{"id":116730,"date":"2025-09-16T23:34:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T03:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/?p=116730"},"modified":"2025-09-18T15:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T19:35:14","slug":"the-history-of-cfm-part-5-finding-a-home-for-vas-construction-and-facilities-activities-at-the-end-of-the-twentieth-century-1980s-1990s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/the-history-of-cfm-part-5-finding-a-home-for-vas-construction-and-facilities-activities-at-the-end-of-the-twentieth-century-1980s-1990s\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of CFM, Part 5: Finding a Home for VA\u2019s Construction and Facilities Activities at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1980s \u2013 1990s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is Part 5<\/strong> of a 6-part short history of the Office of Construction and Facilities Management. This short history is also the first in a series of histories covering VA Central Office directorates.<\/em> Make sure to check out Part 1<\/a><\/strong>, Part 2<\/a><\/strong>, Part 3<\/a><\/strong>, and Part 4<\/a><\/strong> as well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Through the first half of the 1980s, the Office of Construction and the Department of Medicine and Surgery\u2019s facility management office, then known as the Facilities Engineering, Planning, and Construction Office, continued many of the programs they established in the previous decade. Construction activities also increased during this period as VA prepared to care for the Nation\u2019s aging Veteran population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issues caused by the division of construction and facilities management responsibilities between the two offices became more apparent as the number of construction projects grew. In the mid-1980s, a consultant study recommended VA combine all facilities-related programs into one office for a more efficient workflow.[1]<\/sup> VA Administrator Thomas Turnage realigned the two offices into the Office of Facilities on October 1, 1986, reconnecting many of the construction and facilities-related tasks separated in 1953.[2]<\/sup> The new office was located under the Associate Deputy Secretary for Logistics in VA\u2019s Central Office (VACO). Some facility management tasks that had previously been overseen by the Office of Facilities predecessor offices, including building security, were transferred to other offices in the early 1980s or remained in the Department of Medicine and Surgery at the time of the realignment.[3]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n