Photo By Senior Airman Jennifer Gonzales | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Corey J. Musial, 86th Civil Engineer Squadron airman dorm...... read more read more
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Many changes have happened across the installation as coronavirus disease 2019 continues to shake the world. Prevention methods are in place for all units, which include reduced manning and daily sanitation of equipment.
Some programs have been temporarily suspended such as Bay Orderly for Airmen living in the dorms. Bay Orderly, or Bay-O, is a command chief program comprised of dorm residents who perform required duties to ensure cleanliness standards. There are 17 dorms and about 1500 Airmen who reside in them. 11 dorms are located at Ramstein while six are at Kapaun Air Station.
“Bay Orderly is on pause for right now because of physical distancing,” said Tech. Sgt. James Green, 86th Civil Engineer Squadron unaccompanied housing non-commissioned officer in charge. “We had 20 or so people every week. Obviously, they’d be in contact with each other.”
Since physical distancing was implemented, Green and his Airman Dormitory Leaders have taken on the bulk of the responsibilities for cleaning all 17 dorms. Although it seems to be a tough job, these Airmen adapted to the situation and came up with a solution.
“We made schedules for the dorms and it’s generally by the week,” said Green. “The first week, it could be the first floor of the dorms, second week, second floor and so on.”
A small team of ADLs will walk the dorms at least twice daily and check whether or not any areas need to be tidied up.
“If a laundry room needs to be cleaned, we’ll go clean it,” Green said. “If a kitchen needs to be attended to, we’ll take care of it. Or, you know, we’ll pick up trash in the parking lots and everything like that around the dumpsters.”
They’ve taken prudent measures and secured some areas around the dorms, not only to make it easier on their team, but to comply with physical distancing as well.
“We’ve cordoned off all gazebos and any areas that collect a lot of trash. We’ve mitigated a lot of things to make it easier, because there’s only 14 of us.” They’ve also reduced maintenance requests to urgent only and require anyone to knock on their door before they’re allowed to enter.
While the ADLs are capable of handling these responsibilities, they’ll ask for assistance if it’s needed.
The first line of defense is always personal responsibility. Green reminds Airmen to clean up after they use a common area, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The cleaner the common areas are, the less Green or his team will knock on residents’ doors.
Despite the challenges, Green and his team know how important their roles are. After all, the mission must continue.
“It’s a lot of ground to cover, but we’ve been able to stay afloat and manage,” Green said. “We know what Bay Orderly means to the base. This is why we’re here. We still need to take care of the base and the mission still goes on.”
| Date Taken: | 04.15.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2020 10:56 |
| Story ID: | 367548 |
| Location: | RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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