSG assumed BOS-I, there have been a number of challenges the group has had to contend with; one of them is the responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iraq.

In preparation, Colonel Nodjomian and his team conducted several studies analyzing JBB's base life-support capabilities. This detailed analysis has been used by Air Force Central Command, Multinational Core-Iraq and Multinational Force-Iraq to show the JBB mission set can grow over the next two years as U.S. forces continue to reposture. In general, these studies prove promising and also lead to significant cost savings.

One such saving is the process for generating and distributing power on JBB. Since taking over BOS-I, the 332 EMSG is consolidating inefficient spot generation and bringing a significantly more reliable and efficient power plant online. This initiative will eliminate more than 330 dispersed generators and will yield an annual fuel and manpower savings of $36 million.

"Even this late in the game with withdrawal facing us, the power plant project will have less than a two-year payback," said Colonel Nodjomian.

While the BOS-I process has proven to be a highly effective method of running JBB, the colonel is quick to credit the Airmen of the 332nd EMSG.

"Hundreds of Airmen have transitioned through the 332nd EMSG; each of them made a major contribution to our collective success," he concluded.