Candy Michener's 'old school' approach key to Fort Lee BRAC success

Posted February 23, 2011
By Jerry Rogers
Norfolk District Public Affairs

02/23/2011 - FORT LEE, Va. — If you've ever visited a military installation in Virginia, you might have walked by one of Candace "Candy" Michener's creations.

She's amassed a collection of "cradle to grave" design and construction projects over the course of a 26-plus year career as a project and resident engineer with Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Her repertoire includes soldier and airmen barracks, dining facilities, hospitals, dental clinics, gyms, family housing, child development centers, commissaries, indoor and outdoor training facilities and much more.

Despite her stockpile of experience, Michener admits she was nervous when the call came for her to join the staff of the Fort Lee Base Realignment and Closure Area Office, which was established to handle more than one billion dollars in new construction projects.

When President George W. Bush signed the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act in 2005, he set into motion a military construction transformation that would totally change the landscape of Fort Lee. By fall 2011, the Army installation near Richmond, Va., will have completed 35 BRAC infrastructure projects to accommodate more than 22,000 troops, installation employees and family members – nearly double its 2005 military population.

It wasn't the number of construction projects Michener and her team had to manage that gave her pause, but the swift pace of work involved in fulfilling the BRAC process by fall 2011, said Michener.

"We began BRAC 05 construction in fall 2007, using an accelerated construction timeline," Michener said. "To meet this timeline, our team has had to stay focused and disciplined every day – on each project – to ensure we successfully complete our BRAC mission by 2011."

To meet the looming 2011 deadline, Norfolk District used an innovative contract award process that sped up project delivery time by making one qualified contractor responsible for the project's design and construction, said Debora Gray, chief of Contracting Office's Military Branch.

Michener has completed five BRAC 05 military construction projects and is currently working her last three, with one being a consolidated troop medical/dental clinic, one of only a handful in the Army inventory. It's part of the BRAC Ordnance Center and School, which sits on 380 acres and resembles a college campus. Known as Fort Lee North, the campus is comprised of five barracks, 10 training bays and one of the largest dining facilities in the Army, and 4,500 advanced individual training students and their instructors. The state-of-the-art troop medical/dental facility is set for completion in May.

"This is really a neat project. It combines a wide variety of medical and dental services, including in-house medical laboratories and a dental fabrication unit, so the students can receive timely medical and dental treatment at just one medical facility," Michener said.

Greg Hegge, chief of Norfolk District's Fort Lee Projects Branch, had nothing but praise for the work accomplished by the Fort Lee BRAC Area team.

"So many factors contribute to the success of each construction project here, but it's the men and women in the field who are the true heroes of the battle," said Hegge. "Each day they work tirelessly, even through holidays, to administer these construction contracts. It is only through their dedicated efforts that we deliver these quality projects on time, within budget and environmentally sound and safe for soldiers and their families."

Michener came to Norfolk District after serving with the Corps' Huntington District for two-plus years, and as a resident engineer here, she supervises the project construction staff. Michener, a West Milford, W.Va. native, is also the go-to for technical advice regarding the project's design, construction, contract administration, and issuing of contract modifications.

Michener's recipe for project success is admittedly "old school," but she stressed the importance of always keeping it simple and never losing sight of the big picture.

"Take extra effort that the roof doesn't leak and the mechanical systems heat and cool properly, and that all the special systems the customer needs to operate and train are functional," Michener said. "Get that done on time and you should have a successful project."