Soldiers living in Hawaii will soon keep track of their barracks room maintenance requests

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii -- U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii is participating in a pilot test of the new Army Maintenance Application, or ArMA, that will soon aid all Army barracks residents.

Since Dec. 1, seven Hawaii barracks locations (within the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd and 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat teams) have had access to an online maintenance application that keeps barracks residents informed about what’s happening with their individual maintenance and repair issues they’ve submitted for resolution to the Directorate of Public Works, or DPW, here.

Typical barracks issues reported include broken air conditioning, plumbing or electrical repair. Whatever the issue, the application provides a live, up-to-date tracking of the resolution.

“The goal is to provide residents a quick way to submit and track service orders in hopes of improving customer response times to allow for direct dialogue between the resident and DPW,” said Melissa Breton-Hall, chief, Business Operations Division, DPW, U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.

Anthony F. Clark, a housing manager in DPW, agrees.

“The Army Maintenance Program application will satisfy a critical Army Barracks Management Program (or ABMP) requirement, providing transparency to the units on the most current status of all maintenance work orders within their barracks,” he said.

“I personally think the program is great. I like the idea of how you could attach a photo of the work that needs to be fixed/repaired and submitted by the Soldier themselves,” said Sgt. 1st Class Vincent N. Perez, senior barracks manager/brigade, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd IBCT, 25th ID. “I also like the fact that it shows up in the DPW Analysis and Reporting System (or DART), which a barracks manager can access and keep track of when work orders are submitted by Soldiers.”

Perez said one Soldier he showed how to use the system received quick access; however, other confirmations came slower.

During the first couple weeks of pilot testing in Hawaii, which is going on through Dec. 17, 14 Soldiers logged issues at their barracks. DPW has since resolved each one of their issues. The process has provided convenience and saved hours and days of wasted tracking time. Soldiers no longer have to submit tickets through barracks management representatives or wait and delay for service representatives to call them back.

Schofield Barracks is among a number of locations where the ArMA has been in pilot testing. The application rolls out across the entire Army in early 2021.

Using the application, Soldiers simply register at the ArMA to submit their maintenance or repair request – 24 hours per day, seven days a week. They may check the status of the request in the days or weeks ahead, submit photos, ask questions and give detailed information until the issue is closed out. Soldiers may access the site and submit a case via their desktop web browser or by scanning the code above with their smartphone camera.