Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

I have just arrived on site so this initial blog will be light on details and my actual role within tasks has yet to be finalised but I thought I would post something so as to get into the habit and as a method of recording information and actions that I can refer to when needed at a later date.

My first 7 months will be spent at Fort Detrick with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the US biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, it has hosted most elements of the United States biological defense program. Originally the site was intended as a location to centralise all research into infectious diseases. Technically this did happen but as with the UK, people didn’t like sharing their train sets and there are now four completely separate facilities dealing with infectious diseases, each belonging to a different agency, one belonging to the Army, one to Navy, one to Homeland security and one to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Fort Detrick.

I will be working on the new United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious diseases (USAMRIID) site. This is due to replace the original USAMRIID building which was built in the 1950s. The site includes Entry Control Point (ECP) 9 (Yes this means there are at least 8 other entry control points on campus) and the USAMRIID itself. ECP 9 has entered its testing and commissioning phase which I am involved with while the USAMRIID has entered the “red zone” meaning it is 80% complete.

ECP 9 is 4000 square feet building that will act as the primary entrance for all foot traffic into USAMRIID. The building is completely independent and uses Solar power for domestic water, a boiler for heating, two transformers (one for the building itself and one for the nearby parking area lighting despite the fact that there are already two other external transformers supplying said parking area), a back up generator and cooling tower. My hosts were quick to confirm my initial impression that this was the most over engineered guard room in an already secure base.

While receiving my orientation I witness a member of the Department of Public Works (DPW) call a stop to the testing of the air-conditioning as the individual doing the testing was “unable to demonstrate with enthusiasm” that the system was functional. The USACE have a standard “script” that must be followed during the testing and commissioning of a building. Failure to follow results in a big fat no. Does a similar “standardised script” existing in the Royal Engineers? Perhaps construction in Kenya would have been of a higher standard if there was a script for OCs, who themselves would not be subject matter experts, to follow when testing and commissioning or doing a handover/takeover.

Also as part of the testing and commissioning, videos for the use and maintenance of all equipment in the plant room is produced by either the contractor who installed it or a representative from the manufacture. This removes any possibility of those in charge of maintenance once a warranty ends claiming they haven’t received proper training. Once again this would have been beneficial in Kenya although closer to home I can’t help but think that the coffee maker in the Officers Mess would have benefited from something similar.

Oh and Regans complaints on fuel consumption are pretty ridiculous considering I bought this…

I recently attended a very interesting talk at the ICE about what engineers can do to defend against terrorism (especially cyber attacks).

With this in mind I think design offices are fairly guilty of being slack when it comes to security of data. A quick rummage through the office server (which is not encrypted and I imagine would be easy for any potential hackers to access) I found, amongst other things, the detailed design for an ammunition storage plant in Beirut. Closer to home there is the structural designs for many a building in central London.

So, fellow PETs, do any of your design offices have actual security measures in place? I think this will be a growing concern in the future.