Malmstrom relocates old housing through OWS

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Team Malmstrom members may have experienced some uncommon traffic jams in the past few weeks, as some of the base's roads were occupied by base housing units. While the housing units haven't transformed into living creatures roaming wildly on the streets of Malmstrom Air Force Base, they are moving for a good cause.

Malmstrom AFB is currently partnering with Operation Walking Shield to relocate old base housing to Native American Reservations in need of extra units.

According to the OWS website, www.walkingshield.org/operation.shtml, "Walking Shield assists with the integration of combined civil-military activities through the Department of Defense's Innovative Readiness Training program. The IRT program utilizes military expertise to address the inadequate healthcare, infrastructure and housing on American Indian reservations. IRT projects enhance unit training and readiness, while filling a community need that is not otherwise being met."

OWS includes a Housing Relocation Program, which is the program Malmstrom is currently undertaking. The program was put in place "To address the chronic overcrowding and homelessness facing American Indian reservations," according to the website. So far the HRP has provided more than 1,000 units that house more than 6,000 members on reservations across Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.

"Malmstrom Air Force Base has already given 300 homes since 1998," said Mark Coleman, 341st Civil Engineer Squadron real property officer and program manager for OWS operations. "Most of the new houses in the back of the base were once old houses that we relocated. The ones that we could not relocate - either they were too tall or too wide - we allowed the Native Americans to salvage materials out of them. They could get appliances out of them, interior doors, and other stuff like that."

Malmstrom's current relocation initiatives through OWS have gone through four phases so far this year; the most recent phase, which relocated 32 housing units, was completed March 22. The final phase, phase five, started March 23 and is scheduled to continue through June 1. During this phase, 38 houses have been allowed to be relocated. These 70 housing units total are being relocated to Fort Belknap, a Native American Reservation located east of Havre, Mont. Each housing unit will travel approximately 165 miles to reach its destination.

"Operation Walking Shield is just a mediator between the base and the reservation," Coleman said. "I have all of our documents signed by [Secretary of Air Force Installations] and the reservation, and then the reservation is actually considered the contractor. The tribe or the reservation actually hires the house movers. [They hired] Abel Moving [and Rigging Inc.], Big Sky House Movers and Tamietti House Moving for the current move."

Moving the old housing units benefits Fort Belknap by providing shelter for the reservation's members and it also benefits Malmstrom by allowing the housing to be reused. However, there's a larger advantage to relocating the houses that more than just the base and reservation are benefiting from.

"For one four-bedroom home, [relocating] is preventing about 70,000 pounds from going into a landfill," Coleman said. "For a three-bedroom unit, its 65,000 pounds that we're not putting into a landfill. When you add that in with 70 units total - 20 of which are four-bedroom units - that's a pretty big chunk of landfill space we're saving. When you look at the whole benefit for the reservation and the benefit of not putting that into a landfill, it's a win-win."

Although most houses are being relocated to Fort Belknap, some demolition will still be taking place to clear out basements and leftover houses that could not be relocated due to moving requirements. The demo process for the houses moved during phase four began March 23, so members of Team Malmstrom can expect to see demolition and housing relocation being done at the same time.

"People can expect delays," Coleman said acknowledging the process. "The house movers are professionals so there are very little delays. They move fairly quickly - they know where they're going and what they're doing. Basically, we want routes open - people not to park on the streets."

According to Coleman, the members moving the houses accomplished a six-month project in about three weeks, so avoiding complications was a necessity. And phase five, currently aiming to move 38 houses, will be no different. Security forces and civil engineer members will be helping the movers by briefly blocking traffic as needed for the units' movement, so cooperation and patience by base personnel on the road is essential.

"When you're looking at an endeavor this large, you have to almost anticipate little things happening," Coleman said. "I don't think it's going to be much of an impact on the base, but I would also like parents to possibly talk to their children so they are not walking through or playing in the area."

For more information on the current phase of OWS on Malmstrom AFB, contact Coleman at 731-7898.