PENTAGON -- Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar introduced two pilot programs this past year to enhance Marine and Sailor quality of life in its barracks and significantly improve living conditions for personnel.
The pilot programs have paved the way for a service-wide rollout in support of Barracks 2030, the service’s initiative to improve all Marines’ quality of life in the barracks.
The Resident Advisor (RA) program places staff noncommissioned officers in the barracks to provide advocacy for housing issues and complement a Marine’s or Sailor’s chain of command. This increases opportunities for mentorship and proximity of junior Marines to senior leaders while ensuring good order and discipline in the barracks.
The assignment of the program’s first eight RAs led to a reduction of service member misconduct and disruptive behavior in the barracks while assisting Marines in their transition to a new lifestyle away from home.
Sgt. Maj. Jason Hammock, Marine Corps Installations Command Senior Enlisted Advisor, identified there are a few things he would like command teams to understand about the programs.
“The first is that with senior Marines sharing the same living standards with junior Marines, they are well positioned to advocate for junior Marines because they will clearly understand what is going on,” Hammock said. “The second thing is that while these resident advisors technically work for the installation, they are in the barracks to provide direct support for unit commanders. The RAs are an additional tool available to complement and support the chain of command – not replace it.”
As the program is implemented across the Marine Corps, unit leaders will remain responsible for their assigned areas to include all current functions of command such as room assignments and field day, Hammock added.
“The RA program provides advocacy for junior Marines with room discrepancies through senior leadership that occupies the same spaces they do,” said Sgt. Maj. Marquis L. Young, MCAS Miramar Senior Enlisted Advisor. “MCAS Miramar is making strides toward Talent Management, Force Design, and Installations and Logistics, and the RA program is a new initiative in our effort to work towards a stronger future.”
Complementing the RA program, the pilot Barracks Services Team (BST) program provides direct support for barracks upkeep. The program streamlines maintenance requests to address issues in a timely fashion. This was done through a centralized QR code maintenance support system that created a simple process for Marines to identify a maintenance issue.
The combination of the QR system and BSTs created an influx of requests that led MCAS Miramar to double the number of supportable maintenance requests required in its initial contract. The responsiveness and reliability of the improved maintenance system increased trust with Marines in the barracks, encouraging more maintenance requests.
MCAS Miramar’s initiatives to enhance the quality of life for our Sailors and Marines underscore the impact of improvement and innovation at all levels. These proof-of-concept pilot programs have set conditions to improve quality of life in implementing the Barracks 2030 vision.