Helping those who help themselves                Julia Simpkins       Public Affairs Staff

Gone are the days when Soldiers could pull up a truck to the Self-help Store and load up building supplies and paint. Instead, a more organized system will help them accomplish their minor construction and repairs. The Directorate of Public Works now runs the self-help program, which allows Soldiers and civilians employees at Fort Jackson to obtain materials specified in work orders, through the Directorate of Contracting.  Clyde Reynolds, the director of DPW, heads up the self-help effort.  “They fill out Form 4283 and tell us exactly what they need and we get it for them,” he said. “They need to think about what they’re going to do before they submit a work order because whatever they ask for is exactly what they’re going to get, no more.”  Reynolds said the program saves time and man-hours by allowing Soldiers to do their own projects instead of waiting for DPW personnel to do them. Projects must fall under specific guidelines, however, and are limited in scope.  “For instance,” Reynolds said, “If they’re going to build a structure such as a shed, they have to get digging and construction permits, as well as a safety inspection. These things must be done. There is no ‘cutting corners.’”  Cutting corners, Reynolds said, most often results in wasted resources and is sometimes unsafe.  “We had one situation where a unit installed their own ceiling fans and when the fans stopped working because they shorted out they called us to fix them. We realized that we hadn’t installed the fans and we had to remove them –– for safety,” he said. Unauthorized electrical work is a serious infraction of safety regulations, Reynolds said. To have light fixtures or wiring installed on government property, people must go through DPW, using their licensed electricians. “It’s an education process. There could be serious repercussions to incorrectly installed electricity –– you could kill somebody,” he said. “We never authorize electrical work. We do that for them if we find the request is valid.” The self-help program is also useful for getting lumber for training aids, such as the wooden building structures at Anzio Range and at the Military Operations on Urban Terrain site.  While it is a good idea for units to use requisitioned materials to create training aids, Reynolds said, changing building structures is not allowed. “You can’t modify real property. That means you can’t install studs and drywall and build yourself a wall inside your office,” he said.  Such modifications, if deemed necessary, are made through DPW.  Paint is another material easily procured through self-help. DPW can order any color specified on the form, Reynolds said. “We give out lots and lots of paint. In the barracks, they’re constantly painting.” At the 120th Adjutant General Battalion (Reception), Soldiers routinely replace worn or stained ceiling tiles. “They come here and pick them up by the thousands. That’s good because they don’t store them, they use them right away.” The program is also good for obtaining fluorescent tube lights, a common fixture in most offices. The limited warehouse facilities DPW uses are mainly for plumbing supplies and minor building accessories. The walls are lined with fan belts and boxes of fluorescent bulbs and the shelves house pipe fittings, screws and bolts. Men on forklifts move boxes from place to place. Other materials, such as lumber, are purchased from commercial vendors as needed and picked up by the requester. At the 120th, Pfc. Sheena Frazier said everyone at its supply office (S-4) is familiar with the ceiling tile detail. “Every company goes around and does an inventory of what needs to be replaced and gives us a count. We place an order and go get the tiles, giving them to the companies who replace the damaged ones with the good ones,” she said. In the barracks, Initial Entry Training Soldiers are often tasked with repainting old unit logos and mottos, as well as creating new artwork. The 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment’s S-4 noncommissioned officer in charge, Staff Sgt. Clarence Harris, is responsible for getting paint for all the companies. He uses the self-help program regularly. “We do get paint from there. They (the companies) have to tell us how much and we submit a DA (Department of the Army) Form 4283. We submit it and they give us an estimated time of when we can pick it up. It’s an easy process. Whatever they’ve got, they’ll give you. Ten times out of 10 what you order, you’ll get,” he said. “The normal paint that they use they have in the 5 gallon drum. The odd colors come in one-gallon containers. You can request brushes rollers, paint kits and the plastic.”  While the instant gratification of drive-up service no longer exists with self-help items, the ordering process works just as well for Soldiers and civilians.  “I have a good rapport with them –– it’s no problem,” Harris said. For more information, call 751-0938. Julia.Simpkins@us.army.mil