Civil engineers provide Okinawa families 'exceptional' homes

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Savannah
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Finding a home at a new assignment location is often a cause of stress for many military families, and more so for those who have exceptional family members.

The 718th Civil Engineer Squadronat Kadena Air Base is working to relieve some of that stress for exceptional families.

The 718th CES currently has a total of 161 American Disabilities Act-adaptable homes either completed or planned for completion under active construction projects on installations throughout the island of Okinawa, according to Chris Sorter, 718th CES military family housing construction representative.

Plans for the ADA-adaptable homes began a few years ago when the Department of Defense mandated five percent of each base's military family housing inventory be ADA adaptable. At Kadena, the process for meeting this mandate began with the Post-Acquisition Improvement Program phase seven design completion in 2007. Two years later, the contractors began the construction phase, Sorter said.

"Historically, [at Kadena] we didn't have ADA houses, because we have overseas screenings [preventing certain families with disabilities from being assigned to Okinawa]," said Marcia Flowers, 718th CES housing flight chief. "But to meet the DoD mandate, as we are programming houses to be renovated, we are programming them to get us to the five percent."

Although a pre-assignment medical screening process prevents most families with disabilies from being assigned here, it doesn't mean the ADA-adaptable homes will sit vacant, she said.

"There may be a situation where a family is involved in a car accident, or whatever, for example, and they find themselves bound to a wheelchair ... we will now have these homes on the island where we can put them," Flowers said.

The homes can also be occupied by families without disabilities until the need arises, as the differences between a standard military family home and an ADA-adaptable home are small. The most noticeable ADA modifications include wider doors and walkways, and lower counter tops, sinks and light switches, she said.

When a family with an exceptional family member is scheduled to occupy the home, some minor adjustments would need to be made, such as installing grab bars in the bathrooms and wheelchair ramps, but the houses are constructed to accept these changes quickly, said Brian Bailey, 718th CES project management Bravo team chief.

Without these adaptable homes, the modifications to make a home ADA compliant would have to be made, requiring significant time and costs, or the family could even be returned stateside early.

"If the need arose before, we would have to take an existing house and make the modifications required, because there has always been a provision in military family housing to accommodate families with special needs," Flowers said. "What DoD has now done is mandated that five percent of our inventory be adaptable, so we don't have to modify an existing house, saving time and money. From a housing management standpoint, it's a win-win."

Bailey echoed Flowers' view on the situation being beneficial for both CE and military families.

"In today's military environment, it's tough for any military family, especially overseas," he said. "So if we can provide this need for them if they need it, it's one less thing for them to worry about, one less stress for them to try to accommodate their families."