ArMA: What is it and why is it important to you?

KWAJALEIN, MARSHALL ISLANDS

02.11.2021

Story by James Brantley 

U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll

The Army’s top priority is people, and one key area of leadership emphasis is providing quality and safe housing to Soldiers, Families and other tenants on our installations.

Army leaders recognize our residents deserve open and transparent communication and responsiveness, especially in their ability to communicate directly with the service provider about a problem in their home.

As the Army transitions to the information age, we recognize this new capability needs to be accessible via mobile phones. Army Materiel Command developed the concept, arranged the partnerships and provided resources to develop the application, and housing and systems integration professionals from Installation Management Command drove the transition from concept to working system.

The U.S. Army has created an innovative mobile web application called ArMA (armymaintenance.com). ArMA allows residents living in bachelor quarters and non-privatized Army housing to file and track maintenance work orders from the convenience of their smartphones using one uniform system.
ArMA is a simple interface for use in all Army barracks around the world, and for Army Family Housing (found primarily OCONUS where RCI does not apply), where residents submit work requests and provide a description of their case. They can include photos of the maintenance problem using the app’s camera feature and access a maintenance catalog and list of services. Users can access ArMA by typing armymaintenance.com into their browser or by linking to it from Digital Garrison, the Army’s enterprise mobile app for installation services. ArMA puts real-time information into Soldiers’, Families’, and civilians’ hands, a key part of readiness and resiliency.
In the past two years, the Army has invested nearly $2.5 billion in barracks construction and renovation, with plans for billions more in the coming years. ArMA will help extend the life and quality of these new and upgraded facilities by ensuring required work is identified and reported earlier and maintenance performed quickly and accurately.

The first time a user accesses ArMA, they can register and have their sponsor verify their account, a one-time process. Once registered, users go directly to their own account.

Users will be able to create a “household” in the “account management” section of the website so all members of a residence can see open maintenance requests.
User accounts remain constant when a Soldier, Family member or Civilian changes station.
IMCOM conducted a pilot test in December 2020 to identify problems and develop ways to improve. During the testing period, Fort Campbell, Kentucky and U. S. Army Garrison Bavaria exercised ArMA for all their installation’s facilities, while all other bases tested a smaller group of facilities. ArMA became fully active and available to users on 1 January 2021.

ArMA on the Digital Garrison mobile app

The Digital Garrison mobile app continues to improve readiness as a one-stop shop for installation services.

Beginning January 19, users can use Digital Garrison to link to the new Army Maintenance Application (ArMA). Housing and barracks residents are able to sign up and access the new system through Digital Garrison or at https://www.armymaintenance.com.

In the modern age, the ability to access accurate and timely information is a powerful enabler. Lt. Gen. Doug Gabram, the commanding general of United States Army Installation Management Command whose team oversees the apps, believes the “value they provide the Army goes well beyond convenience. They emphasize improving the quality of life for the Army’s people by empowering them with information.”

ArMA enhances the ability of our Soldiers, Family members, and other tenants of Army-owned housing to securely access up-to-date information about the status of work orders they submit and provide feedback once the work is accomplished. The new work order service allows residents to enter requests via the website or app 24/7 and receive tracking numbers immediately without having to wait for a service representative to call back. Users can also check status updates of their service issues, submit questions, comments or responses, and complete automated customer satisfaction surveys through the system.

Housing residents may visit the website and provide a personal, .mil or .civ email address; the location, including building number, of the residence; and unit and phone number. Family members will be able to use the website with a personal email address after the sponsor validates it.

The linkage to ArMA starts another year of continual improvement for Digital Garrison. Other planned improvements include garrison newsfeeds and social media connections, ICE comments, and a new link to the Army PCS Move app. Digital Garrison currently has 63 garrisons represented, and more are joining as they achieve technical requirements.

Download Digital Garrison for free from the Google Play and Apple App stores now and link to ArMA. Users can also access ArMA at https://www.armymaintenance.com.



Steps to create an account:
1.) Go to www.armymaintenance.com
2.) Select “Sign Up Now”
3.) Enter your personal email address.
4.) Most users can self-certify (Military, GOV and Contractor) with their work email addresses (.ctr/.mil/[e-mail]; @dyn-intl.com; aafes.com; etc.). Otherwise, have a CAC holder with a .mil account within your organization sponsor you.
5.) Enter your full name and telephone number.
6.) For Garrison, enter “Kwaj” and select “USAG Kwajalein Atoll”.
7.) For Site, select Kwajalein Island or Roi-Namur Island.
8.) For Building, select your facility number. NOTE: This does not include your barracks room number or quarters number (A,B,C,D); you must enter this when you submit a maintenance request.
9.) For Unit, select your Military or Government affiliation; for Contractor, select “Contractor in Army Housing”.
10.) Finally, create a password.

• Date Taken: 02.11.2021
• Date Posted: 02.10.2021 15:41
• Story ID: 388805
• Location: KWAJALEIN, MH