Air Mobility Command's environmental restoration program is leading the Air Force’s performance-based management policy. 

It is doing that with contracts for the operation and long-term management of 41 cleanup sites at seven bases.

The command considered only sites that have reached the remedial-action phase of the cleanup process.

"We achieve an immediate benefit from economy of scale by bundling the projects," said Nicholas Linden, the AMC environmental restoration action officer.

"We expect to reduce our remedial-action operation and long-term management costs by $500,000 through this 'warehouse store' approach," Mr. Linden said. "We get a better 'price' per site."

Brig. Gen. Del Eulberg, the command director of installations and mission support, said, “This initiative is an excellent example of our efforts to gain greater efficiencies in environmental cleanup and return use of the land to sustain AMC's airlift and air refueling capabilities."

The command was divided into east and west regions, with an operation and maintenance service contract and a long-term management contract for each region.

Twenty-two sites at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; and Pope AFB, N.C., are in the east region. TolTest, Inc., of Maumee, Ohio, will operate, maintain, monitor and report data from the various RA systems in the east region.

Environmental Quality Management, Inc., of Cincinnati, will provide the same services for the 19 west region sites at Fairchild AFB, Wash.; Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; McConnell AFB, Kan.; and Travis AFB, Calif.

Architect-engineer contractors will provide professional oversight, performing quality assurance, data analysis and regulatory reporting under the long-term management contracts. Earth Tech, Inc., of Long Beach, Calif., will provide services for the east region. CH2M Hill, Inc., of Englewood, Colo., will provide the service for the west region.

Mr. Linden and technical teams from Booz Allen Hamilton spent four months last year visiting 10 command bases in a third-party assessment of the restoration programs to recommend potential savings and efficiencies.

"AMC will leverage additional savings under the A-E contract," Mr. Linden said. "The A-E contractors are required to evaluate and apply remedial process optimization measures after consultation with the base remedial program managers and their respective regulators. AMC will benefit from the savings realized by implementing RPO measures."

The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence will provide the contracting support. Gene Gallogly -- the center’s former chief -- of the command’s and 11th Wing support division, said AMC is the first command to separate the restoration program engineering element from the remediation service work to gain greater cost efficiencies and align the contracts with the goals of performance-based acquisitions.

He said both contractors will be highly motivated to save the Air Force money while improving service. One with an operational expertise focused on doing the job more efficiently, and the other with a technical expertise focused on finding ways to eliminate unnecessary or ineffective tasks.

"As some ongoing contracts expire, we'll fold those bases and sites into these contracts," Mr. Linden said. "And, as more restoration sites move into later stages of cleanup, those sites will be added, and we'll realize even more savings."

(Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)