Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) has selected Jesse Ballesteros as its 2018 Civilian of the Year.

Ballesteros, the Facilities Integrated Products Team (IPT) Lead for the past three years, was recognized for his leadership in the maintenance, improvements and planning of the command’s facilities.

“Under infrastructure and planning we do the layout and design, the engineering, and all of the project management to get the projects in. We also manage the sustainment, restoration and modernization (SRM) budget which is about $25 million per year,” he said.

A native San Diegan, Ballesteros has worked for the command for 16 years. His former positions that include project manager/lead for SRM projects, equipment manager, and layout and design technician have equipped him with the background to lead his approximate 40-member team.

The Facilties IPT created the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) to assist FRCSW with its infrastructure to handle the command’s expanding capabilities to support the needs of the fleet.

“Before I came into this position, I was familiar with who owned what because of my previous positions,” Ballesteros said. “Throughout the years if an area became vacant, people would move into it. But now, we own this responsibility through infrastructure planning, which is what we’re here to do within the larger organization.”

To promote efficiency and accountability, Ballesteros said that customers are encouraged to attend a weekly FMP meeting where project questions and needs may be answered.

“We’re seeing timelines for projects and delays shortened dramatically. We have the correct contacts in the room including the infrastructure planning group and other service groups. So, when the project starts the telephones and IT lines are in place, and the fire, safety and environmental needs are in place to make sure all of these requirements are in compliance,” he said.

“It holds everyone accountable, including ourselves to manage the spaces more appropriately. If we need a space to put an F-18, for example, we can answer that ‘this is the only space you have available.’”

“Most challenging is educating our own folks. Everybody wants to do the right thing, but everybody has a tendency to focus just on their own production line. We have to look at it from a holistic view and look at every one of the programs to equally balance what we do for each of them.”

In addition to overseeing the occupancy of the command’s facilities, the FMP also strives to consolidate programs. Once scattered among multiple buildings, F/A-18 Hornet parts will consolidate like the Hornet kitting in Building 36. Further, quality assurance personnel are now located closer to the programs they support, and no longer stationed throughout the plant.

To enhance security, the FMP goal is to ultimately enclave the command’s assets within FRCSW grounds.   

“We have military construction (MILCON) that shows where we’re going and they all fit within the middle of our area. There are MILCONs next to Building 250, in front of 463, on the backside of the paint complex, and near the spin tower. If we get these MILCONs for these buildings that take the function of what we have now, we can move everything,” Ballesteros said.

Funds for additional MILCON may soon be available thanks to the Infrastructure Optimization Plan (IOP), a $3 billion initiative by Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers targeting facilities and equipment improvements to all three FRCs. The IOP aims to increase efficiency and production to the fleet depot-wide.

The IOP is currently in its second phase of analysis, and if approved by Congress, FRCSW should receive its portion of the funds over a 10-year span, Ballesteros said.

“We’d like the enclave to be part of the IOP, but it’s not included in that for now,” he said. “So, we may use an SRM if we don’t use any funds from the IOP. That would bring us, from a security standpoint, compliant.”

Meanwhile, as the COMFRC IOP progresses, the daily work of maintaining the command’s infrastructure goes on.

“If it wasn’t for the group we have, I don’t see a lot of the things getting done,” Ballesteros said.