Work order flow

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Jessica Clark
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Your door knob is a little wobbly. You fill out a work order and then you ask, "When is it going to be done?"

Airman First Class Brandon Griebel, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron dig permit coordinator, says this is the number one questions he gets asked.

In order to ensure that work orders are done properly, Staff Sgt. Stephanie Montoya, 60th Civil Engineering NCO in charge of customer service, advises to first go through the facility manager.

"There should be a primary and alternate facility manager," Montoya said. "One of the key responsibilities of FMs is ensuring their facility is in compliance with Department of Defense and Air Force standards and by doing so, will provide CE with the most effective way to assess and complete mission requirements in a timely manner."

Facility managers are offered training quarterly but only required to take training annually. They are taught how to discern between the different classifications of work orders and their priorities to better assist CE.

"We categorize work orders into three classifications: routine, urgent and emergency," Greibel said. "Routine is something that is done within 30 days, urgent is up to seven days and emergency is done within 24 hours."

Emergencies are things that can greatly impact the mission, urgent work orders are things that cause a work stoppage and routine items are like the air conditioning not working for a small part of a building, he said. It's not an emergency, but it's making you a little uncomfortable.

Travis is the largest base in the Air Mobility Command and there is a lot of work to do.

"We have to look at the larger picture and what the priorities are," Griebel said.

Facility managers can do a few things in order to assist CE in properly assessing and fixing a problem.

"Facility managers are encouraged to check the work order prior to giving us a call to help us out," Montoya said. "If they can attempt to fix the minor repairs themselves, it saves everyone time and money."

Minor fixes that facility managers can do are plunge a toilet, change a light bulb that it less than 10 feet high or screw in hardware that may be loose with door knobs, she said. As long as safety is not an issue and they feel comfortable performing the task, facility managers can help.
"We'd like to remind everyone that with the budget cuts, we have to defer some things," Montoya said.

Preventative measures are also best to take with minor issues before they become major safety hazards and hard fixes.

"Some people listen to their cars rattle for months and then the engine goes out," Griebel said. "If they had taken it to the mechanic when it first started, it would probably have been less expensive and less work to fix."

"I recently received a call from an office that had a problem with their door and they waited until it didn't open to call us," he said. "It was a major fire and safety hazard and we had to immediately send someone over there."

Minor issues are best to report sooner so CE can take care of it and prevent it from getting worse.
"It may not be today or tomorrow but we will get to you," Griebel said. "We work in customer service. We like to help people, it's our job."

To contact the CE customer service line, call 424-2575/2576 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or via email at 60ces/csu.org@us.af.mil.