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Cadillacs to get 'overhaul'

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
Southwest Asia --  The portable restrooms in many parts of the base, commonly referred to as 'cadillacs,' are scheduled to receive an overhaul in the near future. 

The wing commander's goal is to have  three new, concrete facilities and five of the cadillacs in most need of repair refurbished by Dec. 25, according to Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Schwiesow, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing command chief. 

The existing cadillacs have been ranked from one to 30 in order to ensure the ones most in need of repair are refurbished first. The length of time it will take to refurbish each cadillac will vary according to what needs to be done, said Master Sgt. Paul Thiel, 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron first sergeant, deployed from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D. 

"The ECES 'Zone' crews went through and took photos of nearly every inch of each cadillac, logging the discrepancies," said Senior Master Sgt. Randall Stutzman, superintendent of 379 ECES Zone Maintenance, deployed from Scott Air Force Base, Ill. "We're going to do the best we can to bring them up to 100 percent. Many have damaged walls, floors, fixtures and mirrors. We'll try to fix all the damaged items and paint the entire cadillac." 

The refurbishment project is needed to offset the normal wear and tear of the facilities.
"Our cadillacs are supposed to have a five-year service life and we're now in our seventh year," said Sergeant Thiel, a Reed City, Mich., native. "[Keeping the facilities nice for the user] is difficult, but not impossible. It's going to take some work." 

The 379 ECES Zone crews will perform the work to make improvements to the existing facilities. Zone crews take care of maintenance for all of Coalition Compound and the Blatchford-Preston Complex facilities. 

Even though the refurbishment schedule isn't completely set, work should begin soon on Buildings C4301, C4601 and C10025. 

"We will begin work on the cadillacs almost immediately with the materials we have on hand," said Sergeant Stutzman. "Some materials were ordered and we'll have to wait for those, but we'll start with what we have." 

It has not been decided whether cadillacs will be closed completely for refurbishment or whether work will be done in portions. 

"We want to provide the best facility we can with the least inconvenience for those who use them," said the Bellevue, Neb., native. 

Providing the best possible facilities for the warfighter within fiscal constraints is also a wing goal. 

"Because of the resource-constrained environment we operate in, every dollar we get must be wisely used," said Chief Schwiesow. 

The wing commander's philosophy is to instill pride in ownership, according to the chief. 

"The first sergeants are in the process of assigning squadrons to each of the cadillacs," said Sergeant Thiel. "The squadron with the most users in a particular area will be responsible for that cadillac. We'll then assign a point of contact and they'll be a facilities manager of that particular cadillac. If something is broken, the user can call and say commode number three is backed up. The facilities manager can then put in a work order and get the Zone team out to take care of it." 

The goal of the program is to better maintain existing facilities until the newer cadillacs are ready. 

"Limits on new construction require us to put more emphasis on caring for our existing facilities as long as we occupy them, until permanent replacement facilities are constructed," said Chief Schwiesow. 

Just as an overhaul of a car engine extends its life, wing leadership hopes the overhaul of the cadillacs and assigning ownership to them will keep the facilities in the best possible condition until they are no longer needed. 

"The new cadillacs are coming up, but we don't know exactly when all of them will be operational," said Sergeant Stutzman. "They will be nice structures to use. We want to make the transition to them as easy as possible. We want to give those who use the cadillacs the best product we can until then."