Football analogy benefits ACC Civil Engineering

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LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (ACCNS) --  When looking for better ways to conduct business, many people check out their competitors for ideas. For one directorate at Air Combat Command, however, the answer was found with a different set of competitors football teams.

To tackle problems which typically plague construction projects in their final stages, the Civil Engineering Directorate instituted a "red zone mentality" to ensure everyone involved with a project fulfills their obligations on time and on budget.

"When you are a real good football team, you have to be able to score once you get down to the Red Zone, the area of the field between the 20 yard line and goal line. Each player on the team has to pull together, know their assignment and carry it out in order for the team to score," said Dennis Firman, ACC chief of construction. "Construction is kind of like that--we call it operating in the red zone when we get down to 60-90 days before occupancy."

The need for the "red zone mentality" came about because of frustrations within the command of not being able to predict when buildings could be turned over to users. Projects were constantly coming in behind schedule and over budget.

That began to change with the start of the red zone plan. Since being implemented, the directorate has seen a dramatic shift in the commands ability to get projects completed on schedule and on budget, said Firman.

For example, in 1999, 70 to 80 percent of the buildings came in behind schedule and four percent over-budget. With the full implementation of red zone, that number changed to 70 to 80 percent of the projects in 2003 being completed on schedule and only .02 percent over budget.

"The first (red zone) project was a fitness center at Whiteman AFB," said Mr. Firman. "We instituted the red zone and the project slipped only about two weeks from the ribbon cutting date. (Without red zone), it probably would have been the kind of thing that would slip six months.

"We came up with this concept to work as a team effort, said Mr. Firman. In the past, there was not an effort to bring the team together to discuss the problematic issues."

Now, under the red zone, a series of meetings with everyone involved in the construction project take place to go over every detail as the project is progressing. This "team"--which includes contractors, communications, the fire department, the command program manager, and the user works through the issues that could possibility delay or add cost to the project.

The result, Mr. Firman said, is a much more efficient process in completing projects.

"They are committed to have these projects done by a given date," said Mr. Firman.

Typically, the project gets delayed or has cost overruns during its last days because of the specific details that require special attention.

"What we do at the red zone meeting is identify any outstanding commitments that need to take place, and we fund them early on so they can be completed on time."

ACC bases are seeing benefits of the red zone strategy. Utilizing the strategy has resulted in users getting their buildings on average six months to a year earlier than they would have previously, said Mr. Firman. The strategy has worked so well, it has been adopted across the Department of Defense.

Additionally, the practice contributed to the directorate being honored in 2004 by Buildings magazine as one of the "Top 25 Firms" that are "the most enviable real estate ownership/development, management companies, corporate real estate departments, institutional owners, and government agencies."

While they enjoy the recognition of their efforts, the directorate sees completing projects as a readiness issue, and see red zone as their tool to do their part toward operational readiness.

"Everyday you slip, that is a day that warfighter doesnt have use of that facility," said Mr. Firman.