RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Ramstein Air Base is touted as the “Global Gateway”, meaning most members’ days and hours are spent on the flightline, in the office or at the gate, managing the taxing tasks that come with being one of the largest U.S. Air Force bases overseas.
When the work is finally done and it’s time to clock out, they expect a comfortable residence to come back to and de-stress in.
However, for dorm Airmen, that has not been the case for some time. General structural degradation, including ventilation, light dimmers and heating was occurring from a lack of the resources needed in order to be maintained.
“Just for the Airmen to be able to sleep at night they would have to go to their panels and turn off their breakers,” said Senior Airman Aedon King, 786th Civil Engineer Squadron electrical systems journeyman. “Which becomes a hazard just because of faulty dimmers.”
These small things add up and eventually end up slowing down our service members.
After a recent push from the Secretary of War for better living conditions across installations, discrepancies like these were brought to light and the funds necessary to address them were allocated.
A reallocation of resources and the SECWAR’s attention to the matter brought in a demand for the manpower, which is where units like the 786th CES come in to support.
“Throughout the entire military, all branches were given funds by the Department of War,” said Tech. Sgt. Taquan Kelley, 786th CES optimizations non-commissioned officer in charge. “These funds are used specifically to address quality of life in barracks and dorms for Airmen, Soldiers and Marines.”
All sections of the 786th CES are working on quality-of-life improvements, to include water and fuel systems maintenance, heating ventilation and air-conditioning and structures.
High traffic areas like the base gyms are also being revitalized, highlighting the importance of physical fitness being impressed upon service members. The post offices will be considered as improvements move along as well.
For the more aged buildings, full-bodied rehabilitation of internal systems has been put into the works and plans implemented for further upgrades as parts come in.
These things all contribute to the daily well-being of junior enlisted members and fulfill a promise of clean and comfortable spaces.
At the end of the day, most new Airmen arriving at the dorms don’t have the immediate luxury to choose where they can live. The reprieve of being able to go home and wind down is essential to our warfighter’s capability.