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2nd ARS inaugurates new Ops Center

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sean M. Crowe
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The 2nd Air Refueling Squadron held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a completed project in which they remodeled and reorganized their Operations Center Feb. 24, 2014, here.

Members of the 2nd ARS teamed with the 305th Air Mobility Wing Innovation and Efficiency office, an agency dedicated to economize resources, to utilize new and existing space to optimize the squadron's outdated operations center.

"The 605th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron moved out of our building and left us with some extra space to utilize," said Air Force Capt. J.P. Joyce, 2nd ARS KC-10 Extender pilot and New York City native. "We combined that and the existing Ops Center to create accommodations for all of our needs."

The improved Operations Center features an optimized layout, four new mission-planning computers and other resources to help them accomplish the mission.

The remodeling project also benefited from realignment of similar operations with the help of the 305th AMW Innovation and Efficiency Office streamlining processes in the operations center.

The Innovation and Efficiency Office personnel, who strive to save resources and money within the wing, partnered with the project officers to relocate agencies that work together and position them closer to each other to cut down to improve communication between them and interagency cohesiveness.

"It made sense to purposefully arrange all the linking agencies within the Operations Center since we were starting from scratch," said Joyce. "But, starting from scratch also created some hurdles to overcome."

The $56,000 project faced many roadblocks, but the project officers Joyce and Staff Sgt. Marteze "Tez" Ward, 2nd ARS flight engineer who hails from Springfield, Mo., successfully overcame knowledge lapses, budget constraints and time away from the project with the help of supporting organizations and their colleagues.

"Finding volunteers within the 2nd ARS was never an issue," said Ward. "In fact, we had an opposite problem where everyone wanted to help and we had so many valid contributions and ideas for the new space. It was almost a challenge in its own to pick from the best among the good ideas to utilize."

The squadron members weren't the only ones to help. Ward and Joyce credited the 87th Contracting Squadron, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron, 87th Communications Squadron, 305th AMW Resource Advisor and 305th AMW Innovation and Efficiency Office for contributing construction work, electrical work, plan development and funds allocation.

The project officers agreed that planning was the most difficult and arduous stage of the project, but things fell into place after.

"Once we were ready to actually move everything, we were able to clear out a 2,000-square-foot room in about two hours," said Ward. "The volunteers in our squadron never came up short and delivered when the time came. We were then ready to move in all the new furniture and lay it out according to the plan."

Other organizations on base helped with the loose ends that the project officers could not complete on their own.

"All of these outside agencies really came through and delivered when the time came," said Ward. "We couldn't have finished this product without them. But all in all, late nights and long days are what turned this project into a reality."

The squadron is able to more proficiently accomplish the air-refueling mission that provides the military with global mobility from the east coast as a result of teamwork and multiple agencies pooling resources.