OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- The historic 2019 flood decimated many buildings at Offutt Air Force Base, including the Bennie L. Davis maintenance facility. While most buildings were torn down to make way for new campuses, contractors gutted the Bennie Davis and began the rebuilding process, which allowed the maintainers to reoccupy the building in the spring of 2021.
While civilian contractors are responsible for larger projects like hanging new sheetrock and replacing the roof, the 55th Maintenance Group’s Programs and Resources Section works on beautifying and making quality-of-life improvements around the facility to help build morale.
“When I took over as the section chief about a year ago, we started to realize there were a lot of issues which needed to be fixed,” said Tech. Sgt. Jamie Hubbard, Programs and Resources Section chief. “There were a lot of clouds over how the process was supposed to be done.”
His team reached out to the 55th Civil Engineer Squadron to figure out how the process worked. They quickly learned if they needed a quality-of-life project completed, they needed to use a program called NexGen and provide supporting documentation to give CE specific instructions.
One of those projects nicknamed the ‘leaky room’ was on the list for more than a year. Hubbard’s team noticed the repair request was written incorrectly. It stated that the roof was leaking, when in fact there was an A/C return line that was leaking, causing the ceiling to collapse. CE didn’t address the ‘leaky room’ work request because the entire roof of the Bennie Davis was in a project stage of being repaired.
Col. Kyle Clement, 55th MXG commander, said Hubbard finds and capitalizes on opportunities and uses his knowledge to make notable contributions that benefit everyone who walks into the building.
According to several Airmen working in the building, the most noticeable improvement is the new LED bulbs that produce light up to 90% more efficiently.
“I like my job and I like where I work,” said Senior Airman Annika Evansen, 55th MXG personnelist. “When I walk into the building and see they’re making it a more pleasant and inviting place to work, it makes coming to work that much better.”
So far, the team has repaired the rock bed and planted trees near the entrance, and had CE wire the building with cell phone antennas to fix dead zones and repair the exhaust fans in the restrooms.
“We have many more projects that we have done and I’m proud of the work my team has accomplished over the past year,” Hubbard added.
The Programs and Resources Section chief is a 24-month assignment after which Hubbard will return to his normal Air Force duties as an Aerospace Ground Equipment mechanic.