FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – More than 60 installation unit representatives attended the first Army Barracks Management Program (ABMP) stakeholders meeting of 2022 to improve and streamline barracks management for enlisted service members in pay grade staff sergeant (E-6) and below.
The ABMP has replaced the First Sergeant’s Barracks Program (FSBP) 2020 across the Army. The primary difference between these programs is that ABMP assigns responsibility for barracks management to the company commanders or equivalent level, whereas the FSBP 2020 authorized barracks management at the brigade or equivalent level.
“The significance of the ABMP is revising the roles and the responsibilities for leaders in regard to barracks management and the quality of life for Soldiers living in the barracks,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Clark Kuhling, garrison command sergeant major. “The ABMB also requires a quarterly discussion with all garrison leaders involved in the process, military and civilian, to discuss issues and fixes and best practices seen across the installation.”
ABMP establishes procedures to improve the quality of life for single and unaccompanied Soldiers to enhance morale and welfare, increase retention and sustain combat readiness.
“Under the First Sergeant Barracks Program (FSBP) 2020, there was a disconnect in reporting, occupancy rates and accountability of furnishings,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Tammy Everette, command sergeant major for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence.
Everette added ABMP first accurately accounts for spaces and furnishings. If the occupancy rate doesn’t match reality, the command cannot advocate for more living space.
ABMP also demands engaged leadership to solve housing issues.
“We synchronize and integrate services for the garrison, and barracks quality is a focal point for me as the garrison command sergeant major,” said Kuhling. “I want our Soldiers to live in a safe and acceptable living space that they can call home, without issues.”
The program improves facilities and furnishings stewardship and increases senior leader visibility of barracks management.
“Our role is first to inform the installation of the standard, express the importance of the program and oversee the implementation of the program,” Everette said. “Secondly, our role is to support the garrison team and chair the quarterly stakeholder meeting to monitor progress and place emphasis where it is needed.”
Additionally, ABMP brings in Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program and garrison partners like the Soldier & Family Readiness Center and USO, which have a vested interest in helping Soldiers.
“The Army Housing Office provides unit leaders and their noncommissioned officers with training on the systems used, key control support and subject-matter expertise,” said Ethan Bradley, chief of the Housing Division, Directorate of Public Works. “The Directorate of Public Works plans and executes long term sustainment, restoration and modernization projects to keep the barracks infrastructure up to date.
“The stakeholder concept introduced in the ABMP, with clearly outlined roles and responsibilities placed in the right hands, creates a highly effective synergy and is what makes the ABMP a far better approach to barracks management,” he concluded.
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Fort Huachuca is home to the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command, and more than 48 supported tenants representing a diverse, multiservice population. Our unique environment encompasses 946 square miles of restricted airspace and 2,500 square miles of protected electronic ranges, critical components to the national defense mission.
Located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico, Fort Huachuca is an Army installation with rich frontier history. Established in 1877, the Fort was declared a national landmark in 1976.
We are the Army’s Home. Learn more at https://home.army.mil/huachuca/
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