All four unaccompanied housing units at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) in Washington, were recognized during the holiday period for high quality customer service in 2015.

Each year, Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) and the consulting firm of Christopher E. Lee (CEL) & Associates, Inc., conduct a customer satisfaction survey at thousands of unaccompanied properties across the country. The data is compiled to determine which housing teams should receive the Customer Service in Excellence award for providing a superior level of service to their residents.

CEL distributed the resident satisfaction and opinion survey to JBAB unaccompanied housing residents between September and late November.

In the 52-question survey, more than 700 JBAB residents had the opportunity to rate their facility and management team on a variety of customer service measures. The responses were collected via printed surveys and online, and tallied by CEL.

Enterprise Hall won the A-List Platinum Award and the Air Force Honor Guard, Furnari Hall and Blanchard Barracks won the A-List Award.

The A-List Platinum Award is given to properties that receive a service satisfaction score of at least 93.9 and a response rate of at least 20 percent. Enterprise Hall earned a service score of 97.1.

The A-List Award is given to those properties that receive a service satisfaction score of at least 85.0 and a response rate of at least 20 percent. Blanchard, Furnari and the Honor Guard barracks all had a service score of roughly 88.

JBAB Unaccompanied Housing Director Brian Jackson has high expectations for the four structures that house a combined 862 beds.

"The goal [is for] all four buildings to receive platinum status," said Jackson.

He welcomes the annual survey results to help him meet that goal.

"We can identify what's going on in this particular building [and] where we need to improve," continued Jackson.

The unaccompanied housing staff conducted two town halls to encourage survey participation. JBAB's commanding officer (Navy Capt. Frank Mays), base security, the fire department, Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES), and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) were on hand to provide residents with valuable information about base happenings and what is taking place in unaccompanied housing. Surveys were distributed and collected during the town halls, said Jackson.

"Last year [2014] only three of our four barracks received the A-List Award," said Jackson. "This year all four received awards, with Enterprise Hall increasing to platinum status."

Blanchard Barracks didn't receive a housing award last year. This year, with some hard work, good customer service and elbow grease, Blanchard Barracks received A-List Real Estate Award for Customer Service Excellence.

Former building manager Aziz Hill was credited with the success of Blanchard Barracks' award. Hill recently left JBAB to manage a housing unit in Bethesda, Maryland.

"He was the driving force in increasing the scores and customer service, turning around residents' trouble calls or addressing any issues," said Jackson. "The building being enhanced played a part."

Enhancements to Blanchard Barracks included new flooring and refurbished hallways on the fourth and fifth floors.

More are scheduled, but budget constraints dictate the timeline for those improvements.

"We have a budget, but to get projects like these done, we've got to go outside our budgets and request funding through Public Works and to CNIC," said Jackson. "These projects have been phased in."

Jackson is hopeful Blanchard Barracks will get the necessary funding to begin another phase of enhancements on the nine-story building.

The JBAB housing team manages four of the ten unaccompanied housing units in Naval District Washington (NDW). This year, four of the six housing awards issued in NDW went to JBAB properties.

While the town halls and building enhancements were key, Jackson feels the biggest factor in the improvement in customer service rating for JBAB barracks this year is primarily his staff.

"The building managers' interaction with the residents is what drove those numbers," emphasized Jackson.

For more news from Naval District Washington, visit www.navy.mil