ArMA

FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- Soldiers living in Fort Rucker barracks will start 2021 with a new way to submit work orders to fix issues with their Army homes via the Army Maintenance Application at armymaintenance.com.

The new program goes Army-wide for Army-managed family housing, lodging and barracks Jan. 1, but at Fort Rucker, only the barracks are managed by the Army as contract partners manage lodging and family housing on post, according to Wanda Ragan, systems engineer with the Directorate of Public Works.

While the vast majority of Soldiers living in Fort Rucker barracks, both permanent party and those living on post while training, will have to wait until next year to take advantage of ArMA, DPW and its maintenance operations contract partners began running a pilot program on the system Dec. 1 in three barracks facilities, Bldgs. 4913, 6815 and 8351, according to Ragan.

“The pilot is going well,” she said, adding that while DPW officials haven’t received any feedback from Soldiers on the program as of yet, reports from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that has been running the pilot for a longer period, have been positive. “We’re using the pilot program to mainly get our people in DPW and the contractors trained up on the new system, so we’re ready when it goes live.”

That workload will increase tenfold starting Jan. 1, she added, once all 30-plus barracks are included in the program.

“We’ve had some challenges with the new system, but we’re training together and learning together – we’re getting there,” Ragan said. “DPW and our contract partners are committed to making the best possible use of this new system to keep our Soldiers well taken care of in their Army homes.”

Soldiers will be able to use the system to get work orders placed for non-emergency repairs to their barracks homes, such as broken outlets, cracked windows, malfunctioning toilets, etc. Right now, those orders are placed over the phone, she said.

Advantages of the program include Soldiers being able to submit and alter service requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week on personal computers or smartphones, the ability to upload photos to help maintenance staff understand the issues being reported, check on the status of requests, ask questions about requests and take part in automated customer satisfaction surveys, Ragan added.

After the test period is evaluated and the new process is eventually launched worldwide, residents will be able to visit the website and provide a personal, .mil or .civ email address; the location, including building number, of the residence; and unit and phone number. Spouses will be able to use the website with a personal email address after the sponsor validates it, according to Installation Management Command officials.

Users will be able to create a household in the account management section of the website, so all members of a residence can see open maintenance requests, officials added. The person who creates the account and establishes a residence will be required to identify a head of household. The head of household may be a member of the military or spouse.

The account can follow the Soldier or family, as well, Ragan said, adding that Soldiers who go from living in the barracks at Fort Rucker to Army-managed family housing in, say, Germany, they would just need to update their new information into the new system to use ArMA.

Specific maintenance request categories will exist for common repairs such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC, broken glass and more, but if a dedicated catalog item does not exist for a specific maintenance request, residents will be able to use the general interior or exterior request item, officials said.

A list of all of open maintenance requests will be available at the bottom of the home page of the application for easy reference, according to IMCOM officials. Users will be able to click the case number to view details about a particular open maintenance request. The site will also feature an activity text box to provide comments or inquiries back to DPW. Any comments or questions from DPW clerks will be visible just below the input text box.

ArMA doesn’t replace the old way of doing things, it just provides another avenue for people to get work done on their homes, Ragan said.

“There is no requirement to create an account,” she said. “The idea behind it is to give people a new, convenient way to submit maintenance requests. The new system is easy to use – I think people will really like it.”

Come Jan. 1, people who experience difficulties or have questions about the new system can send an email to support@armymaintenance.com.