Finding a Solution to the Accommodations Issue at Cfb Comox - a Recommendation Report

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This report recommends that prefabrication be used to design and construct new accommodations buildings for CFB Comox to eliminate the housing shortage on the base.

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Introduction

I spend my summers working on Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox as a Glider Pilot Instructor for the Air Cadets. During the first five summers of my employment in Comox, I have lived in old “H” shaped barrack style buildings. These buildings are made of wood and are very old, “the vast majority of them built before 1961” (Alberni Valley Times, 2002).

There is one building in particular which as rooms within it that have been condemned due to the presence of asbestos. Recent demolition of some of these aging accommodations buildings without adequate replacements has created a shortage of accommodations for the instructor staff during summer employment periods. Modular tents were erected as a temporary solution to the problem for the summer of 2016. This solution is not a long term option and had several issues which affected the instructor staff. This report will outline the nature of the problem, provide the results of the findings and recommend a course of action to solve the problem

Problem

The housing problem is not unique to CFB Comox, but persists nation-wide at bases across Canada. Although National Defense did have a goal of updating its housing portfolio, “the site planning documents did not identify when these units would be built or what resources would be needed, and no actions were taken to meet these needs” (Auditor General of Canada, 2015). “According to the [Canadian Forces Housing] Agency, since 2004, it has reduced the overall number of housing units from about 16,000 to about 12,000” (Auditor General of Canada, 2015). Furthermore, in 2015, “45 units were built and 283 demolished” (Canadian Forces Housing Agency, 2015). This imbalance in the number of units built to the number of units demolished is creating a shortage of units available to house military personnel on the bases.

Through investigation I have found that the modular tents used to house the instructors during the summer of 2016, are often referred to as Temporary Shelters, and can be used as emergency shelters in the event of a disaster. Although they are adequate for temporary situations in the event of a disaster, they are not suitable for living in for periods of several months. This is especially true when the occupants, such as flight instructors, are required to be at their top physical performance in order to maintain a safe flying operation. These temporary shelters only “grant people the minimal life conditions, while temporary housing stage is being planned and prepared. (Félix et al. 2015;2014, p. 4). The notable element of the problem at CFB Comox is that there was no plan to prepare temporary housing to replace the temporary shelters.

This problem is important because it has a significant impact on the safety and quality of the glider flight training provided to the Air Cadets. The staff are responsible for providing high quality flight instruction to the Air Cadets while maintaining a safe learning environment. In order to accomplish this, staff need to be well rested prior to conducting flight duties. Usually this means having at least eight hours of uninterrupted rest. This is also a requirement of Transport Canada, the governing body for all civil aviation in Canada, including the Air Cadet Gliding Program.

The temporary accommodation tents were a source of significant problems throughout the summer. The tents were cold at night, hot during the day, and noisy during periods of high wind. On several occasions, instructors were not able to get adequate rest and were therefore unable to complete their flying duties for the day. This resulted in a reduction in the pace of the flying operation and contributed to delayed course completion. This therefore also created stress among the staff because there was now more pressure to complete the required flying on time, which is also unsafe.

Figure 1 shows the type of temporary shelter used to house the instructors at CFB Comox during the summer of 2016.

Figure 1: Temporary Shelters

[pic 1]

(Source: Félix et al. 2015;2014)

As seen in Figure 1, the tents are made of a thin canvas material. Although they do protect against rain, they are uninsulated and do not protect against the high temperature changes from day to night. They are also extremely noisy during periods of high wind.

Due to the shared living arrangement of the tents, morale among the instructors also suffered. After spending the entire working day among the other instructors, there was no private space during off-duty time to escape and unwind from the day’s activities. This caused small problems to escalate and “boil over”. This was unlike previous summers where the instructors had individual rooms in permanent buildings.

This problem affects the instructors who are unable to rest adequately for their flying duties. It also affects the cadets who either may not be able to fly because their instructor is unable to fly, or they receive less than ideal instruction from their instructor who may be tired.

Scope

The scope of this report is limited to CFB Comox only. There are many other bases in the Canadian Forces that suffer from inadequate housing, but each may be affected by specific local issues. The decision to focus solely on CFB Comox is due my familiarity with the local issues and its direct impact on myself and the Air Cadet Gliding Program in British Columbia.

Terms

Throughout this report, it will refer to the term “off-site” which means involving the process of prefabrication. The term “on-site” will be used when referring to traditional construction methods where everything is built at the final location.

Body

Methods

The sources used in the research for this report all work to explain the problem and find possible solutions that can be implemented in a reasonable amount of time to avoid such accommodation issues in future summers.

In searching for possible solutions, several guidelines were adopted in order to focus the research and type of recommendations