JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (March 11, 2021) -- Mission and Installation Contracting Command-Fort Sill acquisition personnel in Oklahoma continue to provide contracting support to units and personnel after the installation began recovery efforts following two snowstorms that blanketed the area with a weeklong Arctic freeze.
Ice-covered roads, deep snow and negative temperatures limited the post to mission-critical and essential workers. The storm left workers and families to deal with burst water pipes, power outages, water shortages and a lack of heat.
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Fort Sill officials and MICC-Fort Sill acquisition professionals assessed the initial damage to 200 facilities and estimated recovery efforts to cost nearly $45 million. The extent of the recovery effort involves water removal, dehumidification, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, fire suppression, Sheetrock demolition and repair, latrine repairs, plumbing repairs, electrical repair, roofing, painting and other routine construction tasks.
“Naturally, initial assessments are not always final assessments of work to be done,” said Sharon Kay McKinzie, director of the MICC-Fort Sill contracting office. “You can tear into a wall to remove Sheetrock and discover other problems; the same is true for mechanical equipment. We have roofs, floors and everything in between that need repair.”
Gen. Edward Daly, the Army Materiel Command commanding general, recently toured the installation and met with Fort Sill and MICC-Fort Sill leadership to discuss the way forward for repairs.
"If we are putting people first, then this is easy. I just came here to commend you all on the work you've done and to let you know you have all the support to make it happen," Daly said.
Daly tasked the MICC-Fort Sill contracting office to provide the contracting support needed to complete repairs on 12 of the most damaged facilities within 14 days and complete the remaining 200 heavily damaged facilities within 60 days. Sustaining damages were administrative, barracks, child and youth services, dining, hangars, lodging, maintenance, museum support, organizational storage and warehouse facilities.
“For the safety of our Soldiers, civilians and their families, we will accept no delays and excuses in getting the repairs done and their lives back in order,” said Pauline Abraham, chief of the installation support division for the MICC-Fort Sill contracting office. “It has affected everyone. Even our building had two inches of standing water in it.”
Abraham and her team are the central figures in the contracting process to recover the installation.
To meet the timeframe for completion of repairs, most of the work is being added to existing contract vehicles and other small businesses.
Abraham said she usually has 65 days to get a contract in place before work begins. However, given the tasking of 60 days to have everything completed, she and her team have had to research expedited procedures.
“We expect about half of the work to go to the AbilityOne base operations contractor and remaining to go to the other small businesses,” Abraham said. “We selected contractors who had their own crews but could augment with subcontracting support. The small business contractors we are working with are subcontracting with another contractor to support remediation work and assist in performing upfront assessments of work to be completed.”
Those involved with the recovery efforts have said it has been a total team effort between contractors, acquisition professionals and leaders to get the installation back in order after the storms.
“I want to praise the support from everyone across our command and Installation Management Command; especially our local directorate of public works and small businesses supporting this huge and critical effort,” McKinzie said. “Finally, my staff. Specifically Pauline Abraham and Martha Livsey for laying out the groundwork to execute with lightning speed. They are exceptional leaders and top-notch professionals. I realize much remains in front of us, but we have accomplished so much the past week. Given all the effort and support I have witnessed, I believe we are definitely up for the challenge.”
About the MICC:
Headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the Mission and Installation Contracting Command consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. As part of its mission, MICC contracts are vital in feeabilityding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, facilitate training in the preparation of more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
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