Er spring09 final

The Exceptional Release

L O G I S T I C S O F F I C E R A S S O C I AT I O N Enhancing the military logistics profession since 1982

EXECUTIVE BOARD President Col Doug Cato president@loanational.org Vice President Col Robert Hamm vicepres@loanational.org Treasurer Lt Col Terry Dyess treasurer@loanational.org Information Officer Ms. Cathy Snyder InfoOfficer@loanational.org Membership Development Maj Jeff Martin membership@loanational.org Chapter Support Lt Col Jeff King chaptersupport@loanational.org Executive Senior Advisor Lt Gen Loren M. Reno Webmaster/Website Maj JD DuVall webmaster@loanational.org www.loanational.org

THE EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE

S P R I N G 2009 Features Acquisition Workforce Development Submitted By Hon. Sue C. Payton, Maj. Abigail Ruscetta and Mr. Pat Hogan . . . . . . . . .14 Officer Force Development Submitted by Col Lee O. Wyatt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 A ‘BACK-TO-BASICS’ CAMPAIGN for Air Force Logisticians Submitted by Lt Col Ron Huzzard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Demystifying the DT, Submitted by Col Chris Bendall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Maintenance Resource Management: Safety from the Bottom Up Submitted by Maj Sean McMurray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 A Leader’s Intangible Skills Matter, Submitted by Maj Brad Archer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 What is a Voluntary Protection Program?

Submitted by CMSgt (ret) Joey McCoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Adding to Your Leadership Toolbox, Submitted by Brig Gen Mark Atkinson . . . . . . . . . . .40 76th Maintenance Wing Launches Self-Inspection Program Subm. by Lt Col (ret) Dan McCabe, Ms. Roena Greuel & Ms. Christy Jaworsky . . . . . . .44 I Learned About Leadership From That!

Submitted by Col James Weber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 A Mission Enabler: Community College of the Air Force Submitted by Lt Col Raymond Staats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Sheppard AFB: Developing Technically Superior, Highly Motivated Warrior Airmen Submitted by Col. Steven J. Morani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Not Your Daddy’s AMMOC!, Submitted by Maj A.J. Griffin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Meet the Press, Submitted by Major William "Bill" Ray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Editor Col Dennis Daley editor@loanational.org

Focus on a LOA CGO Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Assistant Editor Col (ret) Mary H. Parker assteditor@loanational.org

Maintenance Officer Association“Where It All Began” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

LOA Executive Director ER Managing Editor/Publisher Marta Hannon marta@loanational.org ER Worldwide Staff Col Cheryl Allen, 560 ACSG/CC Lt Col Eugene K. Carter, 15 AMXS/CC Maj Richard L. Fletcher, 305 AMXS/CC Maj Paul L. Pethel, 100 MXS/CC Graphic Design MMagination LLC – Atlanta, GA www.mmagination.com LOA National PO Box 2264 – Arlington, VA 22202 Issue No. 111 - Spring 2009

The Early Years of MOA/LOA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Developing the Warrior Logistician, Submitted by 2Lt Ben Derry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Loggies Deployed Photo Album . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Hill AFB Assumes B-2 Flight Control Composite Repair Workload Submitted by Mr. Bill Orndorff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Planning the Presidential Inauguration Submitted by Major Chris Paone and Major Bill Kossick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

In Every Issue President’s LOG(istics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Editor’s Debrief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 From the E-Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 AF Civilian Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 AFSO21 Crosstalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 CGO Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 Chapter CrossTalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

President’s LOG(istics) LOA Members, The winter has been a busy time for the National Board as we met several times throughout the past quarter to further build on and execute our goals and objectives. In this edition of the President’s Log, I’d like to tell you what the National Board has done this past quarter, inform you of our future conference site selections, and finally close with how things are going for the 2009 LOA National conference in Las Vegas.

ER: PRESIDENT’S LOG(ISTICS)

Col Doug Cato

Your National Board met several times during the past quarter as we continue to build upon, refine, and execute the association goals and objectives. I’d like to report on some of those happenings. If you’ve been out to the LOA website lately, you’ll notice we’ve brought on Mel McFarland, a lawyer, to help support the organization with legal advice and support contract language and negotiations. Mel has graciously provided his services on a pro bono basis and is a lawyer at the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center. We welcome Mel to the team and appreciate his LOA support. We also have several new members on our Executive Board of Advisors. Our Executive Senior Advisor is Lt Gen Loren Reno (Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Installations, and Mission Support), our Senior Civilian Advisor is Mr. Garry Richey (AETC Director of Logistics, Installations, and Mission Support), and we’ve added a Past President Advisor, Brig Gen Art Cameron (Director of Resource Integration, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Installations, and Mission Support). We still have several other positions we are looking to fill in the near future. We’ve also setup a conference staff web page, so you can see the great folks behind putting on our world-class conferences and we have more folks to add out there. As I mentioned in the winter 2008 ER, we’ve moved away from a chapter hosted conference. In doing so, we are looking for a few folks to be long-term volunteers such as team leads. These folks would maintain continuity from conference to conference and ideally serve in a multi-year term.

From a goals and objectives update, the National Board has stepped out smartly on execution. In the Develop Premier Logistics Professionals - our number one goal - we’ve coordinated and implemented with the Maintenance/Munitions and Logistics Readiness Officer Courses free LOA memberships for the graduates to expose these up and coming year groups to LOA. The distinguished graduate of each class will receive a lifetime LOA membership. Our 2009 conference theme, “Connecting with the Joint Logistics Environment,” tackles our second goal of Enhancing Logistics Operations in the Joint Fight. Our third goal, Providing a Forum for and Incentivize the Exchange of ideas Among Logisticians will be our focus in the coming months. Our final goal of Continuously Improving Business Operations is in full swing. Lt Col Terry Dyess, our Chief Financial Officer, is working hard with our accountant and bookkeeper to develop our first association annual budget and better document our conference income and expenses. The National Board plans to have a financial summit in the spring as part of our quarterly meetings to chart our financial path. In lateFebruary, we brought together Mr. Richey, our Senior Civilian Advisor, and representatives from our four large civilian population chapters to chart a way forward to increase logistics civilian membership in LOA. Membership is a key focus for the National Board and we encourage our local chapters to have a membership drive. We want to recapture those folks that may not have kept their membership current or have slipped away from LOA. We’ll also be bringing to the membership a vote for some changes in the LOA National By-laws. Other than some basic clean-up to mirror industry, the National Board is proposing to offset the voting for offices of the President/Chief Financial Officer and Vice President/Chief Information Officer. This is being proposed to enhance continuity across boards and elections which in the past caused significant spin-up time for the new board after each election cycle. In addition to these by-law changes, the National Board is considering a full-time position to handle daily operations of the organization and be responsible to the National Board for execution of the organizations goals and objectives. We are in the process of defining the position description and job responsibilities.

Shifting gears on you toward the conferences. If you’ve been out to the LOA National website, you’ll notice the National Board has selected two more future conference sites. In 2011, we’ll be heading to Dallas/Ft Worth and for our thirtieth anniversary we’ll

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be returning to our nation’s capital – Washington DC. As a reminder, LOA is heading to Orlando in 2010. All three of these venues offer great opportunities for a fantastic LOA National conference. As you can see, disconnecting from the local chapter as a host not only freed the chapters of this tremendous responsibility, but it also freed LOA up to go to new and exciting locations.

Speaking of exciting locations, the 2009 LOA National conference to be held at the Rio in Las Vegas is in full swing. We’ve invited a host of great speakers from across the joint arena to include the JCS, CENTCOM and AFRICOM J4’s, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Material Command (Gen Dunwoody – first female 4-star), USTRANSCOM/CC, AFSOC/A4, AFCENT/CC and the Chief and Secretary of the Air Force. So mark your calendars and invite your friends to join us in Las Vegas the second week in October. Room nights at the Rio Suites will be available for those attendees that want to bring their families for some pre or post conference vacation time. I mentioned earlier we are looking for volunteers for the conference to help in the command post, escort DVs and general support. If you have an interest in volunteering for the conference, please contact Marta Hannon at marta@loanational.org.

As you can see from the long list of things I’ve talked to you about, the National team is hard at work furthering the goals and objectives of the association and we are continuing to expand what we provide to the membership. If you have thoughts or ideas on how to make LOA better, please feel free to contact any of the LOA National Board members or write a note to your local chapter president, who will in-turn pass those ideas and thoughts to the National Board. We look forward to your continued support of LOA. Best wishes,

COL DOUG CATO, PRESIDENT LOA NATIONAL

The Exceptional Release A Professional Military Journal written by logisticians for logisticians The purpose of the Logistics Officer Association (LOA) is to enhance the military logistics profession. LOA provides an open forum to promote quality logistics support and logistic officer professional development.

Policy on Written Submissions: The editor invites articles and other contributions on issues that support LOA’s purpose. Direct manuscripts, letters and other communications to: marta@loanational.org and editor@loanational.org.

Deadlines: The 15th day of January, April, July, and October.

Story Format: Double-spaced, typed and electronically submitted to marta@loanational.org.

Photos & Graphics: Send individual electronic files (hi-res JPG, TIFF or EPS with type as outlines) along with stories (as separate text files) and include cutlines/captions. All photos should be at least 300 dpi or greater resolution.

Submitter data: Should be typed at the end of the story file. Information included should be: Rank; full name; service; home mailing address; business name and address; business phone (DSN and commercial); email; three to five sentence biographical sketch; and a photo (as a separate file – see photos and graphics above).

Editorial Policy: The editors reserve the right to edit all submissions for length, clarity and libel. All submissions become the property of LOA. Advertisement Formats: Each ad must be sent as a composite hi-res (300 dpi or greater) EPS file with fonts saved as outlines. Full-page ads with bleeds should allow at least 3/8” bleeds. Ad rates visit: www.loanational.org/adrates.html Advertising Contact: Ms Marta Hannon, Managing Editor PO Box 2264 – Arlington, VA 22202 – email: marta@loanational.org – Phone 405-701-5457 Subscriptions: The ER is published quarterly and is available via membership in the Logistics Officer Association at the annual rate of $25. Access membership forms on the website at www.loanational.org.

EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE

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Editor’s Debrief Thank you all for the many good words on the winter edition. On behalf of the total ER team, we appreciate your support. I think you’ll enjoy this Spring edition as well. In this edition we shift from the hardware-focused articles of aircraft availability to the people-focused issues of mentorship, training and force development. Here are some of the highlights of this edition.

Must reads are the outstanding submissions from five senior leaders, all with focus on the people-

Col Dennis Daley

side of our profession in force development, training and leadership issues people. Lieutenant General Loren M. Reno provides his first From the E-Ring and as Mary Parker (our ER asst. editor extraordinaire) emailed after reviewing General Reno’s submission…”a double wow”! The message from our new loggie leader is clear, no it’s crystal clear: accountability and compliance is the cornerstone of our profession. Brigadier General Mark A. Atkinson advocates a similar position in his article on leadership titled Adding to Your Leadership Toolbox. Major General Arthur B. Morrill, III, one of our most committed senior leaders to LOA, provides some great mentoring lessons in his Perspectives interview—commanders read it two times please. Ms.

ER: EDITOR’S DEBRIEF

Sue C. Payton, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, was gracious enough to share with our readers her vision of an enhanced acquisition professional developmental program. With a drastic reduction in Air Force acquisition professionals from 57,000 to 15,000 in the last 20 years, the importance of a highly trained acquisition workforce is absolutely paramount. Last but not least, Mr. Garry B. Richey, AETC’s Director of Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, provides the first article in a new ER section Senior Executive Service Speak. Mr. Richey hits a home run making his case for more civilian engagement in both LOA overall and the ER specifically. Thank you Mr. Richey…and you too, Col Bob Hamm.

There are several submissions which are of special interest to our readers. Col Chris Bendall provides an excellent tutorial explaining the Developmental Team process in his article Demystifying the DT. The increased influence of the mysterious DT makes Col Bendall’s article a must read for all. Likewise, Lt Col Ron Huzzard outlines our need to get ‘Back-to-Basics’ which further reinforces a common theme from General Norton A. Schwartz’s speech at the LOA conference and reprinted in the last edition of the ER. But the ER also offers a little “new school.” The featured section AFSO21 Crosstalk continues to grow with many units offering outstanding examples of innovative and process improvements. Field-level units are re-engineering processes and methods resulting in major improvements in efficiency while slashing labor and material costs.

Here are two final emotional appeals! Supervisors and commanders…the ER needs your support. The next ER summer edition is titled Loggies at War. Please send us some good submissions of any support of the war effort that your organization provides. Also, please provide any outstanding CGO candidates for the Focus on a CGO…especially ones who are active with their local LOA Chapters.

And of course…how about those Steelers?

— COL DENNIS DALEY AND YOUR ER WORLDWIDE TEAM

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From the E-Ring DUTY—A BIG WORD L T. G E N . L O R E N M . R E N O I S T H E D E P U T Y C H I E F O F S T A F F L O G I S T I C S , I N S T A L L A T I O N S A N D M I S S I O N S U P P O R T, H E A D Q U A R T E R S U . S . A I R F O R C E , WA S H I N G TO N , D . C .

FOR

Lt. Gen. Loren M. Reno

When I came to this position in January, I brought with me more than 35 years of logistics and leadership experience. Dwelling on the past seldom is as useful as applying its lessons for the present and future. So let me share with you a few things that I find are bedrock to being a logistician…you’ll know how to apply them.

We trace our great responsibilities as logisticians and leaders to our oath of office, to our mission statements, and to the trust of a Nation and a commander. I call this stewardship. When we, as officers, raised our right hands and said, “I solemnly swear,” those

E-RING

sibility to have a job that underpins what others have to do. Many of our contractors feel the same way. The gravity of these respon-

THE

stewardship.

ER: FROM

were important words. It is an enormous responsibility to be an officer or civilian leader in the USAF, and it is an enormous respon-

From that stewardship flows accountability. It’s natural. We can’t have the former without the latter. If we owe allegiance to our

sibilities compounds when lives and national objectives are at stake. It is a great duty to be a logistician and a leader…and a great

Nation, President, commanders, and those we serve, then we must be held accountable to that duty. Don’t forget that accountability is both positive and negative. When someone does their duty well, we should recognize, reward, and elevate them. When they don’t, however, we need to confront, correct, and often re-train them. Accountability is linked to stewardship like a jet engine is to the wing of a C-17 aircraft.

You know my next thought—precision produces the right result every time while imprecision is associated with mediocrity, mishaps, and misfortune. I’m talking about tech orders, torque limits, and AFIs. I’m talking about nuclear and non-nuclear. Yes, standards, discipline, and rules. It’s compliance…consistent compliance. Realizing that today’s TOs are often written in the blood of yesterday’s mishap victims, why would we even consider not doing it “by the book?” Remember the line from the movie The Patriot: “aim small, miss small.” As a basketball player, I learned that my shooting percentage went up when I aimed for the center of the hoop, not just at the hoop itself. Precision will produce the right result every time.

And that is what reliability is…getting the right and desired result every time. At the tactical, shop/flightline, task level, it’s true.

At the strategic, warfighter, capability level, it’s true. You’ve heard, “Let your word be your bond.” Attention to precision and detail produces reliability. You’ll know the outcome beforehand, and those who you support will too.

So as my focus has changed from the Center level to an Air Force level, that is what is on my mind. I hope it’s on your mind too.

Recall the stewardship we all have as logisticians that drives accountability and the precision that produces reliability at all levels.

What a privilege to serve and to lead, but “duty” is such a big word! K

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mission ready

Our Air men and women have the skill and the guts to complete their mission. But will they have the equipment?

They will with the help of Honeywell. Our defense logistics partnership programs use proven technologies to solve the emerging challenges of global logistics and suport. With over sixty years of military system technologies and service, Honeywell is delivering service, reliability, and survivability enhancements to extend the useful lives of C-130, C-5, B1 and B2, the MQ9 Reaper, F-15, F-22, and F-35 aircraft.

With continuous process improvements from Six Sigma LEAN, condition-based maintenance for equipment and vehicles, standardization, asset visibility & tracking, and the right people in the right jobs – Honeywell helps you stay mission ready for the changing battlespace.

Visit us online at www.honeywell.com/missionready

SES Speaks Mr. Garry B. Richey, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director of Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

Mr. Garry B. Richey

The leaders of our Logistics Officer Association (LOA) have asked me to serve as a civilian advisor – and I’ve accepted the opportunity enthusiastically. As a member of LOA for some time now, I look forward to serving our members and I’m encouraging other civilian logisticians to become members of this great organization. LOA leadership has adopted a

ER: AF CIVILIAN ELEMENT

strategic objective aimed at doubling civilian membership within five years…and I couldn’t agree more. Let me explain.

As we look back over the past decade, I’m sure you’ve noted the growth in opportunities our civilian logistics professionals have for leadership in positions of responsibility. And these jobs are not just in places where we traditionally find large numbers of civilian professionals like our Air Logistics Centers, or throughout Air Force Material Command, Air Staff and Secretary of the Air Force staff, but across our entire Air Force. Two MAJCOMS, Air Education and Training Command and Air Force Space Command have members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) serving as Directors of their logistics directorates, and other MAJCOMs have placed SESs as Deputy Directors of Logistics.

Civilians proudly and effectively serve in positions of responsibility in our material wings,

groups and squadrons. Our Global Logistics Support Center benefits from strong and capable civilian leaders serving side-by-side with their military counterparts. Additionally, Air Force civilians fill key roles in Combatant Commands and other defense agency leadership structures. Our civil service logistics professionals continue to step-up to the responsibilities and opportunities previously filled by military logistics officers.

It’s no wonder LOA leadership wants to see more civilian leaders join its rolls…not only would we be more ”representative” of our logistics population, but we would capture the insight and experience our civilian loggies possess. Civilian logisticians are perfectly positioned to help LOA achieve its vision and mission-- aimed at developing premier logistics professionals and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas--all in an effort to enhance our contribution to the joint fight. We find military and civilian logisticians working together in all aspects of logistics support. As a matter of fact, the number of civilian logisticians working to make the mission happen in our Air Force and across the DoD greatly exceeds the number of military logisticians. However, within the LOA membership of almost 3,300, only 338 are federal civilians. LOA leadership recognizes the need for more civilian members and I agree. As LOA works through the exchange of ideas, to help us be more innovative and effective as logisticians, we simply must leverage the knowledge and capabilities of our civilian workforce! But we can only do that if our civilian logisticians join our ranks and work to help LOA make a difference as we support the joint fight.

When I speak to people about joining professional organizations, such as LOA, I often get the question, “What’s in it for me.” Here’s

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my answer. First, that’s the wrong question to ask. Our civilian logisticians understand the concept of service before self as well as anyone--and that’s what this is all about. We need to take the time to share our expertise in logistics with all logisticians. Being a member of LOA provides the opportunity to educate our junior logisticians, encourage one another and enlarge our vision.

Second, being a ”professional” means participating in and contributing to the structure and continuous learning activities provided by and for those professionals. Simply put, if you consider yourself a professional logistician, you should be a LOA member.

Finally, I tell people that participating in LOA, especially as a chapter officer at the local level, provides a great chance to expand personal leadership skills outside of formal organizational lines of authority. This is your chance to demonstrate your ability to get things done through the “people skills” of communication, collaboration, and commitment.

Bottom line--if you are a civilian logistician, LOA wants you! Join a local LOA Chapter--participate in chapter activities or better yet, run for office. Take time to discuss issues with local chapter members and mentor our junior logisticians. Offer to speak on a logistics topic during chapter events. Take notice that the LOA national publication The ER is always looking for articles. Write an article and pass it to the ER’s editor, Col Dennis Daley. Visit the LOA website at www.loanational.org to learn more and while you’re there, join up. You’ll receive The ER quarterly when you join. Finally, if you are a member, make plans to attend the LOA Conference coming up in October 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Remember, together we can make a difference! K

Perspectives I N S TEP WITH M AJOR G ENERAL A RTHUR B. M ORRILL III, V ICE D IRECTOR , D EFENSE L OGISTICS A GENCY, F ORT B ELVOIR , V IRGINIA ER: This ER edition focuses on personnel development topics.

What is the major personnel development issues facing our Air Force today?

ER: PERSPECTIVES

MAJ GEN MORRILL: One set of issues relates “…to escaping organizational legacies and building new capabilities for managing innovation.” C. K. Prahalad and M. S. Krishnan address this subject in The New Age of Innovation. To this end, we need to focus developmental efforts on creating a logistics leader who is equally adept at operational effectiveness and resource stewardship in a continuously improving, net centric environment.

Initiatives such as Repair Network Transformation (RNT), Global Logistics Support Center (GLSC), and Centralized Asset Management (CAM) require this. Moreover, the end-to-end (E2E) perspective of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) capabilities in the Air Force Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS), let alone DLA’s already-fielded “Enterprise Business System” (EBS), makes this an imperative.

Clearly, it’s a new world. In this new world, the modernized logistician will need to be developed to better address globalization and connectivity, accelerating technological change, “corporate” social responsibility, demographic shifts and work/life balance (Future Files: The 5 Trends That Will Shape the Next 50 Years,

by Richard Watson). We need, as Peter Senger, et.al., wrote in Presence, “the courage to see freshly” and to realize “the capacity to suspend established ways of seeing is essential for all important…discoveries.” Consequently, our development and training must include, but also transcend, existent architectures, processes and tasks. We must learn how to think and act differently.

A third issue is the need to fully embrace the idea that the modern DoD logistician (uniformed and civil servant) is an inherently joint logistician whose capabilities and potential come from them being qualified in their respective Service or Agency, and from being rounded out by joint experience, development and training.

The modern logistician must be developed to operate successfully at the tactical, operational and strategic levels—whether in a line or staff organization, or in a Service, Agency or joint position.

Another issue is we must think and behave differently about our post-development and post-training expectations. How often do we hear of organizations that implement development programs in which participants only have to attend training sessions—with no accountability for learning, implementation or improved per10

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formance being required? If one believes people and groups should do things on purpose in a timedefinite way, then a no-accountability approach is difficult to Maj Gen Arthur B. Morrill III understand. To demonstrate this can be done, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) requires Navy attendees of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Navy Executive Business Course (EBC) to send him a direct e-mail on what they learned in the course and how they will apply it.

Finally, we need to create a civilian logistician developmental model. Apart from intern programs and a small group of other opportunities, and not including wage-grade civilians, the majority of civilian logistician development and training is accomplished via greatly divergent oral traditions and unstructured on-the-job training. These approaches are the most inconsistent of all development and training methods. We can clearly do better—especially in a day and age where standard, repeatable processes, controlled variability, and performance to continually improving standards are fundamental expectations.

ER: As the senior Air Force officer assigned to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) do you have any thoughts on how we can better prepare our junior officers for senior officer joint billets later in their careers?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: Frankly, more Air Force logisticians need to get into the joint world earlier so they’re more effective now and more credible later. Second, we need to develop Air Force logisticians who are conversant in a more diverse set of areas that build on their garrison or AEF experience, but are not limited to it. Diverse other areas include managing global logistics support, establishing and managing lines of communication, production capacity management, leveraging information technology, industrial base management, procurement, performance analysis, continuous process improvement, acquisition logistics, life-cycle management and cost performance management. In short, we need to reexamine our approach to our echelons of logistics development and training, which largely focus on operational wing and below operations. While this wing-level focus is obviously necessary and foundational, it isn’t enough over the long haul.

ER: How important a tool is mentoring to developing subordinates?

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MAJ GEN MORRILL: It’s vital…but it’s not a tool. It’s our duty. In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell wrote about administering a survey to determine what prompted people attending his leadership conferences to become leaders. Ten percent said, “Natural gifting.” Five percent said it was the “result of crisis.”

Eighty-five percent said it was the “influence of another leader.” In short, leaders create leaders, and as Maxwell points out, “…it takes a leader to raise up other leaders.” Maxwell calls this the “Law of Reproduction.”

Airmen who don’t mentor others aren’t leaders, and those who aren’t mentored likely won’t be leaders. We can neither leave mentoring up to chance nor up to personal inclination. We must be an Air Force of courageous, effective leaders at all levels, on the battlefield and in the boardroom. We must all mentor others and be mentored ourselves—and it needs to be more than mentoring from the hip or just figuring out the next assignment or two. In The Mentoring Advantage, Florence Stone outlines a sample development plan that includes career objectives, and corresponding developmental objectives, measures, developmental activities and time-definite milestones. I recommend this book as professional reading for all mentors and mentees.

You can probably tell I’m passionate about mentoring. Mentoring, which takes many forms, infuses Air Force core values into each of us.

It’s not merely a list of leadership tips or a set of books. It’s the Staff Sergeant training us well, the GS-12 guiding us to success and the Colonel walking the talk. It’s how we help differentiate and build leaders. A mentor should be a multi-dimensional Wingman, available to provide guidance, field inquiries, guide and correct, and help others walk through the maze of development and career progression options.

ER: Can you share any personal lessons learned on subordinate mentoring?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: Yes…and the first lesson, I’m happy to say, is that with mentoring, none of us are alone. We’re all in this together. Not only does that promote a healthy sense of team, but also it can be very reassuring in a time of stress or change. Second, we must base mentoring on mutual trust, respect and candor—and those things go both ways. It’s not just the junior Airmen listening quietly to the senior mentor’s thoughts and recommendations…meeting over. Third, mentoring is a participation sport…only activists need apply. You can’t be a mentor from the bleachers. You must be, as President Theodore Roosevelt once remarked, in the (mentoring) arena. If you’re not actively mentoring others and being mentored yourself, then you’re not constructively leading and following.

Mentoring is a relationship, a continuing conversation characterized by respectful give and take from both sides. This kind of mentoring relationship means that even when we don’t know or aren’t sure, oth-

ers can help us think through issues, challenges and choices. It also means others can help us learn…by recommending areas of experience, introspection, and study. One other thing is no single person knows or has experienced everything. That means each of us should have more than one mentor, even mentors outside our Air Force.

Likewise, we should mentor more than one person ourselves. Finally, we should also realize that sometimes others may mentor us in ways we didn’t expect, or even down paths we didn’t initially want. We need to be candid, flexible and trusting. Sometimes a mentor takes an informative role; other times, such as is the case with being a good Wingman, mentors must take an activist role and intervene.

ER: What advice would you give LOA officers on the benefits of a staff tour in their professional development?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: Not surprisingly, wing-level duty provides great experience in the areas of direct leadership, tactical mission execution and short-term planning. While vital, this arena only provides part of the experience and training needed for a logistician’s fullest development and best performance over the long haul. MAJCOM, Air Staff and/or joint duty provides essential experience in indirect leadership; campaign planning; resource planning, programming, budgeting & execution; operational and strategic planning. Staff experience is essential to helping an Airman logistician understand how a mature organization remains vibrant, and how the United States fights as a joint force.

Remember we’re continuing our movement to network-centric capabilities. New or emerging capabilities represented by such initiatives as RNT, GLSC, CAM, the move from separate (Service) supply chains to a national (joint) supply chain via BRAC, let alone a USAF or DLA ERP, tell us that. While a tactical view of the combat support world is vital, it alone just isn’t enough. Our logistics community should routinely have logistics experience beyond the tactical operational arena, in areas such as industrial logistics (e.g., Air Logistics Centers), national logistics (e.g., DLA), or in lifecycle or acquisition logistics (e.g., a program office), for example. As a Service, as individual logisticians, we must equip ourselves for success more broadly.

ER: Most CGOs are aware of Logistics Career Broadening opportunities in our depots. Can you educate our CGOs on Logistics Career Broadening opportunities in DLA?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: I certainly can, but I wouldn’t limit broadening opportunities to just those in the ALCs and DLA, though those are key. Frankly, we need to internally broaden maintainers into logistics readiness and vice versa. As we become more senior in rank and position, we need to complement focused experience with broader expertise in the functional, resource and leadership domains. We might even broaden a small but select group of logisticians into procurement and then bring them back into mainstream logistics.

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To answer the question specifically, in DLA we have two 21R positions as part of the Air Force’s Logistics Career Broadening Program (LCBP), located at the Defense Supply Center in Richmond, Virginia. We develop these officers by giving them invaluable E2E insight and experience in managing the acquisition and sustainment aspects supporting the Air Force and other DOD aviation logistics requirements through rotational assignments in the various functional areas of our Aviation Demand/Supply Chain. Some of the unique skills they acquire are in procurement, emergency supply operations, demand and supply planning, and weapon system support. A DLA CB assignment uniquely provides participants an E2E view across wholesale and retail DOD logistics. This knowledge not only prepares AF “graduates” to fill Air Force senior leadership positions; it also sets up Airmen to take on key joint leadership positions in the future.

ER: Recently many AF senior leaders have voiced a need to “get back to basics.” How can leaders and supervisors best renew the emphasis on maintenance discipline?

ER: PERSPECTIVES

MAJ GEN MORRILL: The short answer is to have sufficient standards and enforce them sufficiently. The longer answer is I agree with the need to remain grounded in fundamentals. Let me make a philosophical point with operational implications. We should never have to get back to our Core Values because we should never leave them in the first place. To operationalize this, we should never have to get back to technical order compliance, or supply chain discipline, or compliance with stewardship requirements, because we should never stop doing those things in the first place. Before some say, “Well, that’s fine as an ideal but that’s not real life,” I’d say it is real life…and aviators and others depend on it being real life. It’s the difference between good and great. Frankly, it’s the difference between exemplifying “excellence in all we do” and doing something less.

To relate a bit of personal history on this topic, I began my Air Force career as a member of the Strategic Air Command (SAC).

SAC Maintenance Standardization and Evaluation Team (MSET) inspections were no-notice, formal and comprehensive. SAC MSET looked at maintenance compliance, practices, techniques, management and leadership—everything. On a daily basis, if your wing didn’t meet SAC standards for MC, TNMCM or TNMCS rates, if your QVI rates were low, you got a call from Headquarters SAC. When they called, you had better have a plan to restore wing performance to the standard demanded. If your maintenance practices were less than the SAC standard, MSET inspectors let you know loud and clear. I’m not saying SAC always had it all right…no organization does. However, they did know how to stay focused on fundamentals. They also understood the importance of attention to detail. Recent events highlight the result when we lose our daily connectivity to those kinds of basics.

ER: The elevated Air Force ops tempo has exceeded peace time levels for almost a decade. What advice would you give com-

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manders and supervisors to meet these ops tempo challenges on training and other professional development opportunities?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: What “peacetime” levels are we talking about…1985? After ten years plus, it’s not an elevated ops tempo. It is the ops tempo. The fact is the vast majority of today’s Airmen only know this ops tempo. At the risk of grossly oversimplifying the issue, meeting the ops tempo challenge has two aspects. First, the ops tempo cannot distract us from supporting the joint fight…period. That includes Airmen providing support in non-traditional areas such as nation building, leading gun truck convoys, etc. We Airmen must help the COCOM be successful. Second, we Airmen need to improve how we do work to better manage if not reduce or reshape ops tempo. As Lt Gen (Ret) Wetekam highlighted during his tenure as the WRALC/CC and the AF/A4/7, we need to take the chaff (waste) out of our line and staff processes. Most processes are not specifically designed end-to-end. Rather, they’re a serendipitous collection of independent decisions that usually come about because of some crisis, event or accident. Undesigned processes…how we daily do work…are easily more than 60 percent waste. That’s avoidable churn and ops tempo. That’s a burning platform.

Our imperative is to eliminate or improve things that unnecessarily consume resources or waste people’s time. We must also modify or discard the things that on balance deliver little or no real value. We have to make some very tough decisions. Everyone talks about ops tempo and the need to tailor what and how much we do, but everyone loves their own project or program. People typically don’t want their project cut or restructured; they want other people’s projects cut or restructured. We need to think and behave differently. Additionally, people seek perfect consensus on whether or not to cut, restructure or retain. Perfect consensus on complex topics isn’t a reasonable expectation. We must make hard decisions to move forward in a result-specific and time-definite way.

The fact is many “pet rocks” are a profound waste of time and effort, or deliver little or nothing. We must only do the things that deliver real value to our nation and to our warfighters.

We all need to focus on eliminating waste (defects, inventory, processing, waiting, transportation, overproduction and non-utilized talents), and increasing value-added capabilities and effects. We need to deliver better results faster. Confederate Cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest once remarked that military victory most often goes to “...whoever gets there firstest with the mostest...”

This isn’t an argument for mere mass or speed, but rather for the most effective (even innovative) capability applied in just the right way at exactly the right time. This is not so much a Lean-Six Sigma-Theory of Constraints issue as it is a timeless leadership imperative—at all levels. Then, we need to ensure we don’t fill up the time and space we created with more non-valued added requirements or activities...so there must be control measures developed. If we’re candid, we already know we’re not as good on the

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Control Phase of DMAIC as we ought to be. One final thought.

When we free up time, we need to give it back to our people. We owe that to them.

ER: Recently the Air Staff combined supply chain and transportation areas with maintenance functions to form a single integrated logistics function at the Air Staff. What are your thoughts on extending the integration of LRS and maintenance career fields back into a single logistics career field that existed in the 1990s?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: Long ago Airmen who preceded us said in effect, “We have a better way to constitute, apply and evolve airpower.” Our cultural heritage isn’t based on being an old Service or having traditional functional stovepipes. It’s based on being a progressive and accountable Service who can globally deliver effective, persistent combat power at will in support of the joint fight.

Integration and collaboration are better than stovepipes and tribes.

Frankly, I’ve never agreed with the separation of maintenance from the rest of logistics. Even in the “old days” when we had a Materiel Supply Liaison (MSL) in the maintenance complex on the Deputy Commander for Maintenance staff, we really were admitting that maintenance and supply are natural partners in an E2E supply chain.

I also think form follows function. We know that’s true in aerodynamics; it’s true for organizations. Organizational design ought to follow enterprise process across organizational lines in an E2E way.

This is where the goodness of the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model comes to bear. Apart from being DoD policy, SCOR reminds us that the maintenance cycle is a part of the level one make/buy process. (The other level one sub-processes being plan, source, (make/buy), deliver and return.) Thankfully, the majority of these logistics processes are already part of current logistics readiness officer or maintenance officer training. Some might say the Air Staff decision reflects this natural evolution. At the least, it’s a step in the evolutionary process.

As to the integration of the logistics readiness and maintenance career fields into a single logistics career field, I’d say you don’t have to own it to influence it. If that were true…we’d have only one squadron in the Air Force. By the way, no single person or organization in DoD owns the E2E supply chain. Said another way, can an LRO be successful without knowing about and synchronizing with maintenance and others? Can a maintainer be successful without knowing about and synchronizing with other logistics capabilities and processes? I think the answer to both questions is, “No.” One other point…none of what I’ve said means we don’t need to develop and nurture specialists, e.g., fuels, acquisition, aerial port, etc. We do. We must. Focused expertise will always be required.

However, we’re not trying to reproduce thousands of logistician clones. We’re trying to develop thousands of well-qualified logisticians with core knowledge and capabilities complemented by special knowledge and capabilities across a range of career fields that are part of a global enterprise combat support team.

ER: DLA’s role and responsibilities supporting the AF mission has grown significantly since the 1990s. Have DLA assignment opportunities for AF officers grown proportional with expansion of DLA’s role?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: The numbers of officer billets at DLA have remained the same. However, the range of opportunities and expertise required is greatly expanded. The best comparison is DLA’s civilian workforce end strength, which declined from ~65,000 in the late 1960s to ~21,000 presently. Despite that huge reduction, the amount of support DLA provides the Services expanded by a factor of ten. We’re now providing 95% of all repair parts, and 100% of food, clothing, fuel, medical, and barrier materials to the Services.

The effort in Afghanistan actually serves to paint a representative picture of DLA involvement.

As a logistics challenge, Afghanistan is where you would earn your “Ph.D. in Logistics.” Afghanistan is a completely land-locked country, with little arable land, and a need to import much of their own food to support their own people. Consequently, DLA must source virtually everything required to support the COCOM mission from other places. We have logisticians around the globe, at DLA field activities, embedded with the COCOMs, and in some cases as far forward as the actual combatants. Our logisticians are heavily engaged in planning efforts, sourcing commodities and ensuring the warfighters get what they need, when they need it, in the right quantity. In short, opportunities for logistics officers and civilians in DLA are many and rewarding—both in garrison and down range— and logisticians can earn joint experience or credit in the process.

ER: What are your thoughts about mentoring and the need for continuous process improvement?

MAJ GEN MORRILL: As to mentoring, I can’t imagine someone arguing that mentoring isn’t effective in helping to develop a better logistician-leader—or anyone, for that matter. Since I’ve already talked about mentoring, let me briefly address continuous process improvement. Knowledge and practiced expertise in continuous process improvement methodologies, techniques and tools should be seen as a requirement for all logisticians, each according to their level and/or need. That means development and training. That means self-study. That means hands-on experience. That means driving improved results. However, let me be clear. We’re not just chasing training statistics…as many do. We should be doing these things to be continually better—because that is the character of our service. CPI results should directly and measurably improve operational effectiveness and resource stewardship. As I’ve mentioned, CPI-driven improvements can help mitigate the effects of ops tempo. Public and private experience clearly shows that the more people are involved in meaningful CPI events, the more productive they and their organizations are, and the higher their morale. We must be that kind of combat support community. K

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Acquisition Workforce Development

Submitted By Hon. Sue C. Payton, Maj. Abigail Ruscetta and Mr. Pat Hogan Acquisition Excellence. Air Force leaders made this one of the five top priorities in the October 2008 Air Force Strategic Plan. So, what is Acquisition Excellence? It’s a combination of strengthening people, processes, and policy. The people part is the acquisition workforce; developing, recapitalizing, and shaping that workforce is critical to acquisition excellence—and the primary focus of this article.

We’ve established a strategic vision for a professional acquisition workforce with the right number and the right mix of people with the right education, training, skills and experience to effectively and successfully perform the Air Force acquisition mission. To guide our efforts to achieve this vision, we partnered with Air Force functional leaders and the acquisition commands to develop an Air Force Acquisition Human Capital Strategic Plan that lays out four distinct goals:

Goal 1: Size the acquisition workforce based on program requirements

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Goal 2: Shape and develop the acquisition workforce to meet current and future mission area demands

Goal 3: Increase the effectiveness of the acquisition workforce

Goal 4: Continuously improve policies, programs, and processes for acquisition workforce development and management

The remainder of this article will briefly look at some of the initiatives under each goal. For more details, the plan is available in the Acquisition functional area of the Air Force Portal.

A I R F O R C E A C Q U I S I T I O N H U M A N C A P I TA L S T R AT E G I C P L A N GOAL 1: Size the Acquisition Workforce Based on Program Requirements In his speech to the Airlift Tanker Association in 2008, Gen Schwartz said, “As the new leadership team considers how and when to ‘reset’ the force, strengthening the acquisition workforce will also frame part of this agenda. Like many communities in the

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Air Force, the acquisition career field lost many talented professionals as the Air Force has reduced its overall end strength” (ATA, 7 Nov 08). Many leaders in the Air Force and Congress have recognized that the number of people in the acquisition workforce was cut too deeply as the Air Force downsized. Our acquisition workforce was reduced 42% from FY89 (81,512) to

FY 01 (47,422) and has been relatively stable since that timeframe, although the way we “count” the acquisition workforce has changed.

As the previous table illustrates, there have been multiple definitions of the acquisition workforce over time. Prior to 2001, the “official” definition included not only full-time acquisition professionals in our acquisition organizations, but also supporting personnel at their installations, such as civil engineering and hospital staff (this change in counting philosophy is one of the reasons for the large drop between the NDAA and Refined Packard definitions). The definition adopted by DoD in 2005 specifies the workforce as consisting of those individuals for whom acquisition is their primary job. These include specialists in program management, life cycle logistics, financial management, contracting, engineering, science, and test and evaluation.

Using this definition, at the end of FY08 the Air Force acquisition workforce included 24,842 personnel.

a hard look at this and identified over 900 contractor positions that are planned for conversion to civilian acquisition positions to include engineers, acquisition managers, contracts experts, cost and pricing analysts and others. This effort started in early FY2009 and the conversions will continue through FY13. The stability of our civilian pay account is critical to the success of these planned conversions. One additional area that will be addressed is the use of RDT&E (3600) funding for civilian pay within the acquisition workforce. Civilian pay is currently funded using Operations and Maintenance (3400) funding for which the Service Acquisition Executive (SAE) does not have control. The SAE has accountability for the performance of the acquisition workforce but does not have the authority/flexibility to manage the funding for civilian pay under the current paradigm. The use of program dollars to fund civilian personnel is currently under review in the Air Force.

Our program office staffing is also challenged by a lack of appropriate models to project accurate manpower requirements for the acquisition workforce. To meet this need, we are working with our manpower experts to develop a family of objective based, workload driven manpower models that define/validate the manpower requirements needed to efficiently launch and manage a weapon system program.

When completed, these models will allow us the ability to quantify the manpower resources needed for new, existing and/or changing missions. We expect to have several of these models available for use by the FY12 Program Objective Memorandum (POM).

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Re-setting the force, or addressing the sizing issues to match acquisition manpower to the program requirements we are tasked to accomplish, is the first goal of our human capital strategic plan. One way to grow our organic acquisition workforce is through contractor-to-civilian conversions. Corporately, we took

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ER: ACQUISITION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

We could not wait for these models so we asked the product centers to identify their current manpower shortfalls. They validated an approximately 2,300-position shortfall in their workforce.

The majority of the shortfalls were civilian positions, but 291 officer and 29 enlisted positions also were identified.

This requirement is currently being reviewed by Air Staff to be vetted in the Air Force Corporate Structure at the next available programming opportunity.

We’re also looking at acquisition manpower needs at the air logistics centers, and initial indications are that we have about a 1,700 position shortfall. More validation is required, and once completed, we will sponsor these “adds” to the Corporate Structure as well.

GOAL 2: Shape and Develop the Workforce to Meet Current and Future Demands This goal is focused on initiatives to attract, select, develop and foster talent with the competencies we need to do the current and future acquisition mission. It includes establishing a competency management framework to support hiring and succession planning as well as initiatives to identify required critical skills, replenish the workforce, advance workforce development and foster knowledge transfer. The Air Force is making full use of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF, established by FY08 National Defense Authorization Act, Section 852) which provides a mechanism for the services to fund initiatives addressing acquisition workforce development needs. The DAWDF will be used to fund recruitment and hiring, retention and recognition, and training and development initiatives. This help from Congress is crucial to rebuilding our AF acquisition workforce.

The DAWDF is a key enabler for our workforce strategic plan. It allows us to jump start hiring today while we work through the corporate process to establish permanent civilian and military authorizations for a larger workforce, sized to meet program requirements. Based on needs gathered from the field, our FY 2009 Sec 852 hiring targets include more interns (at least 300), more participants in the Student Career Experience Program, journey-level overhires (at least 330), and hiring highly qualified 16

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experts. Funds will also support building a tool to support career path decisions for officers and expanding competency-based workforce development and succession planning to additional centers.

GOAL 3: Increase the Effectiveness of the Acquisition Workforce We are also investing more in the people we have.

Goal 3 of our Human Capital Strategic Plan outlines four major objectives to increase the effectiveness of the workforce: identify and address training gaps, train people before they are assigned to positions of higher responsibility, emphasize professional currency, and revitalize position qualification and tenure management. Here again, we are leveraging the DAWDF established under Sec 852 to address training capacity shortfalls, sending more civilians to acquisition initial skills courses, the Air Force Mission Ready Contracting Officer Course and the Air Force Fundamentals of Acquisition Management Course, as well as increasing seats in the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Intermediate Project Management Course. We have also been working closely with Defense Acquisition University to focus their use of DAWDF on high priority Air Force training needs. The retention and recognition programs benefiting from Sec 852 include tuition assistance, and funding for career broadening permanent change of station moves .

Two programs exemplify how we are working to address specific occupational and institutional competencies for acquisition professionals: the University of Tennessee Aerospace MBA and the Acquisition Leadership Challenge Program. Every year, six acquisition professionals are competitively selected for the University of Tennessee’s Aerospace MBA program, an intense 12-month “in-residence” course. Students from across the aerospace industry participate in five, 9-day, on campus residence periods and a sixth residence period abroad. As described by the University of Tennessee, the Aerospace MBA “is designed to provide high compression learning for high-potential professionals in, or headed toward senior management levels” (http://aerospacemba.utk .edu/aeromba/). Participating companies include the USAF, Northrop Grumman Corporation,

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The Boeing Company, Pratt & Whitney, Smiths Aerospace (GE), Lockheed Martin Corporation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, GE Aviation, and Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine. Each of the 26 students in the MBA program is sponsored by their parent organization and the capstone project requires students to save their sponsoring company one million dollars.

Testimonials from sponsoring organizations and graduates attest to the program’s results, not only for the strategic perspective it brings on global defense issues, but also for the networking opportunities between future defense industry and military leaders.

Another opportunity is our Acquisition Leadership Challenge Program (ALCP), offered at two levels: ALCP I for CaptainsMajors/equivalent civilians, and ALCP II for Lieutenant Colonels/equivalent civilians. We developed ALCP in 2007 to address a critical gap in leadership training. The intense two and a half day classes explore key aspects of leadership through various psychological instruments. Throughout, the students in ALCP I and II learn about their personal strengths and weaknesses, understanding others, different leadership styles, dynamics of conflict, building and leading effective teams, supports and barriers to success, power and productivity, and setting and achieving realistic goals. Additionally, ALCP II broadens the scope to focus more on leading the enterprise. Student feedback has been extraordinary; they love the class and the 300+ graduates rate the overall experience a 4.9 on a 5-point scale.

GOAL 4: Improve Policies, Programs, and Processes for Acquisition Workforce Engagement, Development and Management Goal 4 focuses on our workforce management infrastructure: improving the Acquisition Professional Development Program and workforce analysis tools and metrics. For example, we are working hard to improve our ability to forecast training require-

ments and reduce the administrative burden in the field associated with our acquisition professional credentialing program. We have fielded an automated system enabling workforce members to track professional currency, and we are working to field an automated certification process. We are putting more tools in place to help organizations keep their acquisition positions properly coded so that workforce members get the training they need and the certifications they deserve. And we are constantly seeking improvements to keep the workforce informed about development opportunities and expectations.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR WEAPON S Y S T E M I N T E G R AT E D L I F E C Y C L E MANAGEMENT The Air Force goals for Acquisition Excellence also depend on evolving improved acquisition and sustainment policies and processes that our people can execute successfully. Integrated Life Cycle Management (ILCM) is an excellent example that has captured the attention of senior leaders across the logistics and acquisition communities. Through the ILCM Executive Forum the former AFMC Commander, General Carlson, and I established senior leaders in SAF/AQ, AFMC, SAF/IE, SAF/US, and A4/7 to guide process development to avoid requirements creep, technology overreach and unrealistic sustainment plans.

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Today, much of our product support expertise is approaching retirement, and those still in the Air Force are working on legacy systems. An enterprisewide team is working For example, to fulfill our to rejuvenate organic vision for ILCM, we need product support expertto “cross-pollinate” betise in our program ween the acquisition and offices at both product logistics career fields to and logistics centers develop program manthrough hiring, career agers with “cradle-to- Civilians attend ACC in a DAU Acquisitions class. (USAF Photo) broadening, training grave” product support and certification. competencies and to ensure we have enough logisticians with Correctly sizing this and other critical parts of our workforce, the business management competencies required to guide early based on program requirements, and hiring and developing peoprogram decisions about product support strategy. We have long ple with the right competencies, are the essence of our workforce had cross-flow programs at the company grade level strategic plan.

(OPEX/ALEET programs for new accessions and the Logistics Career Broadening Programs for mid-level Captains), but we CONCLUSION need to do more. Our human capital strategic plan includes initiatives to advance the use of our career field Development We believe our Acquisition Human Capital Strategic Plan is an Teams, such as vectoring individuals to assignments that devel- excellent roadmap for guiding workforce development in support of Acquisition Excellence. Workforce development is a continuop cross-functional competencies. ous process. To quote my Military Deputy, Lieutenant General Recent success stories indicate the value of shared occupational Mark Shackelford, “We need Long Term, Sustainable Process competencies between the logistics and acquisition career fields, and Acquisition Workforce Improvements.” With sustained requiring the professionals to look at programs from cradle to action and continued financial support, we can ensure the Air grave. In September 2008, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor Force will employ an acquisition workforce capable of meeting program was lauded by the SecDef as an exemplary program in current and future mission demands.

Performance Based Logistics for producing the highest readiness rates in the program’s history. The team, composed of Lockheed About the Authors: Martin, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, and the Air Force, used a life Ms. Sue C. Payton is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for cycle-focused strategy to implement a continuous reliability improvement program, increasing the aircraft mean time Acquisition, Washington, D.C. She is the Air Force's service acquisition executive, responsible for all Air Force research, develbetween maintenance by 69%.

ER: ACQUISITION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

But attaining the enterprise focus we want to bring to system life cycle management depends on instilling product support competencies in our acquisition professionals.

Due to the historic shift since the 1990s to private sector providers to manage the integration of long-term support for new weapon systems, Air Force organic skill sets and competencies in sustainment management eroded. With the competency-based workforce management approach we are building across the acquisition enterprise, the Air Force Product Support Strategy seeks to “identify, develop and retain the Product Support competencies required by the government to maintain effective control of support at system and enterprise levels” (ILCM Strategy, p. 4). The Product Support Strategy workforce development goal is to “ensure the Air Force defines the competencies required to plan, acquire, and execute support to optimize public and private sector capabilities” (ILCM Strategy, p. 5).

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opment and non-space acquisition activities.

Major Abigail Ruscetta is a Strategic Policy Intern stationed under the Air Force Fellows Program at the Pentagon. While an intern, she worked in Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisitions, and is currently working on joint staff in the Chairman's Action Group.

Mr. Pat Hogan is the Air Force Director of Acquisition Career Management. He brings nearly 40 years of human resource and acquisition experience from his military, private sector corporate executive and civilian government service careers.

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OFFICER FORCE DEVELOPMENT Submitted by Col Lee O. Wyatt

WHY

DO WE KEEP CHANGING OFFICER DEVEL-

O P M E N T R E Q U I R E M E N T S L I K E E D U C AT I O N ?

Advanced education is always valued by the Air Force. My family has served in the military now for 6 generations. The dinner table and especially family reunions were often fraught with heated discussions over Service differences, roles, missions and the like.

Doctrine was recognized as an enduring principle (i.e. feeding troops, precision attack, etc.) and the way we organized to execute it at the time was a technique, tactic, and procedure (TTP) (i.e. dining hall, F-15E, etc.) which drove training requirements. The lesson is if you’re going to be wedded to something, be wedded to the enduring doctrinal principle. Not blind dogma loyalty but certainly not faddish adoption either. In other words, doctrine is lasting but, the TTP changes over time. The methods, approaches and assumptions we use in today’s training as we prepare to feed the troops or to provide precision attack are much different than those used in WWI. Therefore, it stands to reason that some processes in officer force development are enduring and others are simply techniques, tactics, and procedures that support the challenges of the timeframe. Many officers have voiced concerns that evolving force development TTPs seem to be inconsistent from one period to the next. Yet, few of us object to the benefits of modern field feeding delivery systems or the accuracy of precision guided munitions delivered from an F-15E. Doctrinal enduring principles are lasting. TTPs are fluid.

W H AT

IS FORCE DEVELOPMENT?

Let’s first set a basic understanding of the underlying premises of force development. It builds a work force capable of performing standard work and cultural adaptation. Second, it sets an expectation and path for progression in skills, rank, and knowledge. Finally, force development establishes a competitive environment to select and groom the senior leaders of the future. It demands that our Airmen take individual responsibility for their progression and requires our Air Force to develop processes to selectively differentiate. Airmen who display heart and initiative have a head start. The cold, hard facts are that we all compete against our peers. It is not a bad thing; America and the Air Force need not apologize for competing, recognizing, and developing our very best.

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Once committed to the competitive destination, how can we know the right developmental path? I always thought it was easiest to find the destination when I knew where I was and where I was going.

Force development provides a bridge from technical specialization to greater cognitive and leadership capabilities. Each path is as unique as the individual. Many mistakenly choose a rank as a goal versus choosing a collection of skill sets. If you acquire and develop the skill sets, then the rank will come. The first step is a self-assessment of your current developmental state. Assess your skill level within the Air Force Senior Leadership’s institutional core competencies. The eight core skill competencies are: Employing Military Capabilities, Enterprise Perspective, Embodying Air Force Culture, Leading People, Managing Organizations and Resources, Strategic Thinking, Fostering Collaborative Relationships and Communicating. Self-introspection is the real beginning to force development and self-actualization. Figure 2 lays out an AMC primary zone (IPZ) officer development timeline and figure 3 shows a potential AMC below zone (BPZ) officer development timeline.

Take a minute to compare the two.

PILLARS

OF

FORCE DEVELOPMENT

Force development has three broad, basic pillars: assignments, education, and promotions. Historically, the policies associated with implementing Force Development have been subject to change (i.e. masked vs. unmasked degrees, importance and timing of PME, etc.).

Setting all those issues aside let’s look at each area on its own merits.

A S S I G N M E N T S : This is typically the first aspect of force development. Many confuse an assignment as simply a geographic location where they do their job. They often expect something more magical when thinking of development. Both personal and force development begin with that first assignment and continue with other, follow-on assignments. Your first developmental progression is actually documented in your record as job performance and will continue to be so throughout all of your assignments. There truly is no one single, magical job. It is as true today as it was years ago: “bloom where you are planted” with enthusiasm and energy. All jobs are important. The real magic comes when you perform your job well and simultaneously learn your boss’ job. A simple success formula is to make your boss’ priorities your priorities. Stated another way, work your boss’ boss’ problems first. Do what is needed to be done - not what you like or want to do. It will be reflected in your appraisals.

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E D U C A T I O N : One thing that is always valued by the Air Force is education, whether it is deeper technical knowledge or advanced degree education. It is an enduring value since the Air Force has always been a high-technology service. In fact, during a recent science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) review in Air Mobility Command, it was found that over 50% of the officers had STEM degrees. In a period of 100% tuition assistance, distance learning, and availability of on and off base education institutions, it is easier than ever before to complete an advanced academic degree (AAD). Many tell me they do not have time to get an AAD. One thing is certain, you are never going to get less busy. In today’s competitive environment, how can you afford to wait?

Let’s compare the 1987 Year Group of AMC Pilot/Navigator and AMC Non-Rated Line (NRL) officers to the Air Force averages as they competed at the 2008 Colonel Central Selection Board. NRL officers in the 2X and 3X AFSC families did very well in positioning themselves to compete for promotion by completing PME and AAD at a rate above the Air Force average. Collectively, they were promoted at a rate above the Air Force average promotion rate. The AMC Pilot/Navigator officers did not position themselves as well. This resulted in a Pilot/Navigator officer selection rate below the Air Force average promotion rate.

SO

W H AT D E G R E E S H O U L D

I

sions for today and for many years into the future. For example, a Rated officer with master’s degrees in Business Administration, Finance, Industrial Analysis, etc, combines a theoretical basis with major weapon system experience to provide a broader range of synthesis and application.

P R O M O T I O N S : The most forgotten fact about promotions is that they are based on the potential to serve and perform at the next level. Promotions are not rewards for past behaviors. Your performance must make a commensurate move upward with each promotion because far more is expected from you. Figure 7 demonstrates promotion opportunities by rank. Your whole officer record is an indicator of your ability to perform at the next level. The Air Force is measuring your job performance as well as your balanced preparation Continued on next page...

GET?

Too many times young officers grab an AAD just to fill the square. My advice is to carefully consider your choices for a graduate degree. Ask yourself three questions. What do I want to do in the Air Force? At what rank or level do I want to do it? And, what applicability will my degree have after I retire or leave the Air Force? If your introspective analysis reveals that you seek to be a senior leader, then consider reaching out to some resource and business practice theory beyond the traditional specialization (i.e. pilot, engineering, logistics, etc.). For example, a quick review of Airline CEOs in 2008 revealed they held AADs in finance and law.

If you are a pilot and get an AAD in aeronautical engineering, you are getting a degree very close to your current experiences. Perhaps this would be a perfect match for test and evaluations, but not necessarily a great theoretical stretch from existing experiences for synthesis. Synthesis takes place when we face new problems, draw from our experiences, and apply learned theories to arrive at a potentially new solution set. Great problem solvers are always sought after by hiring authorities. I often encourage those who seek senior leader positions to get grounded in resource allocation and business practice theories. I am not advocating management over leadership. Senior leaders are leaders; however, they also must make complicated resource deciEXCEPTIONAL RELEASE

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through education and demonstrated leadership. Your evaluations must reflect that you are capable of working above your current level, executing/completing large projects, working wing-wide issues, etc. Timing is important. Completing PME and AAD sooner as opposed to later demonstrates your initiative and commitment. Get it done and get it done early or risk selfelimination from both promotions and assignments.

Many officers eliminate themselves from great jobs because they have not completed AAD and PME. Often times, year groups’ records are screened for specific criteria to generate a list of potential candidates for hiring authorities to use when making selections for some really great jobs. You never know when your records are being reviewed by hiring authorities. Poor timing on your part may keep you from making the list.

HOW

DOES BEING AN

SELECT WEIGH INTO

IDE/SDE THINGS?

Being an IDE/SDE select is an early indicator of your potential. It is also an easy discriminator for hiring authorities to use. IDE selects are in the top 20% of all the officers that meet the Maj promotion board.

Being a promotion board IDE select also increases your odds for joint duty, squadron command, Headquarters Air Force level staff jobs, etc... If you are not a promotion board select, you are designated as an IDE candidate. Approximately 15% of candidates are selected to attend IDE in residence.

SDE selects are the top 15% of all officers selected at the Lt Col promotion board.

The Lt Col board is also the first opportunity to be promoted below the zone (typically 10%). BPZ promotees are automatic SDE selects (figure 8).

The IDE/SDE select process demonstrates the competitiveness of the Air Force officer corps. If you are looking to be in this category, then get your AAD and appropriate PME (by correspondence) completed early.

W H AT A B O U T TEAM?

THE

D E V E L O P M E N TA L

There are 26 functional developmental teams (DT) and three of those are the Mobility Air Forces (MAF), Special Operations Forces (SOF), and the Combat Air Forces (CAF). Each DT has a chair and its members

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are senior leaders in the career field(s) that belong to that DT. Although each DT may seem to function differently, they all operate under basic rule sets which are overseen by the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC). The primary purpose of the DT is to identify and develop the best officer talent for future development. The DTs meet several times a year and look at different officer year groups depending on timing and certain milestones (vectors, PME, Command, etc) Reference figure 2 for DT timing.

Let’s look at DT vectors. DTs will score/grade your records; racking and stacking you against your peers in your specialty. Vectors can be given for your next assignment or more long term. Where you rack and stack does impact your vector. There are 9 long term vectors (see figure 9). A small percentage will be vectored to Joint Chiefs of Staff, (JCS) a larger percentage to Headquarters Air Force, etc. I can tell you from experience officers tend to migrate up and down the DT rack and stack lists over time depending on their preparations (AAD/PME) and their job performance (evaluations/stratifications). DTs also select candidates to attend IDE/SDE from an allocation given to them by AFPC. By the way, if you’re a select, don’t sit on your laurels. I have seen selects move from being in the top 10% to the bottom 10% in their DT scoring. You will still attend PME in residence by policy, but, the quality of your future vector and outplacement assignment will be limiting.

The DTs are maturing, and doing a great job. I did not see any evidence of favoritism at the DTs I attended. They operate similar to promotion boards; scores are done, splits are resolved and fair rules are applied. If the process has a weakness, it is the connection of the vector to the assignment. Depending on officer inventory conditions (i.e. shortages), vectors guide assignments - they do not dictate them.

W H AT

ARE SOME REALISTIC GOALS?

First of all, never sell yourself short. How well you prepare early-on will determine your end game.

Becoming a Colonel and group commander is not out of reach for a hard working officer. Historical Command Screening Board (CSB) results indicate that not everyone selected for group command was a

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prior BPZ select, nor did they all have in-residence SDE (figure 10). However, the competition for wing command significantly picked up (figure 11), with the most competitive category being the Air Base Wing (figure 12). Preliminary review of 2008 CSB results indicates the trend continues. This should not dissuade you from seeking the opportunity to command at senior levels.

In fact, we need you to seek out command. It is unfortunate that although we recently had growing Colonel command opportunities, we also had more officers decline consideration. As officers, I believe we all have a moral obligation to seek command, and the opportunities are there. There is truly no better job.

Officer development can seem very complicated and it is. It depends on you doing your part in preparations so when the system differentiates you; you are above the cut line! I’ll close with a few personal thoughts for you to consider. Define your goals; get your AAD and PME completed early because this forces the system to take notice of you. You are not going to get less busy as you advance. As you move upward, the Air Force and the Airmen who work for you will depend more on your critical thinking skills than your technical skills. If you want an above

average career, you have to be willing to make above average sacrifices. America needs the best to fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace!

These thoughts and discussions are my personal views and do not represent an official Air Force position or policy. This article does not address molding the force through recruitment, sustainment, nor post-career transition. It looks more broadly at personal responsibilities and the system for those already in uniform.

Those who encouraged me to write this article requested I do so in a candid manner from the perspective of what I personally believe about officer force development.

About the Author: Colonel Lee O. Wyatt is the Air Mobility Command Director of Manpower, Personnel and Services (AMC/A1) and is currently assigned at Scott AFB, IL. He leads a select team of professionals responsible for advising, developing, and implementing Personnel, Manpower and Services plans, policies, and procedures for 62,000 personnel based at 12 major installations.

K

AIR FORCE ACRONYM LEGEND AFDC – Air Force Doctrine Center AFFSA - Air Force Flight Standards Agency AFIT – Air Force Institute of Technology AFOTEC – Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center AFPC – Air Force Personnel Center AFRICOM – United States Africa Command AIA – Air Intelligence Agency AFSAA - Air Force Studies and Analysis Agency AFSC – Air Force Systems Command AFTAC - Air Force Technical Applications Center ALROC- Advanced Logistics Readiness Officers Course: premier Logistics Readiness Officer Course held two times per year at the Air Force Expeditionary Center on Ft Dix, New Jersey.

ALROC is a 3-month in-residence course and is both competitive and challenging.

ALO – Air Liaison Officer AMLO – Air Mobility Liaison Officer ARC – Air Force Reserve Center ASBC - Air Space Basic Course AU – Air University CAP – Civil Air Patrol CENTCOM – United States Central Command DCMA – Defense Contract Management Agency

DIA – Defense Information Agency DISA – Defense Information Systems Agency DTRA – Defense Threat Reduction Agency EMTF – Expeditionary Mobility Task Force EWI -Education With Industry Program: a 10-month PCS tour that provides AF officers and civil service employees with on-the-job education, experience, and exposure to private sectors of the economy or other government agencies not available through formal courses of instruction.

EUCOM – United States Europe Command FOA/DRU – Forward Operating Agency/Direct Reporting Unit Grp/CC - Group Commander Grp/Wg – Group/Wing HAF – Headquarters Air Force IDE – Intermediate Developmental Education JCS - Joint Chiefs of Staff MAJCOM – Major Command MDA – Missile Defense Agency NAF/SPO/Center – Numbered Air Force/Special Programs Office LAF – Line of the Air Force LCBP - Logistics Career Broadening Program: sponsored by HQ USAF/A4 and is a two-year

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developmental assignment where officers are competitively selected and developed to fill future senior materiel management leadership positions in the Air Force and Joint Logistics Enterprise.

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGA - National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency NORTHCOM – Northern Command NORAD – North American Aerospace Defense Command OSD – Office of the Secretary of Defense PACOM – United States Pacific Command SAF – Secretary of the Air Force SDE - Senior Developmental Education Sq/CC – Squadron Commander SOCOM – United States Special Operations Command SOUTHCOM – United States Southern Command STRATCOM – United States Strategic Command SOS - Squadron Office School SPO - Senior Program Officer TRANSCOM – United States Transportation Command USAFA – United States Air Force Academy USAFEC – United States Air Force Expeditionary Center

Give Them the Recognition They Deser ve!

Do you know someone who always goes above and beyond?

Nominate those deserving individuals for a National Award!

NOMINATIONS ARE DUE 1 AUGUST. M I C H A E L E . Z E T T L E R L I F E T I M E A C H I E V E M E N T A W A R D - This award recognizes members of the Logistics Officer Association who have demonstrated sustained superior leadership in service to this organization.

The nominees for this award will have at least 20 years of service in a logistics related career and also at least 10 years of membership in the LOA. G E O R G E T. B A B B I T T A W A R D - This award recognizes the two LOA National members who made the greatest contributions to the furthering of LOA National’s goals and objectives.

M A RY L . S A U N D E R S C H A P T E R D I S T I N G U I S H E D S E R V I C E A W A R D - This award recognizes the three LOA National members who made the greatest contributions in support of their local LOA Chapter activities.

D O N A L D J . W E T E K A M C H A P T E R O F T H E Y E A R A W A R D - This award recognizes the chapter (large category) which displayed outstanding support of LOA National objectives, innovation of programs for their local membership, and community involvement.

J A M E S L . H A S S C H A P T E R O F T H E Y E A R A W A R D - This award recognizes the chapter (small category) which displayed outstanding support of LOA National objectives, innovation of programs for their local membership, and community involvement.

All nominations are due by 1 August 2009 and should be sent via e-mail to InfoOfficer@loanational.org.

Chapter leadership should refer to http://www.loanational.org/guidance.asp for specific guidance on award nominations.

A ‘BACK-TO-BASICS’ CAMPAIGN for Air Force Logisticians Submitted by Lt Col Ron Huzzard

WHY ‘BACK-TO-BASICS’?

Today, our logistics Airmen Air Force-wide…officer, enlisted, civilian…face tremendous challenges. On-going combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined with budget constraints, aging equipment and force reductions are stressing all our units. If ever there was a time for meticulous attention to detail and strict adherence to instructions…it is now. However, all too often, this has not been the case. Failure to follow procedures and comply with technical orders and guidance at the technician-level, coupled with leadership lapses at multiple levels, have resulted in several highly publicized, embarrassing incidents and called into question the credibility of our Air Force.

These incidents led our Chief of Staff, General Norton A. Schwartz, to bluntly admit “…we lost focus”. However, he went on to promise that by applying ‘back-to-basics’ standards…“regardless of job or specialty…we will return the vigor and rigor to all the processes and missions for which we have been entrusted.” This mandate definitely applies to us as logisticians. Each of us must rededicate ourselves to our craft and focus on the fundamentals that form the foundation of our profession. To maximize the benefits reaped from this rededication though, we must execute this effort in a coordinated, consistent 26

manner across the entire Air Force logistics enterprise. This will be accomplished via a comprehensive Logistics ‘Back-to-Basics’ Campaign endorsed by our senior logistics leaders and composed of elements impacting our policy, culture, training and processes.

LOGISTICS ‘BACK-TO-BASICS’ DEFINED Before we take any action, mandate any training or change any policies under the umbrella of ‘back-to-basics,’ we must first define the term as it applies to us and identify the end state we expect to realize from this renewed focus on the fundamental aspects of our profession. Working closely with senior logisticians from every MAJCOM, we have established that ‘Back-to-Basics’ consists of fundamental behaviors that foster a culture of compliance ensuring full understanding and strict adherence to regulations and technical orders. Focusing our actions and efforts on initiatives that meet these criteria will steer us towards the desired end state of a consistently disciplined, credible and well-trained logistics work force.

THE NEXT STEP Having defined ‘back-to-basics’ and our desired end state, we must next identify the initiatives to comprise this logistics enterprise-wide effort. Logisticians at every level, whether at Headquarters Air Force, serving on a MAJCOM staff or making the mission happen at the

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unit-level, will play a crucial role in the success of this process. For example, Headquarters Air Force stakeholders must drive the review, clarification and update of our core logistics instructions across all functional disciplines. Likewise, they will address emerging policy requirements, such as the new Air Force instruction being written to combine and standardize today’s MAJCOM-unique Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Programs into a single, more comprehensive and enterprise-wide Logistics Compliance Assessment Program that will provide commanders with crucial feedback on the health of their logistics functions. MAJCOMs are responsible for identifying and remedying standardization or accountability gaps within their command-speMaintainers at Andersen AFB, Guam prepare for the arrival of F-22 Raptors deployed from Elmendorf cific guidance as well as consolidating all potential Air Force Base, Alaska. (USAF photo by MSgt Kevin Gruenwald) ‘back-to-basics’ initiatives submitted by their subordinate units. Finally, field-level units must highlight and the campaign plan and diligence of our initiative “champions” are submit to their parent MAJCOM any training, leadership and comvital to ensuring the coordinated, consistent, enterprise-wide applipliance-related “best practices” that may have Air Force-wide utility. cation of our ‘back-to-basics’ efforts.

All these potential ‘Back-to-Basics’ initiatives will be consolidated and jointly considered for incorporation in our enterprise campaign THE KEY TO SUCCESS

by Headquarters Air Force and MAJCOM logistics leadership.

While programmatic responsibilities for the Logistics ‘Back-to-Basics’ Campaign reside with Headquarters Air Force, MAJCOM staffs, and THE AIR FORCE LOGISTICS ‘BACK-TOthe various initiative ”champions,” its ultiB A S I C S ’ C A M PA I G N mate success or failure hinges on our individual Airmen, NCOs, SNCOs, Officers PLAN and Civilians. For it is at this level that an Once the ‘Back-to-Basics’ initiaunblinking focus on compliance and strict tives to be implemented across personal accountability must be reinforced. the logistics enterprise have been The Logistics ‘Back-to-Basics’ Campaign finalized, the Air Staff will forwill facilitate this by driving a review of malize them in a campaign plan. our logistics policies to ensure they are This Logistics ‘Back-to-Basics’ clear, current and concise as well as exposCampaign Plan, expected to be ing all logisticians to unique, ”best pracready for roll-out in the spring, tice” leadership and process initiatives will break each initiative down currently utilized only by select units or into specific, executable tasks pockets of our logistics community. These with associated timelines and initiatives, in turn, will generate an milestones. It will delineate roles intense, sustained focus by each of us on and responsibilities, as well as the most fundamental aspects of our proobjectives for the short and longfession…nothing less is acceptable from term. Moreover, the campaign the logisticians in the world’s greatest air, plan will identify a “champion” space and cyberspace force. for each initiative. These “champions” may reside on the Air Staff or within a particular MAJCOM, but regardless of affiliation, they will be responsible for tracking, implementing and reporting on their respective initiatives. Thus, the soundness of

About the Author: Lt Col Ron Huzzard is the Enterprise Policy Branch Chief in the Air Staff's Integrated Life Cycle Management Division (AF/A4LM).

SSgt Trevor Helm washes the windshield of a B-1B Lancer at an air base in Southwest Asia. (USAF photo by SSgt. Joshua Garcia)

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SrA Tristan Bacom tows an A-10 Thunderbolt II at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, while SSgt Damon Ballard supervises the operation. (USAF photo

by SrA Eric Gibson)

Demystifying the DT Submitted by Col Chris Bendall Despite the fact that I’ve been around for nearly half a century with almost 27 years of experience in the Air Force, I’ve discovered there are some things in life that are completely mysterious and by many accounts simply inexplicable. The value of Pi is one of those mysteries. To a mathematician, Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. To a computer programmer, Pi is 3.141592653589 in double precision, yet to my friend Kevin (who’s an engineer), Pi is about 22/7. Personally, I agree with many others who know that pie is simply a very delicious dessert.

Over the course of the past few years, another great mystery has surfaced in our Air Force. What exactly is a Development Team (DT)?….Who are they?...What do they do?....How do they affect my career? In the next few pages, I’ll attempt to demystify the DT and explain how we all benefit from the work of this great team of professionals.

In his November 2002 CSAF Site Picture, General John P. Jumper laid out his vision for the new Force Development construct: “to make an investment in all career fields and all ranks more deliberately…in order to better prepare us for the future and better meet your expectations.” He continued by saying “Force Development

28

will enable us to focus on each individual by emphasizing our common airman culture while offering a variety of choices that respects the distinctive elements of your career field. We plan to add a dimension to your educational experience that has not been fully exploited in our current PME and advanced education structure.

Most importantly, we have made sure that this new emphasis reflects a sincere respect for your time—time that you owe to other priorities in your life, like your families. Every aspect of our new plan has one common goal: to continue developing professional airmen who instinctively leverage their respective strengths together.

We intend to develop leaders who motivate teams, mentor subordinates, and train successors.”

From this vision came Air Force policy calling for development of all Airmen through a deliberate, career-long process of individual development. Specific tenets included carefully synchronizing the key components of deliberate development—education, training and experience—to deliver the right people with the right competencies, at the right time to support and accomplish current and future Air Force missions; be agile and adaptive in responding to feedback from individuals, supervisors and commanders; and also be adaptive to continuous change both in systems and process. Finally, our force development process should enhance the opportunities of all Airmen, balancing depth and breadth of experiences to meet current and future Air Force requirements; and utilizing a common language that identifies important competencies that apply to all Airmen. Said another way….this is about you. Deliberately developing all Airmen is a win-win for you and the Air Force. So keep reading while I explain why you should see Force Development as

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an important aspect of your military experience…and why you should be excited and involved.

A N AT O M Y

OF THE

DT

Force Development for officers and civilian equivalents is managed by Development Teams (DTs). We have very active DTs serving both officer and civilian communities; however, for the purpose of this article, I’ll focus on Force Development for our officer AFSCs. Within the Air Force Logistics community, there are currently separate DTs for Logistics Readiness Officers and for Maintenance/Munitions Officers. Major General Robert H. McMahon serves as the Functional Manager (FM) and chairs both active duty DTs with Col Steve LaVoye and myself performing duties as Munitions and Maintenance/Logistics Readiness Officer Career Field Managers (CFM), respectively. In addition to the DT Chair and the CFMs, voting members of the Logistics Officer DTs include MAJCOM-level functional leadership, as well as, Joint Service and ARC representatives. Our DTs also have representatives from AFPC officer assignment teams to ensure standardization and provide administrative and logistical support.

Logistics DTs meet three times per year at Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), Randolph AFB, TX in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. The traditional roles of the DT include reviewing and selecting candidates for Intermediate and Senior Developmental Education (IDE/SDE); selecting candidates for squadron and deputy group command; and vectoring officers into future career opportunities. However, your DT does these things and many more. The Logistics Readiness Officer DT also selects officer candidates for the Logistics Career Broadening Program (LCBP), Education with Industry (EWI), the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), the Advanced Logistics Readiness Officers’ Course (ALROC), and Regional Affairs Specialists (RAS).

Likewise, the Maintenance and Munitions Officer DT selects for LCBP, AFIT, and RAS. This central selection process ensures we select the right officer for the right position, at the right point in his or her career.

Our DTs also facilitate the deliberate development of Air Force logisticians by evaluating the overall health and state of the career fields. We look at accession and retention rates, manning, promotion statistics, key position requirements, the assignment process and other current issues such as the impact of deployments. This ensures the Air Force has the right logistics officers—educated, trained and experienced—in the right grade and right numbers to meet our myriad operational requirements— both at home station and deployed.

“ R O G E R , R O G E R . W H AT ’ S VICTOR?”

OUR VECTOR

As mentioned earlier, the DT is responsible for vectoring officers into future career opportunities. I’m certain that many of you have associated the term “vectoring” much like I have with the value of Pi. It can be confusing until you understand basic definitions and timing. Today’s DT focuses vectoring toward field grade officers and senior captains. There are essentially three types of vectors used by logistics DTs. First, Steady State Vectoring is conducted by year groups, and represents the DT’s recommended career path for the officer—typically the next three sequential assignments—but not by location or specific job. Officers can generally expect to receive a steady state vector when selected for promotion to Major and Lt Col. To ensure all officers receive a vector every three to five years, we also vector by year group on a rotating basis. For example, during the last Logistics Readiness DT in August 2008, we vectored the entire 1997 year group. Next, Vulnerable to Move List (VML) Vectoring is conducted for graduating squadron commanders, as well as, officers graduating from Developmental Education (DE) or special programs like LCBP or AFIT. During the December 2008 Maintenance & Munitions Officer DT, we vectored about 70 officers coming out of advanced academic degree and developmental education programs in CY09. Finally, the DT will occasionally recommend a Strategic Vector to identify officers for further assignment/development within a specific specialty.

For example, officers strategically vectored for fuels may rotate back and forth between fuels and other logistics functions, but will generally “grow up” within the fuels specialty. Aerial Port, Logistics Plans, and Munitions requirements also can result in strategically vectoring some of our officers. Overall, strategic vectoring helps us ensure we grow senior leaders prepared to serve in areas requiring functional expertise at senior levels. Officers may not request a specific strategic vector…DTs will evaluate and assign based on performance and experience.

Vectors can be based on an assignment level—e.g., Joint Staff, Air Staff, MAJCOM, base-level, etc.—but may also represent a recommended training or education opportunity, such as resident DE or advanced functional training like ALROC or AMMOS. The vector may also recommend a specific type of position such as squadron commander, deputy group commander, instructor, or other special duty. Vectors may designate MAJCOM, overseas, short tour or 365-day deployment. They may recommend completing Master’s program and appropriate PME. But they will not specify a squadron, MAJCOM, or base.

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Three MQ-1 Predators sit ready for launch in a hangar at a base in southern Afghanistan. (USAF photo by SSgt Samuel Morse)

T I M “ T H E T O O L M A N ” TAY L O R PROUD!

WOULD BE

With the development of the DT came the need for a set of tools to foster communications between the member and their leadership, AFPC, and the DT. In 2007, AFPC launched its new Airmen Development Plan (ADP), which is a web-based decision support tool designed to integrate numerous force development tools, including electronic records, duty histories and assignment preferences, into one platform. Development Plans are designed to help members, supervisors, commanders, senior raters and development teams communicate assignment, command and developmental education desires and recommendations. The ADP applies to active-duty officers and replaces the transitional Officer Development Plan (T-ODP). All company and field grade officers should be familiar with the ADP because it is your primary means for communicating with the DT. Through it you convey desired assignment preferences, professional development interests, intermediate and senior developmental education, and command preferences to senior raters and the DT. Senior raters use the ADP to review your preferences and make nominations for command, leadership, and developmental education opportunities. DTs use ADP to review senior

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rater recommendations and vector officers into the right experiences or the right educational opportunities to meet career goals and the needs of the Air Force. To complete the process, AFPC Assignment Teams work to find the best match between the development plan, the vector, and Air Force requirements.

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there!

Now I’d like to provide a few thoughts on how you can effectively posture yourself for a successful DT experience. What follows are three “must do” actions you should take now that will help the DT make the best decisions for your career. First, and perhaps most importantly, officers should thoroughly and frequently check their records and keep them up to date. I’ve seen a number of great officers passed over for promotion due in part to inaccurate or missing information in their official record.

From a DT perspective, missing or unsigned performance reports or decorations could mean the difference in an officer’s selection for command or developmental education opportunities.

Secondly, and equally important to ensuring your records are accurate, is a requirement for all officers to complete their ADP. The development plan includes assignment preferences

2009

(type/location), special duty (instructor), desire for command selection, and open-text area for comments such as PME/Masters progress or any unique situations you feel needs to be conveyed to the DT. Talk to your supervisor, your MAJCOM DT representative and your AFPC assignment team member to fully understand what opportunities are available, the ones for which you qualify, and what’s appropriate for today or a future point in your career. Once you’ve completed your ADP, email your commander or supervisor so that he or she can review/approve and forward to AFPC. If you are a commander or senior rater, log into ADP periodically to review pending development plans for your officers.

Resolve contradictions between officer and reviewer comments before forwarding to AFPC. Nothing is more confusing to the DT than to have an officer express an interest in a particular opportunity, i.e. LCBP, and the commander not comment on the officer’s qualifications, experience, or maturity level to accomplish that job, if selected. Next, recommend the next type of job and level of responsibility; explain PCS timing issues, mission requirements, special considerations; and make comments consistent with the officer’s record. Finally, submit prior to the ADP due date. AFPC and the DT will not see the ADP until you forward it. A great tutorial on the ADP can be found at: http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/FDToolkit/?prods3=2859.

Finally, officers should know the DT agenda and how it affects them. The current schedule for all DTs can be found at: http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/Docs/DPA/ForceMgmt/6022_NearTe rmTimeLineCurrent.ppt

WHY

D O W E D R I V E O N PA R K WAY S A N D PA R K

O N D R I V E WAY S ?

While I can’t explain English language rules that dictate why we drive on parkways and park on driveways, I can help you understand some of the elements that go into the decision making process as the Force Development team works together to ensure our logisticians are developed to meet Air Force needs while also keeping individual desires in mind. Here’s an example: Maj(s) Ima Loggie had been assigned as an instructor within the Doctrine Center at Maxwell AFB for the past two years and had asked to remain for a full four years time-on-station. Looking at her ADP, she indicated that her goal was to eventually become an LRS Commander. While at first appearance it looks like a reasonable request, further review showed her time-on-station was actually approaching four years due to two previous years spent at Maxwell-Gunter Annex at AFLMA, an AFIT payback tour. With almost five years away from “mainstream logistics” (1

yr AFIT + 2 yrs AFLMA + 2 yrs Doctrine Ctr) there was concern about Maj(s) Loggie’s career development and how best to position her for a future command. In terms of her logistics competencies, Maj(s) Loggie had one base-level tour early in her career within the 62d Supply Squadron at McChord AFB. While she had gained a tremendous amount of general knowledge through assignments at McChord AFB, AFIT and Maxwell AFB, it was time to continue her technical/professional development. Although Maj(s) Loggie’s future would carry her away from Maxwell AFB, the inputs into her next assignment/career progression were carefully considered through her Vector, her Developmental Team Member, her current supervisor and the AFPC Assignment Team. As the assignment cycle approached for Maj(s) Loggie’s PCS, AFPC worked through the requirements and found assignment choices consistent with the Development Team’s Vector (Operations Officer, Sq/CC, and MAJCOM) at a variety of locations which complemented her background.

Finally, Maj(s) Loggie was informed of her assignment as the 56th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s Operations Officer at Luke AFB. Although she was disappointed that she didn’t get her first pick of Peterson AFB, Colorado, Maj(s) Loggie understood that this position would bring her career back onto the command track and was excited about the opportunity. She had entered a period of increased responsibility and rapid change...clearly the Pentagon was in Maj(s) Loggie’s future!

Well, that’s a brief look at the Development Team. Bet some of you thought it was just a bunch of Colonels throwing darts and making career decisions for you based on where the darts stuck.

Truth is, the DT is just one element of a carefully thought-out and well-designed process for developing our officers and civilians. It is also a very transparent process with no decoder ring required as long as you and your supervisor are willing to get involved. Is it a perfect process? No; however, it is significantly better than the process used in years past whereby careers were built based on being at the right place at the right time or knowing someone who could place you in a great job. Today’s Air Force leadership is firmly committed to maximizing the capabilities of all Airmen and ensuring opportunities are available through education, training and experience to satisfy current and future Air Force requirements. I hope this discussion of the DT has enhanced your understanding of the process and your role in your career management. It’s really not all that mysterious.

About the Author: Col Chris Bendall is the Chief, Force Development and Organizations (AF/A4LF) Directorate of Logistics at the Pentagon.

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Maintenance Resource Management: Safety from the Bottom Up

Mr. Dave Meyer instructing a 3 day MRM course at Dover AFB, DE. Mr Meyer is a dedicated MRM instructor responsible for training maintenance personnel on the importance of safety in performance of their job. (USAF photo Dover AFB)

Submitted by Maj Sean McMurray SSgt Jonathon Deaton finishes his error threat briefing as the Maintenance Group Commander, the Maintenance Operations Squadron Commander, the Superintendent of Quality Assurance and the MOS Superintendent nod in agreement. Why don’t the safety bollards at the base gates have solar-charged lights on top to make them more visible during hours of darkness, rain and fog? The MXG/CC jots down some notes, and the Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) course comes to a close, but not before he presents each participant with a certificate, an MRM coin, and a request to take what they have learned back out to the flight line, the backshops, and anywhere else they work, live and play.

So what makes a good MRM program? Is MRM necessary? Does it work? To answer these questions and more, we’ll take a look at one base’s MRM program. While the focus will be on one base, in this case Dover, I would argue that MRM’s importance reaches further than just one base. I would also argue that it’s not just about aircraft maintenance. While aircraft maintenance is inherently dangerous, maintainers certainly don’t have monopolies on workplace incidents, off-duty mishaps and accidents in general. MRM principles can be applied to nearly every work environment — or off-duty environment — anytime, any place, anywhere.

So what makes a good MRM program? At Dover, MRM is built upon three basic yet distinct pillars: education, communication and commitment. First, students are educated on safety processes.

Instruction includes discussions on organizational norms, anatomy of unsafe acts and error threat assessments. Second, students provide leadership with bottom-up suggestions. They identify dangers, on duty and off, that could produce mishaps in the future. Finally, lead-

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ership commits to establishing a culture of safety and remaining active participants in mitigating risk. When dangers are identified, leadership remains involved until the dangers are either eliminated or mitigated. These three facets are equally critical in the successful implementation of Dover’s Maintenance Resource Management Program.

E D U C A T I O N While the typical MRM course ranges from a halfday to 2.5 days depending on what base is teaching it, MRM at Dover is a full three days. This is a huge commitment from all parties involved to take personnel out of the workplace for three days of instruction, but a commitment that pays dividends. The class begins with a welcome from the MXG/CC before diving into such topics as human factors, OSHA and AFOSH standards, and case studies from actual mishaps. Recent additions to Dover’s MRM course are safety statistics and mishap information (both local and AF-wide), discussion of the Volunteer Protection Program, ties between AFSO21 improvements and MRM, and guest speaker opportunities reserved for wing senior leadership and safety personnel. In addition to covering these new topics, the syllabus contains three interactive exercises that are the core of the course. First, students are asked to identify organizational norms that they see in their workplace — both positive and negative. Organizational norms can best be described as the accepted culture of an environment…habits and actions that become commonplace over a period of time. Positive organizational norms—clearing jobs and updating G081 prior to the end of every shift—are reinforced and encouraged. Negative organizational norms, however—taking short cuts on a task or neglecting to use tech data because the job is so “routine”—are the things that require leadership commitment and student involvement to bring to an end. By spending time identifying

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2009

organizational norms, the students take a step back and think convince Airmen that the MRM course is important to the more critically about things they do on a daily basis. Next, stu- Group than to have key leaders in the Group attend every course dents are asked to examine the anatomy of an unsafe act. They graduation, hear every outbrief and provide feedback to every are asked to think of an incident that they had firsthand expe- student? Once students are empowered with the knowledge necrience with, or one with which they were intimately familiar. essary to take MRM back to their workplace, and they see that They are then asked to brief the scenario, the conditions that leadership is receptive to their ideas, they will be encouraged to contributed to the unsafe act, what safeguards were in place that continue to seek improvements and communicate them up the could have prevented the incident (but didn’t), and what new chain. They will know that the boss’s door is always open when defenses could be put in place that would prevent the incident it comes to safety and eliminating hazards. in the future. These firsthand student testimonials not only highC O M M I T M E N T This is the third critical pillar of an effective light the fact that things can and do go wrong; they also allow MRM program. Airmen need to know that MRM is more than students to examine chains of events and identify where to break just a training requirement. They need to know that it is importhe chains that lead to incidents. The third and final interactive tant to leadership. They need to know that the three-day course exercise that students are asked to participate in is an error is just the beginning of an effective MRM program, and not the threat assessment. This is simply asking “where is the next accicompletion of their MRM responsibilities. There are several ways dent going to happen?” This could be on the flight line. It could leadership can show their commitment to a strong program. I’ll be in a backshop. In some mention a few that are in cases, it could even be on place at Dover. First, talk intramural playing fields or safety…always. It’s not a poorly lit crosswalks on message that ever gets Dover AFB. We will discuss old. Discuss safety at nine these examples later. In commander’s calls in a short, it is an opportunity for row, and neglect it during students to use their newly the tenth. Care to guess acquired skills to identify the when your incident will next possible incident, and occur? Second, commit to then to provide a possible a good MRM educational mitigation. Three days of foundation. The course instruction…quite a commitshouldn’t just be for a desment. Part of our duty as ignated few. It needs to be leaders, however, is to profor the masses. It’s diffivide our personnel with the cult to run everyone in tools they require to do their the organization through Member from the 436 MXG identified a key shortcoming of a hydraulic mule used in airjobs. At Dover AFB, MRM craft maintenance. The mule was rated to operate at a specific range that was below a 3-day training course. It education is a requirement to the requirement for the task it was being used. (USAF photo Dover AFB) takes time; however, it do our jobs safely and ensure can be done. Third, never the mission is successful. be satisfied with status quo. How can the course be improved?

C O M M U N I C A T I O N Building on the foundation of education is What can be added to the training that would better equip the communication. Not just any communication—bottom-up com- students? A periodic review of course material is a must. Fourth, munication, from the most seasoned to the newest Airmen. At commit to running issues to ground and following up. At the the conclusion of every MRM course, students provide briefings conclusion of every MRM course, the issues briefed by the stuon their issues. As discussed previously, their issues may be orga- dents at Dover are added to the MRM database and assigned to nizational norms, anatomy of unsafe acts or error threat assess- a particular squadron. Squadron commanders are then held ments. For one hour or two — for as long as the briefers need accountable for running each issue to ground.

— the floor is theirs. Who do they brief? They brief a panel comIS MRM NECESSARY? Without a doubt, a successful MRM proposed of the MXG/CC, the MXG/CCC, a minimum of one gram requires a great deal of time and effort. Is it really necessary?

MXG squadron commander, and a minimum of one squadron superintendent. Direct access to the boss…what better way to Continued on next page...

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According to the USAF Safety Center at Kirtland AFB, there were 120+ Class C aviation mishaps attributed to maintenance in 2004. That same year, four Airmen lost their lives on duty. These sobering statistics demanded action. MRM was developed, tested and expanded across the Air Force. A standardized USAF baseline curriculum was the result. There are now currently 210 certified USAF instructors, and approximately 40% of aircraft maintainers have been trained.

ER: MAINTENANCE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

DOES MRM

W O R K ? Since the inception of the program in 2004, Class C aviation mishaps have been on a steady decline. In addition, among USAF organizations where baseline MRM is instructed, there were no maintenance human factor causal Class A or B mishaps in 2008.

To focus again just on Dover, safety mishaps were down 75% Airmen recognized a safety concern when going to and from work. This safety concern in 2008 alone. While this “evidence” that MRM is working drove the installation of a new lighting system on a high traffic cross walk. (USAF photo may seem anecdotal, the decrease in incidents coincides Dover AFB) with the MXG surpassing 1,100+ members trained in MRM. In addition, there are numerous tangible changes that have Roberts noted an accident waiting to happen at a cross-walk come about directly from suggestions from MRM graduates. First, across Atlantic Avenue, the main thoroughfare on Dover AFB. within a one month period during intramural softball season, While the crosswalk had all the required markings on the pavethree to four different individuals broke their ankles sliding into ment, there were no streetlights around the crosswalk, and durbases. While many people would just accept this as a risk of play- ing hours of darkness, it would be difficult to see someone ing softball or perhaps blame it on aggressive play, A1C Gratton crossing the street, or waiting to cross the street. To fix this probfrom the 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron wasn’t satisfied. lem, an activation button was added on either side of the crossShe suggested that “anchored” bases be replaced with bases that walk. When pressed, the button activates lights that blink and “disengage” when people slide into them. This was a simple solu- outline the crosswalk for a long enough period of time to get drition that will save countless ankles in the future. Second, Amn vers’ attention, and allow the pedestrian to safely cross the street.

Does MRM work? From Dover’s viewpoint, the answer is a resounding “yes”… it’s hard to argue with the results.

Another MRM course begins… the MXG/CC stops by to welcome the students. One of the students, the new MOS Superintendent, sits in the audience eager for the class to begin. Only three weeks into his time at Dover, he already understands the importance of the MRM program.

With a UCI/LSEP to prepare for, household goods that still need unpacking and a tasker list from his boss a mile long, Chief is committed to spending three days of his time to begin his MRM journey at Dover.

About the Author: Major Sean McMurray is the 436th Maintenance Operations Squadron comLeadership buy in is key to a successful MRM program. The 436 MXG Commander welcomes every class and stresses the importance of the program. (USAF photo Dover AFB)

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2009

mander at Dover AFB and is responsible for Dover’s MRM program.

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Each active chapter may submit one individual for a scholarship.

Chapters that do not have their key leadership positions filled with active National LOA members WILL NOT be eligible to submit scholarship nominations.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 1 AUGUST, 2009 Winners are presented their scholarship award at the annual conference banquet.

For submission criteria please visit: https://www.loanational.org/g-3.htm

A Leader’s Intangible Skills Matter Left: CSAF Gen Norton Schwartz speaks at an Airman's Call at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, during a recent tour of Southwest Asia installations. (USAF photo A1C Jason Epley)

Submitted by Maj Brad Archer Upon learning this issue of ER would focus on people issues in logistics, I found myself reflecting back on the “smart leaders” and the “not so smart leaders” with whom I’ve worked with throughout my career as an officer and enlisted member. For me, watching the “not so smart leaders” is as valuable as observing how the “smart leaders” make the mission happen. At a time when the Air Force is simultaneously supporting the Global War on Terror; modernizing and recapitalizing its aging weapon systems; and facing ever-increasing fiscal pressures, I believe a leader’s intangible skills are going to play an even more prominent role in shaping our future Air Force. These intangible skills are also known as “soft skills” in the business world. Leaders across all levels of the Air Force use these “soft skills” to successfully take care of people and achieve mission accomplishment. This article will primarily focus on three specific aspects to include, but not limited to, communication, interpersonal, and listening skills, all of particular importance when it comes to leading any organization.

C O M M U N I C AT I O N S K I L L S Consider for a moment how many times you have changed roles and positions throughout your career. No matter how many times you have changed units, you usually get one chance to make a positive first impression and explain to your subordinates about your personal and professional background; how you view the roles and responsibilities of the organization; and what they can expect from you. By providing a snapshot of your personal and professional background, you’re openly reaching out to authentically “connect” with your subordinates. In a sense, establishing credibility with members of your unit is a fundamental approach to communicating that you are technically competent to lead your respective area of responsibility. If done genuinely and thoughtfully, it will set the stage for your subordinates to feel empowered to voice concerns about the issues that are on their minds. In terms of roles and responsibilities of an organization, chances are you may already have a firm understanding of how you fit into the big picture. For those who find themselves assigned to a unit that they have minimal or no exposure to, you can channel your focus and energies into three particular areas: (1) become familiar with the specific roles and responsibilities; (2) reach out and network with key personnel and your peers; and (3) become the subject matter expert.

Once you gain firm footing, you’ll be in a position to “speak up” and make your case on the issues impacting your unit. When communicating your expectations of performance, all of your subordinates will gain increased opportunities to be more productive and “get things done right the first time” when they clearly understand your operating style and where you want to lead the organization.

Finally, the use of clear and concise direction will help them to fully appreciate your technical competence, thinking, and credibility to lead—all vital to achieving mission success.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS During your experiences with “smart leaders” and “not so smart leaders”, you’ve most likely encountered those who know how to get along with people and those who really struggle to get along with others. John D. Rockefeller once said, “I will pay more for

CSAF Gen Norton Schwartz meets SrA Grace Blazado during a visit to the 505th Command and Control Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Airman Blazado is a 505th Communications Squadron client support administrator. (USAF photo)

the ability to deal with people than any other ability under the sun.”

Interpersonal skills are actually a combination of communication and leadership, working in tandem to capitalize on the talents and abilities of our people. “Smart leaders” use our diversity to bring out the best of each member and realize positive effects toward accomplishing the mission. One way to more clearly understand the diversity of your work force is to utilize a personnel profile sheet. Now this personnel profile is probably most effective at the flight and squadron levels of a unit, but it could also be targeted for key personnel at the group and wing levels. It’s simply a synopsis that could include the following elements: name, rank, date of rank, total active military or civilian federal service date, current duty position, previous base, goals, hobbies, and ways to improve your unit’s operation. Using this information, a “smart leader” is signaling his or her interest in others, their pursuits, and their work. Your initial goals should be to energize your workforce to solve problems and pursue efficiencies that can deliver increased support to the warfighter. A “smart leader” in essence, wants to get to know their people and identify the critical paths to success. Upon your assignment to a new unit, your challenge in the first 90 days is to create an atmosphere of trust and confidence because this is exactly what lays the foundation to implement breakthrough solutions and improve overall mission support.

CMSgt of the Air Force Rodney McKinley speaks with Airmen at the Housing-6 library on Joint Base Balad, Iraq. (USAF photo TSgt Richard Lisum)

LISTENING SKILLS Listening to your people ties directly back into communication and interpersonal skills. “Smart leaders” possess an open mind. They’re capable of discussing issues without arguing or criticizing others. It is a quality of a superior mind to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. Listening to your personnel requires you to get out from behind your desk. In this age of e-mail, it’s probably a lot easier said than done. But, it’s essential to see for yourself what is happening in your unit. Your place of business is where the job is getting done. Leave your tracks all over the place. Budget your time to demonstrate how interested you are about listening to your subordinates concerns.

If you believe there are no problems, you’re kidding yourself. The challenge is to find them and establish a rapport whereby your Airmen are comfortable about speaking up. Once you find the problems, you’ll be tackling process issues that are technically challenging and hold the key to improving the Air Force’s combat effectiveness.

Another approach is to hold separate Airman, NCO, SNCO, and Civilian roll calls. While this may be time consuming, it is sure to break down barriers to communication. These are distinct tiers within our Air Force with many different viewpoints and perceptions about the health of an organization. By listening and welcoming all comments, ideas, and questions from these tiers within your organization, it will help you map the strategy to make things better than you found them.

Gen. Craig R. McKinley, right, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Army Capt. Shannon Dean Holiday, commander of Multinational Task Force East's Thunder Bravo battery, walk the streets of downtown Pristina, Kosovo, during a presence patrol with the Missouri Army National Guard.

(U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

In summary, “smart leaders” lead with passion and a vision. This requires hard work, excitement for your responsibility, and a certain level of sensitivity about what’s going on around you. “Smart leaders” set high standards, stay engaged, listen, and seek out the problems. To do this well, you have to be focused, persistent, and mentally tough. Finally, remember, our Air Force core values are the foundation to it all.

About the Author: Maj Brad Archer is currently assigned as Chief, Logistics Readiness, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, United States Strategic Command, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

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What is a Voluntary Protection Program?

Submitted by CMSgt (ret) Joey McCoy The Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) is a partnership between the Air Force and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to promote effective safety and health programs.

Before you roll your eyes to the back of your head, throw your arms in the air, and shout out loud, “great, another program,” let’s get a few facts straight.

Historically, during all military operations, more service members were killed or injured due to accidents than from enemy actions.

For example, in World War II, 56% of the deaths were from accidents, versus 43% from enemy action, and in Desert Shield/Storm, the figures were even worse.

Another statistic to consider was that in 2006, industrial mishap losses exceeded $29M in personal injury or equipment damage. In addition, the AF pays more than $125M annually for civilian worker’s compensation charges. Bottom line…we can definitely improve protecting our equipment and ensuring the safety of our people.

mature the Wingman’s safety concept by moving from a compliance-based safety and health program to a performance-based safety recognition program to achieve “best in class.” In other words, change the culture on how the Air Force approaches safety. So how do we move forward to change our safety culture?

Everyone should be looking out for his Wingman on and off duty.

VPP fosters the Wingman concept by promoting personal responsibility to identify and reduce hazards and inefficiencies. As a result, every AF employee and their Wingman will actively identify and take action to eliminate hazards. So how do we get started?

Participation in VPP is an ongoing commitment to excellence in the occupational safety and health arena. To be recognized in VPP, an Installation must demonstrate cooperation between employees, management, and OSHA in support of VPP. We need to document the implementation of exemplary safety and health programs, and maintain injury rates below the industry average.

The VPP Process starts with an AF-led and contractor supported “Leadership VPP was initiated by OSHA in 1982 to Engagement” followed by an enhance safety both in the workplace and “Assessment.” The engagement conat home. Over the past 27 years, VPP has sists of senior leadership (specific) VPP a proven track record. Companies that training and mass (entire populace) adopted VPP delivered amazing initial 101 VPP training. The assessresults…reducing safety mishap incidents ment is five days long and consists of 50% and drastically lowering absenteeism, AF/OSHA safety professionals examinwhile increasing morale and public recoging/documenting safety standards and nition in comparison to industries in their personnel involvement across the VPP is all about our commitment to keeping loved ones safe. class that did not participate in VPP. installation. The installation/wing (USAF photo) commander will be given a GAP analyThe Department of Defense adopted VPP sis management tool showing safety as a means to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses. AF senior areas completed or deficient, and is subdivided into the following leadership agreed the force can do better, and in 2007 launched VPP key elements: management leadership and involvement: VPP. The goal is to reach OSHA’s highest level of safety… “Star worksite analysis: hazard prevention and control: and safety and Status,” and to reduce mishaps 75% by 2010. health training.

VPP is “The Wingman’s Safety Program,” and was designed to

All areas of the GAP analysis need to be closed before applying for the VPP “Star.”

The installation/wing commander will establish the VPP focal point (VPP Champion), and set the course to reach OSHA’s “Star” status 24 to 36 months after the initial assessment.

By now many may be thinking…what’s the cost, and what is the payback?

VPP builds upon safety programs already in place; however it will incur costs in the form of time, effort and training. Employee involvement constitutes the cost in time.

Re-directing the entire workforce to be proactive and TSgt Kent Creamer shows M Sgt William Keely how the wire braiding machine operates. Volunteer Protection Program members and individually take responsibilSgt Keely toured Cannon AFB, to look at protection features on equipment being used at the base. (USAF photo by A1C James R. Bell) ity for their safety and wellbeing sums up the cost in effort. The cost of training falls under auspices of hazard identifi- Identify/eliminate workplace hazards and inefficiencies cation and reporting, and mishap investigation. The evidence Drive down preventable mishaps reflects that as we empower our workforce to make jobs safer, the Recover lost mission capability payback is increased: availability (reduced mishaps); efficiency Safety and health training (better ideas); and morale (happier force). So what can we do to support the AF’s effort to institutionalize VPP? Everyone benefits from a safer workplace. You can contribute by knowing that VPP is a cooperative effort between employees (government, civilian, and contractors), management, and OSHA to enhance workplace safety and health, along with: Becoming meaningfully involved in our safety and health programs

Knowing what to do if you observe a safety issue: Take action by correcting the problem immediately or suggesting a better way to accomplish it Report the issue to your supervisor or safety representative Report safety concerns to the Safety Office Taking individual ownership of your own safety and health at work and home Looking out for your Wingman/Co-worker

The Voluntary Protection Program is not just about resources conservation and smart operations. It is about our responsibility as Wingmen to ensure the safety of all our Airmen—officers, enlisted and civilians. VPP will only work if YOU make safety…priority #1. By empowering our men and women in all ranks, whether uniformed or civilian service members, we unleash the creativity, responsibility and maturity that are the envy of fighting forces around the world. While we salute our brothers-in-arms as they deploy into harm’s way, and pray that they return safely, our goal is to ensure everyone goes home to their families each and every day.

For more information, visit http://afsafety.af.mil Voluntary Protection program.

About the Author: Joey McCoy, CMSgt (ret), USAF, is the current

The key AF VPP takeaways are:

Bottom line: Am I doing everything I can to keep myself and my Wingman safe?

VPP = Wingman ground safety and AFSO21 initiatives Build on current AF safety program

Dover AFB VPP Champion.

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Adding to Your Leadership Toolbox Submitted by Brig Gen Mark Atkinson Although electrons were slower, e-mail was unheard of, VCRs were the electronic rage, and I had a full head of hair, leadership development was as important in 1982 as it is in 2009. With 27 years in uniform, I look back with gratitude to mentors and leaders who embraced the idea of filling my leadership toolbox with ideas, knowledge, and methods that were as applicable then as they are in today’s high tech world. Their production ideas and methods were designed to strike a delicate balance between taking care of the troops and taking care of the mission. Their leadership challenges were less affected by modern electrons, yet they stared down many of the same types of challenges we face today as logistics leaders.

Development of logisticians “in the day” was not necessarily pretty or politically correct by today’s standards. It was, however, effective and supervisors had my full attention. Those great bosses, mentors, and leaders understood what Ralph Nader meant when he said, “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”

READ

THE

B O O K . You may be surprised what you learn when you

read the book. Some may remember the standard tests in school to measure reading comprehension level. Many would fail a similar test today if administered regarding the AFIs, tech orders, MOUs, MOAs, and policy memorandums associated with their primary duties. We act 40

like we’re too busy to read the book and we rely too heavily on what we’re told as opposed to researching for ourselves. I’ve been in meetings where 50 people took more than 30 minutes to thoroughly hash out an answer to a question. Following the discussion everyone appeared pleased with the final resolution. Before we proceeded with the remainder of the meeting I asked “What does the book say?”--not a single person in the room could answer. The room was full of Chiefs, Lt Cols, Majors, and SNCOs. I asked a 2ndLt to research the question and bring back the book answer. The Lt returned the next day and proudly relayed the book’s chapter and verse answer; it was clear the previous day’s answer was not in-line with the book requirements. The issue was a minor sticking point regarding proper quantity/distance requirements for munitions in proximity to taxiing aircraft! If you are the person in the room who has actually read the book on any given subject you will be in the minority the majority of the time. You’ll quickly become the E.F. Hutton of the organization all because you chose to read the written word.

S T O P S AY I N G : “ I

D O N ’ T K N O W . ” If your boss asks you for the population of Australia, and your job has nothing to do with Australia, it may be alright to say “I don’t know, but I can find out for you.” But, if your boss asks you which tail numbers are flying tomorrow and you’re the AMU OIC, it is not alright to say “I don’t know.” Because you should know! We’ve allowed the great

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concept of “don’t B.S. the boss” to become an everyday excuse for poor leadership. We’ve taught young professionals that it’s alright to say “I don’t know” in situations where they should know. As I grew up in the logistics business, the more I learned about my job the less painful it was to attend the daily DCM and wing standup meetings.

On occasion when I had to say “I don’t know” my leadership made my using that statement just painful enough to discourage overusing it in the future.

M A I N TA I N

A

W A R R I O R E T H O S . As a personal preference I

what you do well; where you need to improve; where new opportunities reside; and where obstacles exist. A past supervisor suggested using 30 minutes a day without interruption to think about tomorrow, the mission, the people, and strategy.

GET OUT

OF THE

O F F I C E . Personal involvement, ownership,

and presence have no equal. Don’t get bogged down behind computers; rely too heavily on independent teams; or over-expend resources on programs, PowerPoint charts, conferences, and governance structures. Years ago my SAC HQs division chief encouraged me to “wear out a pair of shoes every six months.” The colonel was advocating walking the halls, getting out of the office, and developing personal relationships with people in other divisions who may affect our business. In the midst of daily activity--where are you?

Are you sitting behind your desk or out and about monitoring the day’s activities? Your flightline may be a headquarters’ hallway, or the office of a counterpart. The adage is still applicable--e-mail and electrons are not replacements for involved leadership outside the confines of your personal office space.

don’t address correspondence to “Dear Colleagues”; I prefer the terms “warfighters”, “wing mates”, “fellow airmen”, “brothers”, and “teammates”. The term “colleagues” strikes me as a business term.

Our Airman’s Creed is not a businessman’s ethos. A warfighter mindset will positively impact your dedication, your beliefs about why you wear the uniform, and ultimately the decisions you make impacting the mission. In the Air Force logistics business you are a warfighter who is charged with management of the nation’s resources. You are not a businessman charged with prosecuting America’s conflicts. It’s an important distinction when you are E M O T I O N M A T T E R S . For most, it’s not possible to pour your asked to deploy, accept a remote assignment, work long shifts with heart and soul into a job and not outwardly display some passion no overtime or comp time, or send a group of airman on a convoy and emotion. Don’t mistake passion and emotion for outward disthrough isolated regions of Afghanistan. I learned a great lesson plays of anger and tyranny. The opposite is true. Emotion and paswatching then Colonel Schwartz, now CSAF General Schwartz, run sion can also be heard in a PT with each of his squadrons quiet and controlled voice. while he was the wing comIntensity is not measured in mander at Hurlburt Field. decibels and passion is not General Schwartz challenged measured in kilotons. People my squadron with a good need to sense your sincerity, natured coin check and then they need to see your intensiran the course leading from the ty, and they need to know you front. When he finished the care. It is not wrong to show course, he located the squadron passion and emotion in the flag bearer, took him in tow, right way at the right time. and proceeded to run the Leadership is about knowing course in the opposite direction the time and the place. A encouraging those who were raised voice does not always still running to maintain the indicate lack of control or a pace and finish the course. Your Col Victoria Reed and Mr Randy Forbes inspect a hazardous materials storage leader about to go over the fitness score matters to the locker in preparation for an upcoming EOHCAMP external inspection. (USAF photo edge. An outward display of troops--no one strikes an enviWRAFB) emotion and passion in the able pose with a belly hanging right circumstances may be over their belt buckle in a blue exactly what’s needed to spur your organization in the right direcuniform. tion. And, it’s O.K. to chew some butt once in awhile. It’s good for T A K E T I M E T O T H I N K . Where did you spend the majority of you, the recipient, and the organization. I’ve never seen anyone die your time today? If you spend large amounts of time putting out from a butt chewing, they may have felt like dying for a short while, daily fires, it may indicate a lack of planning. While some issues are but they didn’t actually quit breathing! beyond your control, most result from carelessness or neglect.

R E S U L T S C O U N T . Everyone loves a winner. I’ve seen people Prevention takes analysis, insight, resource management, oversight, abandon an idea like rats on a sinking ship only to quickly return and knowledge of the mission. Developing a strategy is the first step in prevention. Take the time to analyze your current organization:

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YOUR LEADERSHIP TOOLBOX

sions. On game day, the coach selects a play and directs the team to execute. Ultimately, the coach is responsible for the outcome. Only on rare occasions will you get total agreement from everyone. Listen, seek advice, apply your expertise and common sense, and make timely decisions. Bill Cosby said, “I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

C H A L L E N G E Y O U R P E O P L E . It’s a leadership art to know when, what, and who to push at the right time to gain operational improvements. Improvement is only possible when someone takes the lead to challenge today’s accepted results. Initial reactions may be; “why is he picking on me?”; “what’s wrong with what we’re doing now?”; and “wish he SMSgt Scotty McKenzie and members of the 562d Aircraft Maintenance would get off my back.” It’s a sign people are working outside Squadron stress the importance of following established guidelines and procetheir comfort zone and you have challenged them in areas dures. (USAF photo WRAFB) where they were previously content. Even high performing organizations need new challenges; provide challenges by when the idea, initially abandoned, returned award winning establishing local metrics above the command standard, and results. One day after the completion of the NFL regular season, developing local metrics in areas where no command metrics it was announced that six team head coaches had been asked to exist. Challenge your people, watch for improvements, and find other employment opportunities. One of those coaches had reward their efforts. You’ll know you’ve hit the right balance been in place for 14 years, was a previous Super Bowl champion when you sense some of your better folks becoming slightly and had finished the season with an 8 win, 8 loss record. It’s a uncomfortable in their current position. This is especially true in fundamental responsibility of leadership to obtain more wins organizations where people tend to stay for long periods of time than losses. Everyone will lose once in awhile; just don’t make a or in small operational communities where the exchange of perhabit of it. Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is not a some- sonnel and talent is minimal. Establish a mental picture of time thing; it’s an all the time thing” because “winning is a habit acceptable performance levels and then challenge your people to and unfortunately so is losing.” Great leaders help the team win find ways to meet your expectations. John Quincy Adams once the game, not merely participate. Sometimes that means subor- said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, dinating your (i.e. your flight) ambitions for the good of the do more and become more, you are a leader.” entire team (i.e. the wing).

TAKE IT LIKE A MAN (OR WOMAN). Roger Babson said, “It is wise to A V O I D D E C I S I O N A L C O N S T I P A T I O N . The adage of “lead, keep in mind that neither success or failure is ever final.” At some follow, or get out of the way” still has meaning today. The era of Total Quality Management ushered in Tiger and Process Action Teams, as well as Action Workouts. Today’s environment is characterized by Rapid Improvement Events, Off-Sites, Value Stream Mapping, Balanced Scorecards, Gate Keepers, governance structures, and tiered leadership councils. Teams have found initiatives to cut costs, reduce manpower, improve effectiveness, and gain efficiencies. I believe in the team approach to problem solving, but let’s concede some problems don’t need a team at all. Some problems simply need someone to listen, analyze and make a decision to get the team moving forward again. When everyone is in charge, no one is really in charge. When decisional constipation takes grip, we leave entire organizations in paralysis. The desire for team effort should not take the place of decision making in the final analysis, priority, and direction of the organization. Head Members of the 562nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron show the importance of matching coaches seek advice and consent during daily practice sesthe right tool to the job at hand. (USAF photo WRAFB)

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point in your career you will fail. It’s at those moments of failure when we face the toughest tests of our personal character. There will be times when all your best efforts result in another “cancelled sortie”. Rare indeed is the person who will go through a career and not find some failure along the way. It’s not the end of the world. I’ve had my butt chewed by some of the best in the business and I’m still alive to tell you about it; the DCM who predicted “after your court martial I’ll personally escort you to the gate”, or the maintenance control officer who screamed “how long does it take to swap over one alert aircraft”, or the squadron commander who determined “no one has a (expletive deleted) clue about how to schedule aircraft.” Aw, the memories! Maybe I’m just not as smart as the average person but I never looked at those instances as a death knell or a trip to the gallows. When it’s not going your way remember those around you are watching for your reaction. Listen to what is being said, adjust for affect, and then press on. In today’s world you’ll most likely get more subtle hints than I got in my younger years but the intent is the same; to improve your performance, enhance your growth, and set you up for future success. My advice is to “take it like a man (or woman as the case may be)”; no whining, no crying, no belaboring insignificant points. Learn as much from your failures as you do your successes and apply those painful, yet valuable, lessons to your continuing personal improvement. General George S. Patton said, “I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom”.

I’ve described just ten of the dozens of leadership tools and lessons provided to me by people who cared enough to help develop my leadership abilities. The lessons were not always taught gently, but the intent and commitment behind each one was genuine. I’ve learned tools are only worthwhile if time is taken to open the toolbox, match the right tool to the right job, and then diligently put it to work. You won’t use all of your tools all of the time; however, it is still important to maintain a full toolbox. If one tool does not work in a particular situation, you may need to reach in and try another. In developing your own toolbox, I recommend three areas of concentration. First, read as much as you can about leadership; this will provide varied perspectives in regards to leadership techniques. Next, listen to senior leadership during meetings and in conferences; be sure to pay close attention to how they use their own leadership tools and decide if you can use their techniques as well. Finally, watch how leaders around you deal with challenges; doing so will provide you with tried-and-tested tools for dealing with tough situations. Leadership does not get easier with increased rank or position; I urge you to prepare now for the tough challenges that are undoubtedly ahead.

About the author: Brig General Mark Atkinson is a career logistician and is currently the Commander, 402 Maintenance Wing, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center.

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Submitted by Lt Col (ret) Dan McCabe, Ms. Roena Greuel and Ms. Christy Jaworsky The 76th Maintenance Wing Quality Assurance Office at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, OK launched an innovative SelfInspection Program in November 2006. This first of its kind wing SelfInspection Program (SIP) at Tinker AFB focuses on improving the health of organizations and resolving non-compliance issues to ensure the enterprise is always “inspection ready.”

Inspectors Bruce Allen, Mike Murray, Sam Porter and Tech. Sgt. Corey McConnel perform a quality inspection of the boom compartment of the KC-135. (Air Force photo)

76th Maintenance Wing Launches Self-Inspection Program

In November 2006, the Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command Inspector General (HQ AFMC/IG) directed the three Air Logistics Center commanders to establish new Self-Inspection Programs in response to findings discovered during Unit Compliance Inspections (UCI). Existing SIPs were deemed nonstandard due to insufficient policy and lack of automation. Under this command-wide initiative to overhaul the program, the three centers had to establish effective SIPs tailored to adequately cover mission, resources, training, safety and people programs.

“Creating a Self-Inspection Program and culture was a daunting task for the wing,” said Brigadier General Judith Fedder, Commander of the 76th Maintenance Wing. “Luckily, we had an exceptional team of subject matter experts who went above and beyond over the course of two years to develop comprehensive inspection tools that ensure complete visibility of more than 280 inspection checklists, allowing us to track findings, document proof of compliance and provide critical analysis.”

In the initial stages of the effort, the 76th Maintenance Wing (76 MXW) SIP team authored a Wing Operating Instruction to standardize the SIP process. Once the existing Tinker AFB system was deemed inadequate to support automation, the team benchmarked three databases to identify the best, most cost effective means to replace the outdated system.

Postures Wing to be “Inspection Ready”

To ensure the SIP’s success, the team looked at a similar program used at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center. The Alexsys Team 2 (commercially derived) product provided all of the tools required at a competitive price. “After benchmarking the Alexsys software, we believed it would be the best fit for our needs,” said Roena Greuel, 76 MXW SIP Program Manager. “Alexsys provides an in-depth analysis function that the existing system lacked, and it is also a user-friendly program that SIP monitors and senior leaders can easily navigate.”

The SIP team demonstrated the Alexsys Team 2 database to representatives of the four AFMC wings comprising the ALC, and the software solution earned unanimous approval. The center purchased the software and 1000 licenses in October 2007, and within three months the database was fully operational. Since going live, the database has exceeded expectations. Alexsys Team 2 is immensely customizable and simplifies compliance tracking of self-inspection checklists. Team-Web and Web-Entry applications provide functionality without requiring a license or additional costs. These add-on enhancements propagate a robust self-inspection program cross-tell environment by enhancing visibility of the SIP. Team-Web allows Commanders/ Directors and functional checklist owners to access the database through a secure hyperlink, increasing program oversight. Web-Entry streamlines data entry, allowing records for completed checklists to be created by the shop level evaluators themselves. User-defined data elements and reports require limited training and allow users to easily obtain metrics. In addition, e-mail integration notifies management of systemic issues and automatically tracks disposition of deficiencies.

“The SIP database literally puts everything our auditors need at their fingertips,” said Daniel McCabe, Chief, 76 MXW Quality Assurance Branch. “It’s a great tool that allows us to easily track the inspection process, trend findings and ensure corrective actions are carried out.”

The SIP program is the foundation for compliance with local, MAJCOM and other higher headquarters directives. “We want people to be honest, self-identify problems and work on sound corrective action plans to prevent repeat problems,” explained Mr. McCabe. “We want 44

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to regain the culture which created the world’s most feared and respected Air Force, a culture based on discipline, adherence to standards and strict attention to detail.”

76 MXW provides comprehensive SIP information on an open HQ AFMC/IG Community of Practice (CoP) site to increase self-inspection awareness. Such transparency is designed to promote self-inspection as a means to continually improve organizations; instead of being perceived as simply “something else to do” to prepare for an inspection, viewing rigorous self-inspection as an on-going productive process will eventually become institutionalized. “Quality has to be ingrained in our culture,” said General Fedder. “When the war fighter depends on our products, nothing is more important than ensuring we deliver the highest quality aircraft, components, engines and software available. We want the war fighter to know that when they fly one of our planes or use one of our parts, they are getting the best product possible.”

To support the SIP, each of the wing’s five groups and three staff offices manage individual matrixes identifying every checklist applicable to their respective organizations. These matrixes ensure information is readily available, including what and how many checklists are applicable, the number of times they will be completed, and in what and how many different organizations the checklists must be run. To ensure annual completion, schedules are distributed every other month so that selfinspections are conducted concurrently across the wing. Leadership is then briefed on the results the month following the scheduled inspections, and all information is maintained in the SIP database.

Not a plane moves at Tinker without its movement and work documented in the 76th Maintenance Wing’s Maintenance Operations Center in Bldg. 3001. Staffed around the clock, controllers use a wall of monitors and a board of blinking, moving squares to document aircraft work and control access to ramp areas. (USAF photo by Margo Wright)

The immediate benefits of the program have been profound, most notably with the SIP being identified as a “Strength” by the AFMC IG during the recent Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Team (LSET) inspection. “I’m always proud of our team when we do well on inspections,” said General Fedder. “However, our goal is to maintain an ‘inspection ready’ posture at all times. We need to be at our very best 365 days a year, and the SIP is the catalyst for ensuring we are always in compliance with the exacting requirements that govern our work.”

About the Authors: Lt Col (ret) Daniel E. McCabe is Chief of the Quality Assurance

Office, 76th Maintenance Wing, OC-ALC, Tinker AFB, OK. He serves as the Wing focal point for the Quality Program in the 76th Maintenance Wing (MXW). OC-ALC was recently certified by National Quality Assurance under the AS9100 Industry Standards Organization (ISO), the only ALC to be registered under ISO, putting the ALC on equal footing with the private sector of Aerospace industry.

Attention to detail and a determination to make a difference help Lisa McGowen in her role as a quality assurance specialist for the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group. Ms. McGowen monitors problems with parts that are identified by customers and is responsible for quality deficiency reports. She oversees the entire process from investigation, reporting and any rework, communicating actions taken and documenting processes. She also tracks QDRs for her area, watching any trends with a certain part or process as part of the team dedicated to delivering excellence to those in the field. (USAF photo by Margo Wright)

Ms. Roena Greuel is a GS-343-12 assigned to the 76th Maintenance Wing Quality Assurance and Process Improvement Office, Tinker AFB, OK. She is the SelfInspection Program Manager, managing the Self-Inspection Program for the Wing.

Ms. Christy Jaworsky is a contractor assigned to Oklahoma City Air Logistic Center’s Transformation Office (OC-ALC/XP-T). As a Strategic Communication Specialist for ICF International, she has supported the ALC for five years.

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I Learned About Leadership From That!

Submitted by Col James Weber I received an e-mail the other day that was as unexpected as it was tough to read. It seems one of my stalwart maintainers, Staff Sergeant Chris Wolff, from our last assignment at McChord AFB is hospitalized in Tacoma. He is in the ICU and on a respirator as the physicians try to fight off some kind of infection that has attacked his nervous system and left him essentially paralyzed from the belly button down, for the time being. The news is compounded by the fact that if you knew him, he’s one of the more animated and pleasant guys to be around, which increases the shock of the news exponentially. More to the point of this story, his name also conjures-up one of the greatest leadership lessons I ever learned, a lesson learned as a result of my own failure to take decisive action.

I’d been in my job as the Maintenance Group Commander at McChord for almost a year when, shame on me, I noticed one morning I could see an Airman on top of the fuselage of one of our C-17s conducting a panel inspection.

Glaringly obvious to even the casual observer was the fact that he was not wearing a fall protection harness of any kind. Remembering back to my C-141 days, I recalled after enough people had fallen off the upper fuselage after exiting the forward fuselage hatch, the staff at Military Airlift Command restricted access to the upper wing to wingtip stands, if fall protection was unavailable. Now a fall from the C-141 was high enough at 17 feet to cause grievous injuries, so knowing the maintenance hatch on the forward fuselage of a C-17 is five feet higher, I went right to our maintenance supervision staff to inquire “Why?” You see, in this day and age of AFOSH and OSHA regs mandating fall protection on surfaces as low as four feet, it struck me as odd that we could possibly be allowed on top of the jet without a harness, even if we wanted to. Yet, I was assured, by reference to manufacturer’s guidance and our own Air Force and Air Mobility Command (AMC) instructions, that it was perfectly allowable. Besides, as it was put to me quite passionately, the restraint harness was a nightmare to try and disentangle and don properly. I did watch a demo of an Airman trying to don the harness, and indeed it certainly bore some resemblance to Captain Nemo fighting the giant squid from the deck of the Nautilus. But after all, I thought to myself, the jet was purposely-built with little receptacles all over the upper surfaces so anyone wearing a harness can maneuver like Spiderman on top of the jet unimpaired, therefore shouldn’t we be using it…? So I hesitated, and failed to take immediate action to correct what I felt in my gut was intuitively wrong. Then, just days later, I got the type of five o‘clock in the morning call every commander in the aircraft maintenance business dreads—“Sir, we just got a call from the team at Christchurch [New Zealand]--one of our deployed troops, Senior Airman Chris Wolff, fell off the upper fuselage…an ambulance is on the way. We have no other information.” Horrible thoughts run through one’s mind at that point, not the least of which is the fact in the safety business you know

TSgt Stanford Bishop III, from the 736th, Air Mobility Command's C17 squadron, demonstrates the harness that may have saved his life.

A1C Chris Olmstead walks to the next safety anchor on top of a C-5 Galaxy at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Airman Olmstead, is using a safety harness as a precautionary measure while he performs maintenance on the C-5. (USAF photo by SrA Terri Barriere)

most falls over 35 feet are fatal, and most over 20 feet may leave the victim paralyzed.

Chris had fallen 23 feet to the tarmac. Is was another nail-biting 30 minutes before we were informed he was on his way to the hospital with “only” a compound fracture of one of his ankles, a severe twist to the other, and some pretty hefty bumps and bruises. Consequently, it took no less than moments to make the call to halt operations on top of the jets without fall restraint. As a matter of fact, we rewrote our operating instructions, ran them through Quality Assurance, and had them approved and published by close of business. Adding insult to injury, we found out that same day our Boeing counterparts had a much-improved harness on-hand that made donning and doffing the harness as easy as putting on a new suit at Macy’s! As the dust settled, the realization came to me quickly that had I done a week earlier what I had no problem doing this day, I wouldn’t have had to meet Airman Wolff as he deplaned the following week and help him with his crutches. To his credit, his first words to me were “Sir, don’t feel so bad. If my falling off the jet and just breaking an ankle keeps someone else from dying, then it’s worth it.” I barely heard him in the background as he related to his young wife and those assembled around him how his last thoughts as he slowly slid off the jet were to spread his arms to keep himself upright and bend his knees…I was too busy choking back some tears.

After what we’d learned and experienced, we went command-wide and I shared what happened with my colleagues and the AMC staff. I’d assumed changing the tech data to mandate the fall protection harness wear would breeze right through, and interim guidance would be published at all the users’ locations immediately. Well, best that I can say is, never assume… One colleague did reinforce 100% use right away—Colonel Dennis Daley at Dover—and none too soon! One of his troops did a header off the upper surface and the only injury he suffered was to his dignity as “buddies” gave him no end of ribbing to capture this mental “Kodak moment.”

However, it took an aircrew member falling face-first (suffering career-ending injuries to include a crushed face and compound fracture of the femur) just several weeks later to bring this to the attention of the AMC Vice Commander, Lieutenant General Christopher A. Kelly. He’s a pretty decisive guy, who mandated immediately 100 percent harness wear for C-17s.

So what was my greatest lesson? Be decisive—if you know intuitively something is wrong, fix it on the spot. You may be the lone voice in the wilderness, but you know what, as a leader that’s what you get paid to do. Great leaders don’t hesitate— they act.

Besides, you’ll sleep better at night…

As a postscript, please keep Staff Sergeant Chris Wolff and his wife in your thoughts and prayers as they work though a very difficult turn of events. He’s one of the good guys.

About the Author: Colonel James Weber is the commander of the 305th Maintenance Group at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. He is a career maintainer with over thirty years of enlisted and commissioned service.

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Maurice Appling hangs safety harnesses for aircraft mechanics use at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga. (USAF photo by Sue Sapp)

A Mission Enabler: Community College of the Air Force Submitted by Lt Col Raymond Staats Forty years ago, visionary Air Force leaders designed an educational institution to assemble the myriad elements of the enlisted member’s technical education into cohesive and academically sound degree and certificate programs. At that moment in history, the community college movement was in full swing. Experiments, such as the Utah Project, sponsored by the US Office of Education and the Air Force Association’s Aerospace Education Foundation, had confirmed that Air Force technical training schools were implementing curricula that were at the same level as courses taught at these new community colleges. The Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) became the vehicle that drove educational vision into reality.

Today, CCAF is the world’s largest community college system, boasting more than 320,000 enrolled students with nearly 18,000 graduating annually. The CCAF Administrative Center, located at Maxwell-Gunter AFB, AL, coordinates higher education activities spanning the globe at 99 affiliated Air Force schools and 210 education services offices and units.

What is particularly remarkable about CCAF is its business model.

CCAF leverages diverse education components to generate accredited associate degrees in applied sciences with exceptional productivity at extraordinarily low cost. CCAF’s annual personnel and operations budget in FY08 was less than $8M, yet yielded 17,899 graduates. The key to this efficiency is the partnerships established between the CCAF Administrative Center and a variety of Air Force and civilian organizations.

The diagram below depicts the elements of the CCAF system, all of which, except the Administrative Center itself, are organized and funded to meet Air Force requirements that are individually independent of the CCAF mission.

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CCAF student recruiting is performed by the Air Force Recruiting Service. New recruits are automatically enrolled in CCAF during Basic Military Training. Enrollment as a college student is hence both an inducement for, and a direct result of, enlistment in the United States Air Force. Basic Military Training provides student “orientation” as well as the first four college credits towards a CCAF degree.

CCAF students complete technical degree requirements during training at one of the various AFSC-specific training schools. These schools are affiliated with CCAF, hence their instructors have a dual-role as community college faculty members. The curriculum taught is directly relevant for both their career and associate degree plan. On-the-job training completes educational requirements for Air Force duty as well as earns additional semester hours towards the Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree.

CCAF does not itself conduct general education courses. Each student, however, must complete courses in mathematics, oral communications, written communications, social and humanities, contributing 15 semester hours to the degree. In this area, two partnership areas come into play.

First are the Education Services Offices located at each Air Force Base.

Trained education counselors guide students to select the right courses from the multitude of choices available. These counselors track student progress, and ultimately nominate students to the Administrative Center upon completion of all graduation requirements. Second are the civilian colleges and universities that provide the general education and elective courses. In particular, are the “military friendly” institutions that tailor their offerings to Air Force students and provide flexibilities to adapt to the unique challenges faced by students who are also in service to the nation.

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distance learning venues. Air Force students can therefore work toward their bachelor’s degrees even as they move to and from locations around the world while continuing to serve the nation. To date, 37 civilian institutions have developed 160 academic programs with more than 6,500 student enrollments.

Finally, Professional Military Education (PME) provides the leadership and management portion of the CCAF curriculum. Students complete Airman Leadership School (ALS), Non-Commissioned Officer Academy (NCOA), and the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy (SNCOA) at the appropriate point during a career.

A new initiative on the immeAs noted previously, all of the forediate horizon is the General going partners have primary misCCAF participates in a wide-array of outreach venues to publicize its programs as Education Mobile (GEM) prosions that are independent of 'The Airman's College.' Pictured (left to right) are SMSgt Melissa Ray, Associate CCAF. Air Force technical schools Registrar, Dr. James Larkins, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Lt Col Ray Staats, gram, which continues CCAF’s commitment to advancing partoperate to prepare Airmen for Commandant, at the 2009 AETC Symposium in San Antonio, TX. nerships with civilian institunational defense duties. Education Services Officers serve both enlisted members and officers pursuing tions. Each CCAF student must complete a 15 semester hour general associates, bachelors, and masters degrees as part of the Air Force education curriculum, consisting of mathematics, oral communicaVoluntary Education System. Finally, among the nation’s civilian tions, written communications, social science, and humanities. GEM higher education system, enlisted Air Force students are a relatively will link students to a cluster of general education course offerings in distance learning format from approved civilian community colleges small constituency within the overall student body. as well as AU-ABC partners. Launched in Mar 09GEM will be an CCAF enjoys a robust partnership with the Air Force Voluntary educational leap forward for Airmen, as was the widely successful Education System, which is managed by the Air Staff’s A1DL diviAU-ABC effort. GEM will be an AFVEC-based effort connecting sion at the Pentagon. Key to the success of this partnership is the Airmen to an easy access platform that assembles general education Air Force Virtual Education Center (AFVEC), which is accessed coursework into a cohesive, time-phased, on-line curriculum. The from the Air Force Portal. general education component of the CCAF degree has always been AFVEC is at the core of the college’s technology services. As one of a challenge for students to complete due to deployments and other the top 10 Air Force Portal applications, this virtual campus seam- mobility demands. The single-point access of GEM will ease student lessly integrates all academic functions, connecting CCAF students, course selection and registration and facilitate timelier degree comadvisors and administrative center staff to a host of premier web-based pletion, reducing the CCAF graduation time from 10+ years to the resources. In a single internet session, students can browse participat- long sought goal of 5-6 years. Students can complete the on-line ing school opportunities, choose a program of study, complete appli- courses and fulfill degree requirements anytime and anywhere in the cations, send transcripts, and apply for Air Force tuition assistance. world...a perfect fit for today's expeditionary Air Force.

AFVEC is also the gateway to a common architecture that standardizes processes between academic institutions and Air Force systems.

Once registered on the Academic Institution (AI) portal, participating schools market and load degree programs, manage student registration, financial processes and other administrative functions.

The cutting-edge technologies in AFVEC and CCAF’s purposeful efforts to expand its association with civilian higher education institutions have greatly increased student access to voluntary education opportunities. In June 2007, CCAF unveiled the Air University Associate-to-Baccalaureate Cooperative (AU-ABC). This groundbreaking initiative links CCAF students and graduates to institutions that offer four-year degrees that relate to their Air Force career specialties. Students can complete a bachelor’s program by earning no more than 60 additional semester hours beyond the AAS degree at most participating institutions. Part of the partnering agreement is that all of the courses offered via AU-ABC programs be available via

CCAF continues to evolve and grow, always keeping in focus the foundation of its institutional model of “win-win” partnerships. In 2008, CCAF joined the newly formed Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, forging a tighter kinship with other elements of the enlisted education continuum—ALS, NCOA, SNCOA, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. The new partnerships will soon yield new initiatives that will expand educational opportunities for our Airmen. The Community College of the Air Force—the Airman’s College—continues its remarkable journey as both a military and higher education institution.

About the Author: Lt Col Raymond Staats is the Commandant of the Community College of the Air Force. As the college’s chief executive officer, he oversees 67 associate in applied science degree programs taught at 99 CCAF affiliated schools by more than 5,700 faculty. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

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Sheppard AFB: Developing Technically Superior, Highly Motivated Warrior Airmen

Submitted by Col. Steven J. Morani Nestled on the southern edge of the winding Red River valley is a jewel in the Air Force crown of super bases.

Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas, is an exciting and important place to work—perhaps no other base has a broader and more far-reaching impact on the current and future combat effectiveness of the Air Force.

BIG BASE, BIG MISSION, B I G I M PA C T

If that seems like a bit of hyperbole, consider some data points. Last year, Sheppard’s host wing, the 82nd Training Wing, graduated more than 77,000 Airmen from technical and field training, and over 55,000 of these graduates were aircraft maintainers and loggies. On a typical day, 5,000 Airmen in Training can be seen marching to class on the training campus. To put that in perspective, Sheppard produces more graduates than the other four technical training wings combined,--a staggering 54 percent of all technical training in the Air Force. Nearly one quarter of the total end strength of the Air Force is trained here every year. This contact with such a huge number of Airmen makes duty here a special challenge and privilege. If the thought of molding recent high-school graduates into warrior Airmen excites you, you may have an exciting future as an instructor, operations officer or commander at Sheppard.

Top left: Sheppard maintains a fleet of training aircraft larger than all but a few of the world's air forces to ensure trainees get the most realistic training possible.

Lower right: More than 75,000 Airmen graduate annually from technical training delivered by the 82nd Training Wing at Sheppard AFB, including more than 55,000 in maintenance and logistics fields.

Lower left: Realistic, hands-on experience at Sheppard AFB is a critical part of initial skills training for Airmen entering the maintenance, avionics and munitions career fields.

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And, by the way, that’s just the host wing. The 82nd shares the base with the 80th Flying Training Wing, which hosts the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program, NATO’s only multi-national pilot training program. Not only does Sheppard feature the largest technical training operation in the Air Force, it also boasts the fourthbusiest airfield in the Air Force.

Even so, technical training is the heart of Sheppard’s mission.

Installation and 82nd Training Wing Commander Brig. Gen. O. G. Mannon has said that the number one priority is “to provide the best, most agile, most technically skilled warrior Airmen…that’s our responsibility to the commanders in the field. It is to give them warrior Airmen who are ready to go to work the day that they hit their new base.” The terms “technically skilled” and “warrior Airmen” are complementary, and we teach both of these aspects to our Airman population.

T E C H N I C A L LY S U P E R I O R The maintenance and logistics training accomplished at Sheppard is primarily initial skills training—apprentice training. This first stage of career training is strategically important to our Air Force and is foundational to the logistics community. We establish solid fundamentals and good habits, along with an attitude of compliance, so that everything else is built upon this solid foundation. We pay special attention to cultivating the compliance attitude and developing the maintenance mindset because it is an essential quality of the character of our maintainers. Although we can’t expect a 3-level to repair an aircraft at the proficiency of a journeyman, we can—and do—expect them to behave the same way. Attitude is as important as proficiency, and we expect the Airmen to demonstrate the same “never quit, compliance-focused, we-can-do-anything” attitude and enthusiasm that maintainers and loggies are famous for. We do this by creating an environment that mirrors how these Airmen will operate when they arrive on the flight line, repair shop or munitions area. For example, our nuclear maintenance technicians practice the two-man concept whenever they perform a maintenance task and they run the checklist with the same rigid compliance that Strategic Air Command warriors did while serving under Gen. Curtis LeMay. Whether it is FOD awareness, technical order use, tool discipline or flight line security, the process is the same. When these Airmen arrive at their first duty station, their good behaviors are set and their integration into their new flights should be transparent.

Sheppard is fortunate to have some state-of-the-art training systems that provide the most realistic and relevant training imaginable.

Maintenance training for our newest weapon system, the F-22 Raptor, happens here at Sheppard. The 21st Century Aircraft Maintenance Training Facility is as advanced and forward-looking as the Raptor itself, and our F-22 training capability is the model for future Air Force maintenance training. This training system features eight different full-scale maintenance training devices that

prepare crew chiefs, armament and avionics technicians on the exact same systems they will experience in the field. Comprised of 80 to 90 percent actual aircraft parts, these purpose-built trainers can be modified as the weapon system is upgraded to keep pace with changes to the fleet. Incorporated together using interactive courseware, IMDS, and portable maintenance devices, the level of training fidelity each student receives is unmatched—all at a cost equal to about 3 percent of an actual F-22 and without setting one of these aircraft aside for training purposes.

WA R R I O R A I R M E N

OF

CHARACTER

Delivering a fully qualified apprentice technician is only part of the mission at Sheppard. We have some amazing instructors and military training leaders (MTLs) who capitalize on the dormitories, dining facilities, gyms, parade grounds and athletic fields as extensions of the classroom and flight line training environments. These leaders build upon the military training foundation that began at Lackland AFB in Basic Military Training, and they continue to shape the character and military bearing of each Airman.

Throughout each Airman’s training journey, MTLs work to ensure the Airman continues to meet the high standards of good order and discipline; maintains and improves fitness; acquires knowledge of their profession and military culture, and continues to develop their sense of teamwork and unit cohesion. Last year, Sheppard instituted warrior skills training. Each weekend, trainees participate in events that help build teamwork, develop combat skills, and provide an opportunity to make responsible choices with their off-duty time.

Every quarter squadrons conduct warrior training events that exercise relevant combat skills that the Airmen will use when they arrive at their duty station, or deploy to a theater of operation.

Skills like self-aid/buddy care, field hygiene, ATSO, UXO sweeps, weapons firing and cleaning, and deployment processing are just some of the examples of what they will experience.

JOIN US Perhaps you have never considered Sheppard AFB as an attractive assignment opportunity. I hope this brief glimpse of Sheppard’s awesome mission has piqued your curiosity and informed you about the huge impact on logistics imparted here. Sheppard is a fantastic place to teach, to lead, to command, and to serve. Developing technically skilled, highly motivated warrior Airmen is a high calling, and it may be what you’ve been searching for. Be a part of something really big--shaping tomorrow’s Air Force today. Come see us.

About the Author: Col. Steven J. Morani is commander of the 82nd Training Group, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Known as “Aircraft Maintenance University”, the group trains more than 18,000 aircraft and munitions maintenance officers and Airmen every year, including critical nuclear munitions maintenance personnel.

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Not Your Daddy’s AMMOC! Submitted by Maj A.J. Griffin There was a time when instructor duty at Sheppard wasn’t perceived as important or worthy of the maintenance community’s best and brightest. Although training was important, there were no positives attached to being selected as a technical training instructor…in other career fields, being vectored to instructor duty carried a significant amount of prestige. Why was it different for maintenance?

A mindset of “those who can’t do, teach” was an often unspoken but very real perception of an assignment teaching at Chanute or Sheppard. An attitude shift occurred in 2003 when then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force General John P. Jumper expressed his opinion that a “school house assignment” should be considered part of normal professional development—not something to be resisted.

The Air Force maintenance community now stresses the importance of having the most experienced and top notch maintainers come back to the school house to help forge the next generation of aircraft maintenance and munitions officers. Since that decision the Aircraft Maintenance and Munitions Officers Course (AMMOC)

has had seven Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Officer School (AMMOS) graduates return either as the course director or as classroom instructors. Senior Air Force maintenance leaders also made the decision to send the initial AMMOS Commandant to command the 82 Training Group, overseeing aircraft and munitions maintenance technical training. Upon completion of their tour, AMMOC instructors have gone back to operational flight lines as maintenance operations officers, taken leadership roles in F-22 AMUs, deployed in support of GWoT, and have been selected for in-residence IDE and squadron command—in other words, advancing in their professional careers much the same a line officer who sticks to the flight line.

AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE CAPSTONE S I M U L AT O R

In addition to enhancing the capability of the instructor cadre, the Air Force funded a $2M aircraft maintenance simulator which provides a virtual flight line environment used in a graded capstone exercise for AMMOC students prior to graduation.

This rigorous week-long training scenario was created by Southwest Research Institute and is designed to be a critical thinking exercise in managing both fighter and tanker flight lines. The students start each day with a FOD walk, have to manage their lost tools program, in-flight emergencies, impoundments, AFTO Forms 781 discrepancies, weather injects, and a deployment The new Munitions Virtual Trainer (MSVT) shows a forward operating location. (USAF photo) scenario, all while attempt52

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ing to execute a virtual daily flying schedule. By graduation, the AMMOC students will have an in-depth working knowledge of AFI 21-101, (after passing a 100 question test with a score of 80 percent or better); will know how to perform aircraft history searches in IMDS and GO-81; recognize aircraft component locations, functions, and accountability; manage a maintenance recovery team and present aircraft readiness status, repairs and sortie generation information to a group commander at a simulated daily standup.

Rain Outside a Structure During Convoy Delivery

MUNITIONS VIRTUAL TRAINER In the fall of 2008, the AMMOC school house hosted several nuclear assessment teams that were examining training in the nuclear enterprise with the goal of improving the culture of compliance and training on nuclear accountability. Although the evaluators were satisfied with the training in its current state, the teams collaborated with the AMMOC cadre to initiate some enhancements. The Comprehensive Assessment of Nuclear Sustainment team provided funding in the amount of $1.4M to match $1M provided by AETC in order to build a munitions capstone exercise for both the nuclear and conventional munitions courses. The bid was won by a joint venture team, SDS/Nova Technology, and the scenarios were developed in October 2008 while AMMOC had field subject matter experts (SME) available during a course re-write. The SMEs identified and scripted realistic and challenging nuclear and conventional munitions maintenance and generation examples which the trainer scenarios will be based from. The new Munitions Virtual Trainer (MSVT) is forecast to be on-line in August of 2009.

The MSVT is a critical thinking, scenario based capstone exercise. Based on real world requirements, the MSVT will focus on munitions accountability, up channeling discrepancies, involvement with an Ammunition Control Point, and operational risk management. The students will be challenged to manage the day to day operations of a munitions storage area (MSA)/weapons storage area (WSA), package and ship munitions in support of a deployment, and establish a MSA/WSA in support of GWoT. The deployment scenario will task the students with establishing a storage area while taking into account quantity distance limits, public traffic routes, magazine distances, flight line delivery and human factors (safety, work hours, production capability). There will also be FRAG changes, challenging the students in situations

Snow Outside a Structure During Convoy Delivery

Dust Storm Hinders Visibility and Affects Work Flow

Sample Equipment to be used During Munitions Transport

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components, and reinstalling items in order to get a better understanding of the entire system.

where they will need to make time critical decisions. At the close of the day, the students and instructors will have an end of day brief where they will be required to explain/justify their decisions, the impact their decisions had on the operational outcome, and an overall assessment of the student’s ability to perform in a dynamic and stressful environment.

E R : N O T Y O U R FAT H E R ’ S A M M O C …

RAISING BAR

THE

Simulated Vehicles for MSVT

TRAINING

The aircraft maintenance officer courses will also see improvements, beginning with the introduction of munitions management / accountability in both the basic course and the MOIC course. Both courses will have blocks of instruction specifically focused on requisition, handling, accounting, and emergency actions for both conventional and nuclear munitions. The intent is to raise overall awareness and understanding of accountability.

In October AMMOC hosted the career field managers and MAJCOM functionals for both the aircraft and munitions Utilizations and Training Workshops (U&TW). The munitions DEVELOPING THE FUTURE Weapons Ready to be Deployed from an A-10 members reviewed the Career Field This truly is not your father’s Education Training Plan and set forth AMMOC. With the infusion of techcreating two new nuclear technical nology, AMMOC is constantly evolving to keep training realistraining courses; the Nuclear Fundamentals (NFC) and Nuclear tic and relevant to produce the most capable graduates.

Accountability course (NAC). The NFC will be a five day Whether it is the expert instructor core bringing deployment and nuclear introduction course that all 21M officers will attend at flight line experience to the classroom, or the challenging Sheppard AFB. The premise behind the course is to introduce AMOC simulator and MSVT exercises, theses new graduates are all munitions officers, regardless of shred to the nuclear enterbetter prepared critical thinkers and warriors. The graduates prise, nuclear accountability, nomenclature, and reporting. This have immersed themselves in AFIs, have been exposed to all of class will immediately follow the Munitions Officers the roles of running a flight line/repair shops, and have been Fundamentals course. educated on what it takes to manage a storage area. They’ve The NAC course will be a supplemental nuclear accountability been put into uncomfortable positions where they had to make course designed for both officers and enlisted members working critical decisions that impacted the chain of events supporting in a Nuclear Ordinance Commodities Materiel (NOCOM) sec- the mission…and then defend their decisions. Adding to their tion. This fifteen day course will have a strong emphasis on technical training experience, these new maintenance officers accountability and management of nuclear material. For officers, will take with them copies of the 21A and 21M Tactics this course will be mandatory prior to assuming duties as a Techniques and Procedures to help them benchmark off of Munitions Accountable Systems Officer. Enlisted members who proven best practices. As a graduate, they will have the confihave earned their 5-level certification will be eligible to attend dence to think through a decision, be able to “connect the dots”, and confidently fulfill their roles as leaders in their maintenance the NAC course if assigned NOCOM duties. organizations.

The last munitions course addressed by the U&TW was the rewrite of the Nuclear Maintenance Officers Course (NMOC). About the Author: Maj A.J. Griffin has been Director for the With assistance from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Aircraft Maintenance and Munitions Officer Course at Sheppard (DTRA) and the Nuclear Weapons Center, NMOC will now be AFB since 2007. He has been directly involved with the planning focused on the usage of the DIAMONDs accountability system. and procurement of the MSVT as well as recent upgrades to the DTRA has created a standalone database that will allow the instructors and students to enter/manipulate tracking data in AMOC simulator. Recently Sheppard hosted the U&TWs for both order to provide students practical experience prior to arriving to 21A and 21M career fields; course guidance/updates will be institheir units. In addition, fifteen days were added to the NMOC tuted into all courses. His background includes U-2s, F-15s and course specifically to give officers an opportunity for hands on KC-10s, with operational deployments on each of these platforms. maintenance training on nuclear munitions. The additional K training time will be spent examining, removing and inspecting 54

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For More Info Visit http://www.loanational.org/conference/

Meet the Press Logisticians Attending the Army’s Command and General Staff College Participate In a New Media Plan Submitted by Major William "Bill" Ray The US Army is asking troops to venture into unchartered territory. Throughout our history, our troops have proven their ability to adapt to their environment. However, in the newest campaign to help win the war on terror, soldiers are tasked to employ a new strategy that has historically been very closely managed by the highest echelons of the service. At the Command and General Staff College—the intellectual center of the Army—a broad strategic communication plan aimed at combating terrorist propaganda has taken shape and is intended to be executed by even the most junior enlisted members.

Students at the Staff College (the Army’s equivalent to the Air Command and Staff College) received a series of lectures that address the strategic communication campaign. In his first public speaking engagement, following his return from Iraq after 19 months as the top military leader there, General David H. Petraeus dedicated part of his lecture to the importance of the campaign. Most students attend the school in the rank of major, although a few other ranks are handpicked to attend. Many of the students are veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars and hosted embedded reporters during their operations.

For the strategic communication requirement, the staff college levied a fourpart strategic communications campaign as part of their graduation requirement. First, students must write and submit for publication an article detailing some part of their military experience. Second, they must participate in a weblog or “blog.” Third, they must be interviewed in a live media interview. Finally, they must conduct a public speaking engagement.

Individual plans are developed and executed by the student without assistance from the Public Affairs community. This effort to navigate unescorted in the media realm is unchartered territory for most in the Army. Students learn how to establish responsible contacts within the media; how to market themselves and their stories; and how to promote the Army through their personal experiences.

The idea of the media interviewing the troops is nothing new nor is combat journalism. However, in recent history, the practice has been conducted under the watchful eye of a corps of trained professionals. Public Affairs officers usually accompany troops to interviews and escort reporters into the field to ensure stories are relayed accurately and are free from culturally offenses, thus ensuring the “right” message is conveyed. This new approach from the Army encourages every soldier to tell their story in a positive manner in popular forums like blogs. In essence, the soldier is asked to become the combat journalist.

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An interview by live media is part 3 of the 4 part strategic communications campaign at Army’s CGSC. (Photo by Lt Col Ludwig Najarro CGSC student/Army of El Salvador)

The origins of the campaign are rooted in the war in Iraq. When General Petraeus arrived there, he realized the enemy was far more proactive in telling his story. Insurgents publicized their stories quickly without a cumbersome system of checks and balances.

Furthermore, they tell their story with no regard for accuracy or truth in reporting.

General Petraeus directed his Public Affairs officer to “flatten the approval process” for US troops publishing information about the war. His point was simple: US troops are living the same stories from the opposing side and the vast majority of what they post in blogs and tell the media about the war is positive. Let them get their messages out equally as quickly as the terrorists. The new process was so simplified that soldiers only needed to notify their immediate commanders when they published material and the message they intended to spread.

General Petraeus’ direction was an about face from the previous Army policy in Iraq. Believing enemy eyes were gleaning information on US operations from information posted on military blogs; in 2006 US leaders in Iraq sought to limit blogs. Many were shut down. Meanwhile, terrorist organizations stepped-up their efforts. They posted major breaking news on extremist websites within minutes of events to promote their extremist views. Their websites skewed and distorted stories in order to turn global and Islamic public opinion against the US. The Staff College lecture series included panels of international journalists who offered their opinions on how the military can work more effectively with the media. Journalists urged students to strengthen previously established military and media relations and to invite their former embedded reporters to join their unit’s veterans associations. Furthermore, students were encouraged to develop enduring relationships with members of the media which could be called upon to help convey military messages.

For the media, many of whom complained of being isolated during Operation Desert Storm and stage-managed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the changes are welcomed. Most agree they seem to signify a new era of relationships between the military and the media. However, the purpose of the program is more a result of revelation than revolution—the Army realized that terrorists will slander the US and distort our operations in any way possible at every opportunity and we are only just beginning to match the scale of their operation. As Winston Churchill knew well and stated, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”

You’ll need to arrive with your “pants on” to attend the Command and General Staff College.

About the Author: Major William "Bill" Ray is a career Aircraft Maintenance Officer and life member of LOA with assignments in AFSOC, ACC, PACAF, and AMC. He most recently served as the commander of the 20th Maintenance Operations Squadron at Shaw AFB, SC. He is currently a student at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS.

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From Top: Students prepare for a live interview as part of the strategic communications campaign at Army’s CGSC. (Photo courtesy of CGSC) Students at Army’s CGSC participate in a public speaking engagement for the strategic communications campaign. (Photo courtesy of CGSC) Audience members participate in the public speaking engagement portion of the strategic communications campaign. (Photo courtesy of CGSC)

Focus on a LOA CGO Leader

Capt Pankoski working as Executive Aide

An interview with Capt Jeremy L. Pankoski What made you decide to become a career Air Force officer?

I’d enlisted with the Colorado Air National Guard in 1993 for the educational benefits and had no desire to make this a career. After 8 years in the Air National Guard and a degree in hand, I had a strong desire to continue serving my country in a world-class organization with world-class people.

Our AF senior leaders are expressing a desire to “Get Back to the Basics.” From a CGO perspective how should we facilitate more accountability and logistics discipline?

Slow down. Take our time and learn all we can about our current logistics discipline. It should not be a race to earn all the required SEIs, to only go back later and fill in any gaps in knowledge. Our first time through each logistics discipline should have been meaningful enough so that in future missions, we should be able to reliably repeat the processes once we’ve been trained.

Have you deployed recently?

My latest tour was a one-year remote to Kunsan AB as the Installation Deployment and Receptions Officer.

As a Logistics Career Broadening Program Student I am not deployable.

When I PCS in July…put me in coach, I’m ready to play.

Attending a Strategic Supplier Alliance Executive Committee meeting at Lockheed Martin, Ft Worth Texas.

What is the biggest challenge you encounter as an officer in our Air Force today?

I will actually mention two. First, the home station mission is getting increasingly difficult to sustain as a significant percentage of our Airmen are deployed at the same time. The challenge is painting the Home Station Capability picture with decreased available manpower and increased augmentation requirement…while prioritizing the mission(s) that will get accomplished without wearing everyone too thin and articulating up the chain with proper 58

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analysis what may not get accomplished on time. Second is money. Putting the right tools and supplies in the hands of our in-garrison Airmen has proven to be a challenge at times due to lack of funding. As a testament to our Airmen, they always impress me with the ways in which they accomplish the mission, with required supplies or not.

VITAL STATISTICS NAME:

CAPTAIN JEREMY L. PANKOSKI

LOA Chapter: James River Chapter, Defense Supply Center, Richmond Hometown:

Thornton, Colorado

College: University

Metro State College of Denver and Troy State

Degree:

2003 - Masters in Human Resources Management 1999 - Bachelors of Science in Biology with Chemistry Scheduled to Finish Post Graduate Cert. in Supply Chain Management from Penn State University in June 2009

Professional Military Education: ABC (now called ASBC), SOS in Residence, Acquisition Professional Development Program (APDP) Level I and Level II Life Cycle Logistics Certifications; and Level I Program Management Certification

Maj AJ Mullinax. Then Capt Mullinax was my flight commander at Holloman AFB. He is a selfless individual who thought about promoting those who worked for him rather than himself.

Maj Rob Bearden. I’ve had the pleasure of being stationed with him twice. He’s been a fantastic mentor to me.

Lt Col Kendra Mathews. Lt Col Mathews has the ability to rally the Airmen together and raise the level of enthusiasm for mission accomplishment.

Assignments: Holloman AFB, Kunsan AB, Elmendorf AFB, and Defense Supply Center Richmond Significant Awards: Distinguished Graduate from LRO Tech School; Top-Third at Squadron Officers School; 49th LRS/8th LRS/3rd LRS CGO of the Year, 49th MSG CGOY, 8th FW/3rd FW LRO of the Year.

SMSgt James Lucas. I’ve worked with great SNCOs, and SMSgt Lucas is an incredible leader for his Airmen.

Current Duty: Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Supply Center Richmond, Logistics Career Broadening Program Family:

Please identify a leader or leaders who you feel are role model leaders that have made a positive impact on you as leader.

Tara, the most wonderful wife I could have ever asked for, and three beautiful children who obviously look like Tara.

The Air Force is a vast pool of fantastic leaders and I’d be remiss if I did not mention Lt Col Thomas Trumbull, Maj Paul Miller, Maj Tim Bunnell, Maj Jason Garrison, Capt Dan Hosler, Capt Rob Williams, and CMSgt Melvin Cooper.

What are your long term professional goals and objectives?

Squadron Commander! For no other reason do I want to progress through the ranks than to Command and Lead.

What is your current duty title and what are your responsibilities at Defense Supply Center Richmond?

I am one of two Logistics Career Broadening Program (LCBP) Students in Richmond. As a student I’ve completed duty rotations in DLA leading depot-level maintenance and supply chain activities and programs at a wholesale life cycle logistics level. The focus is on weapon system sustainment/modernization, acquisition logistics, and life cycle sustainment support. My current position is the Executive Aide to the Director of the Defense Supply Center Richmond. This is probably a great place to promote LCBP--is a fantastic career broadening opportunity with assignments at all 3 AF ALCs and DLA’s Aviation Supply Chain in Richmond. Life Cycle Logistics and Continued on next page...

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wholesale supply chain activitiesare two important concepts we all should become well versed with as Loggies. The LCBP program is the premier educational program to obtain this education.

What would you like to tell your peers about an assignment in DLA? The perception I had about DLA prior to coming here was very wrong…You don’t know what you don’t know. Yes, DLA is not perfect, and as I’ve observed every service component has its own shortfalls. The relationship between DLA and the service components is very important. An assignment in DLA will bring to realization the inter-relationships and create a rounded wholesale/retail supply chain logistician. Read the article Capt Rob Williams and I wrote in the Winter 2008 edition of the ER--it gives some good history and insight into DLA and what DLA is doing to better support the warfighter.

What do you do on a daily basis to meet your primary mission objective…get Col Daley parts for his Dover C-5s?

ER: FOCUS

ON A

LOA CGO LEADER

The most important thing I can say here is collaboration with the customer. If DLA can work with the Air Force to create an accurate and reliable Demand Signal, a lead time away, we’ve increased our posture to support the warfighter exponentially and reduce the likelihood of Col Daley’s Airmen having to “chase parts” at a later date.

On the .50 Cal during 9 January Joint Combat Skills Training at Fort Lee. Trained on Crew-Served Weapons, Uparmored HMMWV rollover and Egress, and Virtual Combat Convoy training.

A role of any officer is to improve the quality of life of our Airman. If you could do one thing to enhance our Airmen’s quality of life what would it be?

Get my Airman the tools and supplies they need, when they need them. Even the smallest of supplies can be a force multiplier for morale and mission accomplishment.

Can you give us an update on some of the things the James River LOA Chapter is doing?

On April 21-22 the James River Chapter will tour casting and forging operations at Cerro FabricatedWeyers Cave, VA and Danko-Arlington-Baltimore, MD. Our chapter previously executed three CY08 tours. Tours to the Anheuser Busch Brewing facility in Williamsburg Virginia and Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Sutherland Virginia gave our members a good view of logistics operations in corporate America. And with help from our local Navy LOA members, we were able to tour the Navy's Blue Angels Supply and Maintenance operations at Oceana NAS followed by an Air Show demonstration. In addition, Capt Rob Williams spearheaded a community involvement opportunity for our local chapter. We helped 1,700 less fortunate families in the Richmond area by volunteering over 30 hours at the Salvation Army Distribution Center over the holiday season.

Finally, over the last 9 months the James River Chapter membership is up 27%.

Standing in front of HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer (HEAT) prior to the roll-over training event.

Off duty, how do you spend your free time?

Spending time with my Family, Church, Hunting, Fishing, and Taekwondo. K

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Today, as demands on the warfighter increase, Boeing is delivering innovative customer solutions to ensure total readiness. For airlifters, fighters, rotorcraft, tankers, weapons, bombers, satellites and network systems. Boeing brings together an unmatched breadth of expertise for total life-cycle sustainment. It’s a commitment of unequivocal support for the warfighter, now and in the future.

Brad Sterett Tactical Aircraft Product Support

The Early Years of MOA/LOA: As Remembered by Our Founder and First President, Lt Col (ret) Larry Matthews sadly, many had no interest in gaining any…although, they would all spend the rest of their flying careers preaching to the maintenance toads from their vast knowledge of the maintenance business. Ha! In addition, many of the remaining senior maintenance officers were passed-over reserve officers marking time until they got their mandatory 20 years.

ER: What was the original focus of the Maintenance Officer Association (MOA)?

LT COL MATTHEWS: The original purpose was very straightforward, “Enhance the promotability of aircraft maintenance officers.” Simply stated, but, when you think about it, rather far-reaching and maybe even all encompassing. (I think that choice of words evolved one night right after “last call.”) Several of us had some brainstorming sessions and had agreed early on that we had no way of knowing where the organization would go (or even where it should go). So we tried to leave the charter broad and flexible. Admittedly, there were times in the early days when I felt like the MOA was in after-burner with no heading indicator. But.... contrary to some of the legends floating around, MOA was never anti-anything, except of course, if that something was an obstacle to the stated goal (above).

ER: At what point do you believe junior officers started to view the Maintenance Officer career field as a profession rather than a job?

LT COL MATTHEWS: Your question goes right to the heart of the problem. And the answer is involved, so hang on… The USAF, and the aircraft maintenance business in particular, was a totally different organization in my first 10-12 years (say ‘63 to late 70s) than it was when I retired in ‘83. For starters, the personnel procurement spigot to the maintenance career field had been shut off to a trickle for several years (post-Korea) until mid-63 when it became obvious that Vietnam was creating a force structure problem. The whole system was in standby. Even in Air Training Command, when I went through the Aircraft Maintenance Officers Course (AMOC), about half of the instructors were brand new 2Lts plowed back from the two previous AMOC classes.

The point is that for me and my contemporaries, there were no mentors in the field. The maintenance management positions were mostly being filled by what were called “rated supplements” - flying officers who had been detailed to maintenance jobs for a specific period of time. Most of them had no maintenance experience, and,

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To complicate things even further, this also meant that I and my contemporaries immediately started filling billets that called for much more senior officers. My first assignment was as a Field Training Detachment (FTD) Commander for a “brand new” aircraft - the C141 at Travis AFB. The Military Airlift Command (MAC) Wing Commander was a 1-star with his future career on the line - and his boss, the numbered AF commander (2-star) was right there on the base with him (and me). I also had the responsibility to train all the MAC enroute maintenance types strung out across the Pacific.

Then the icing on the cake - ATC decided that, since I was already there, I could handle the job as the ATC rep on the Category III test being conducted with two dedicated airplanes at Travis. My boss (mentor, trainer, whatever) was at Sheppard AFB, and just six months before had to cancel a senior major’s assignment to that job because the slot called for a rated O-5. I was so full of 2Lt piss and vinegar (read: naive) that I didn’t even know I had a tiger by the tail. How I ever lived through that, I’ll never know. (Funny story 14 months later, I literally had the household goods movers at my apartment - my father was ill and I had wrangled a transfer to the FTD at Forbes AFB close to my home - when the MAC 2-star found out about it. Told you I was naive - why would he be interested?? He called the Sheppard 2-star complaining that the entire C-141 program would crash if 2Lt Matthews left. I didn’t leave!)

By the way, that “filling billets way above your pay grade” lasted most of my career, as it did for most of my contemporaries. I was a squadron commander the first time - a big 500-man Field Maintenance Squadron (FMS) - as a brand new Captain coming out of Vietnam. The previous Commander had made O-6 and they had no other replacement.

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Anyway, my point is that I think all of these factors resulted in all of us, who went through (lived through) those years, developed an obsession with instilling a professional approach to the maintenance career field. We likewise took a personal responsibility to mentoring not only the junior Maintenance Officers, but the rated guys who came into the career field. We tried to make sure they left with an appreciation of the maintenance profession. In simplest terms, we wanted the rated supplement to learn something while we had them… not just mark time. In my opinion and personal experience, once we in maintenance started treating this rated supplement bunch as an asset instead of unwanted interlopers, they became some of our biggest long-term allies and supporters.

By the way, no one should ever overlook the influence that the Palace Log guys had down at the Manpower Personnel Center (MPC). For years, those guys wielded a big stick mostly behind the scenes. There were a lot of forces that changed the maintenance business, MOA being only a part of it - possibly a small part of it.

And keep in mind that several of my contemporaries became general officers, including my personal friend, John Nowak. In the ‘60s there is no way you could have convinced anyone that one of us would end up being a 3-star. An O-6 was a stretch - more a dream than a realistic goal.

ER: Was there any resistance from leadership or others to creating MOA?

LT COL MATTHEWS: I do not remember any resistence per se.

Some of the old heads in the business thought we were wasting our time, but...I do remember some interesting exchanges however. One of the early MOA members was a young Captain (Al Rodriguez) who was assigned to the maintenance training office in Personnel in the Pentagon. His boss, one of those 15-year O-6s on the fast track to stardom decided to “educate” me on promotions. According to him, “If maintenance got more promotions, then personnel, finance, chaplain’s assistants, etc. would get fewer.” Al was standing behind the Colonel shaking his head as if to say, “Let it go.” But, I couldn’t, and said “Colonel, next year when you get deployed into a hot spot where you and your aircrew’s keisters and reputations are on the line, maybe you can fill all those empty MO slots with a couple of chaplain assistants and a finance CPA type. Happy Hunting.”

And after the exchange, we agreed to disagree. Al Rodriguez was still shaking his head and laughing at the memory during the LOA Conference in D.C. But, we did get a lot of support from many unexpected places. My counterpart, the Ops officer in the F-4 outfit in Korea, became my fast friend and a huge maintenance cheerleader. A few years later, when I went to the Pentagon, he was my next door neighbor and the exec officer to the CSAF. Joe Ashy was a huge MOA fan and I

understand he did alright for himself (General Joseph W. Ashy, retired 1 Oct 96).

ER: How long was the “MOA Newsletter” written from your home/office and how long did it appear in newsletter format?

LT COL MATTHEWS: Marian [Matthews] was the “admin office” for MOA until she quit during Ed Motoiza’s reign. When Luke Gill took the reins from me, he used to spend a lot of time over at my place working with Marian. And, when Ed took over, I remember making a lot of trips back and forth to his place. I guess I was playing courier - don’t really remember. Keep in mind this was before the days of email and fax machines. It remained in a newsletter format for years later.

ER: Whose idea was it to change the name to the “Exceptional Release”?

LT COL MATTHEWS: I think that idea came out of Jay Bennett.

I am really stretching my memory with that one though.

ER: How do you feel about where LOA is today in relation to your goals when you started MOA?

LT COL MATTHEWS: I would be kidding if I said any of us envisioned what MOA - LOA would have evolved into. Quite honestly, not being ‘connected’ on a regular basis, I find the whole thing to be bordering on the surreal. “You’re kidding me” is my reaction.

ER: What do you view as the most significant impact that MOA/LOA has made since its early days? And: What is the most significant memory you have of MOA?

LARRY MATTHEWS: I think the answer to those two questions is really the same – in some ways it is the same question in my mind.

I think that what MOA did early-on was provide a rallying point.

For years people had been talking about an organization. It´s just that no one ever did it. And once we got it started, the lid was off!

My contemporaries were becoming cheerleaders for the organization, and – AND – they were getting promoted to previously only dreamed-of levels. The newbies had living proof. Most of the MOA founders were irascible individualists who could spend a day locked in a room and never reach a concensus on ANY subject. Until MOA came along there were debates from time-to-time, most of which focused on tactics, but not strategy. It took on almost a religious fervor. We are pros, and now everybody accepts that fact.

It also didn´t hurt that a MAJCOM LG (non-rated, professional 1star) jumped on board – how is that for a poster boy? And then, about the time I retired, when Luke Gill got Leo Marquez (Lieutenant General Leo Marquez, retired 1 Aug 87) not only interested, but actively involved, MOA wasn´t some academic adventure anymore.

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63

Maintenance Officer Association “Where It All Began” THE FOLLOWING C O L M AT T H E W S ’

IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF SPEECH FROM

A N N I V E R S A RY C O N F E R E N C E I N

D.C

IN

2002.

LT

LOA’ S 20 T H WA S H I N G T O N

Thank you for the hospitality you have extended to the MOA founders. My reactions to all this attention vacillates considerably. Part of the time I feel like some minor league rock star. Other times I feel sort of like the little old guy on the street corner at the 4th of July parade in his doughboy uniform.

I retired 19 years ago, and due to a variety of conflicting priorities was totally out of touch, not only with MOA, but the Air Force in general. Now, plugged back in, I see certain Rip Van Winkle-type ironies then-to-now. First off, when I retired there was a George Bush in the White House. Hmmm… And, the Air Force was reorganizing the aircraft maintenance functions. What is up with that?

Of course you can always spot old maintenance officers. Their favorite parlor games have become 1.

20 questions…..shouted into their good ear, and 2. Simon says …. something totally incoherent.

THE MOA BEGINNINGS I will preface my remarks by borrowing from author Kurt Vonnegut’s Commencement address at MIT when he opened his remarks with a piece of advice for the graduates. He said, “If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experiences.”

In discussing the formation and the foundation of the Maintenance Officer Association, I think it is important to dispel a couple of myths.

First, and foremost, MOA was NOT founded in a bar in the Philippines at last call… As best I remember it was Thailand – and it was WAY past closing time.

No seriously, the idea of such an organization had been batted around for as long as I could remember. So in late Dec 1981, I started the MOA. Which does bring to mind a contemporary author’s observation that

…. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy as a loon.

A letter I sent to nine of my contemporaries on 16 December 1981 started the Maintenance Officer Association (MOA). I selected the nine based not only for their collective demonstrated talents, but also because of their dispersal throughout the Air Force. It seemed logical that the fledging organization should be, at least initially, representative of the maintenance officer population. So the nine were in different MAJCOMs (including the overseas commands), geographically dispersed, and at varying organizational levels.

The first MOA newsletter was distributed in May 1982 with the clever title of The MOA Newsletter. At the time that newsletter was distributed there was a grand total of fifty members. However, keep in mind the times. This was pre-Email, before the introduction of callanywhere-in-the-country cell phones, and to call an overseas installation required booking with the overseas operator (and, MOA matters

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were not ‘official business’). As a result, by today’s standards, things moved slowly.

The first newsletter reiterated the organizations purpose and focus: “The Maintenance Officer Association (MOA) is an association of maintenance officers (MOs) committed to enhancing the USAF mission by improving the maintenance world. Consistent with that overall objective, MOA is committed to upgrading the image, visibility, and promotability of the maintenance officer corps.”

Plain and simple. Well, maybe not simple. And, note that there is nothing even alluding to MOA being anti-anything. The idea that MOA was started, or grew as an anti-OPs organization is poppycock.

T H E S TA R T- U P

WA S F U N !

Once we realized that the organization was ‘a go’, and that the Selectric typewriter approach wasn’t going to hack it, that is when things got interesting. We needed a computer. Again, keep in mind the times. For the most part, the only USAF people with any computer knowledge and experience were the IT nerds down in the headquarters computer room.

So my wife, Marian (the first MOA volunteer), and I went out and bought a computer. Not only was this computer pre-Windows, it was pre-DOS – an operating system called CPM. One of the charming things about CPM was that there were no icons, menus or shortcuts. The screen booted up blank with a blinking cursor and you had to type in a computer code string for everything you wanted to do. That discovery prompted the first of many “OJ’s” on our part – as in “Oh, Jesus.” Computer documentation at that time was written by nerds for nerds, oft-times neither of whom claimed English as their native language. And the computer whizbangs at the local computer store spoke in tongues only they understood. Somehow, we got through all that, although in the process Marian invented some new words and I was the recipient of several new and rather descriptive terms of endearment.

I am convinced, as is Luke Gill, the 2nd MOA president, that MOA survived the start-up’s first couple of years primarily due to Marian’s energies. I also think that Luke Gill’s tenure as president was crucial. Luke was left with the task of providing the fledging organization with some focus and direction. Up to that point, the organization could probably best be described as in after-burner with no heading indicator.

MOA

AND THE

‘NEW’ AIR FORCE

I am equally convinced now, as I was then, that the MOA was filling a critical void. During my career, the Air Force was a very different place than it is today, particularly in the MO world. I was a member of the ’64 year group, the head-end of the SEA buildup. The relevance here is that the maintenance officer force in the year groups preceding us was virtually non-existent – the USAF had not been procuring maintenance officers for several years. Which meant that a couple of things relavent to this discussion: 1. My contemporaries and I filled many of the ‘career squares’ early – way early. I was a maintenance squadron commander for the first time as a brand new Captain. You can imagine some of the turmoil that was created from that ‘deficient experience base’ both organizationally and personally. It also meant that later in your career you were often repeating duty positions.

2. The missing year groups also meant that we were often operating without mentors, trainers, and role models. More often than not, our supervisors were rated supplement officers without the aircraft maintenance experience to be our trainers. However, having said that, the rated supplement program was crucial during those years. Without the ‘supps’, we young maintenance officers would have been trying to fill two jobs we weren’t qualified for. And many of those ‘supps’ either were, or became outstanding aircraft maintainence officers.

There were, by modern USAF standards, a lot of strange things that went on. In fact, looking back, some of things seem almost comical compared to the modern Air Force. I’ll give you a couple of examples to give you a frame of reference; 1. July 29, 1963: I, and my non-rated OTS classmates, had a career briefing from the MPC folks that said in essence, if you work hard and do well you have a chance to make O-5 before you retire. I assure you that was not the same briefing that our OTS classmates headed to undergraduate flying training were getting. Yes, there were separate briefings!

2. In the 70s, I and many of my counterparts had their own personal copy of a letter to the Military Personnel Center from a Wing Continued on next page...

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Commander requesting that only rated officers fill all his maintenance squadron commander positions. Well, OK. But, the reasoning was quote: “since rated officers always command the respect of their people, a trait not inherent in the nonrated officer.”

3. In 1967 I was the FMS Commander in an outfit that won the Daedalian Award for best maintenance organization in the Air Force. My counterpart OMS Commander and I were not attendees at the awards banquet because our Wing Commander felt our non-rated status was inappropriate since membership in the Daedalian organization was restricted to flyers. They sent two young rated officers who weren’t even in maintainence in our place to accept the trophies.

Gen Babbitt and Larry Matthews at LOA 2002

ER: MOA - “WHERE IT ALL BEGAN”

That was the system, and quite candidly we understood that. My young son, VMI cadet, C-141 Crew Chief reservist, soon to be USAF aircraft maintenance officer says, “Well, that’s not fair!” If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all these impersonators would be dead.

I am not saying we agreed with the system, but we also were neither intimidated by it nor obsessed with the inconsistencies. It was, I think, Eleanor Roosevelt, who said, “No one can make you feel inferior unless you buy into that.”

There were a host of changes in the maintenance officer world during my career in the Air Force. And by the time I retired, promotion statistics for the maintenance officer where comparable to those of the rated pilots and, in fact, better than those for navigators and WSOs. And, a number of my aircraft maintenance contemporaries became general officers, and one (that I know of) earned his third star. We came a long way, baby!

I am not naïve enough to believe that MOA was the catalyst of those changes. The guys at Palace Log (MOs who ran the career field at MPC) were a major factor, as was some very enlightened leadership at the upper levels of the AF logistics organization over a period of years. Also, the OPs guys at MPC started managing the rated supplement program with some goals in mind as opposed to the rather helter-skelter approach that program took when it was run at the wing level.

I also think that the Vietnam War had a big impact on the maintenance career field as well. There were a lot of Wing Kings who fell on their swords in South East Asia (SEA) trying to ignore the realities of maintenance capability under the myth of ‘keep ‘em flying till we win’. But, I am convinced there were even more SEA wing commanders who left that experience with a first hand understanding of the concept of maintenance capabilities and an appreciation of what a soundly managed maintenance force could really produce, even long-term.

The Logistics Community’s Rivet- initiatives in the ‘70s and ‘80s were also a big ‘get well’ factor. The realization that the functional managers have to stay connected with their manpower, personnel and training (MPT) counterparts was a big wake-up call that led to major changes in the normal way of doing things in the MPT arena.

So MOA did not single-handedly change the world, but I do believe that the organization was a contributing factor. If nothing else, I am convinced that, for the first time some of the more junior officers started to view the career field as a profession rather than a job. And, many of the more senior maintenance officers started paying much more than just lip service to the concept of mentorship. Over the years, we quit eating our young.

- By the way, don’t you find it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do “practice”?

AND

NOW IT IS THE

L O G I S T I C S O F F I C E R A S S O C I AT I O N ?

I would be less than candid if I didn’t share with you that most of my maintenance officer contemporaries did not consider themselves loggies! We were aircraft maintenance officers who, because of some strange AFSC numbering system that we did not understand, came under the logistics umbrella. Sorry, LOA but that is a fact. For many of us a logistics career broadening assignment was viewed as a fate worse than kissing your sister. Maybe, more like kissing your brother in-law....at the family reunion.... and Uncle Fred got it on videotape. If the people you worked with were not in fatigues and the smell of JP-4 was not coming under your office

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door, you were in the wrong job – and looking for a ‘right’ one. (Sound like a fighter pilots lament?) I not saying that it was smart, that’s just the way it was.

I contend that the aircraft maintenance business is different, primarily because we worked with, supervised and shepperded hundreds of those 18-19 year olds that America’s Mommas had loaned us for four years. I had the honor of working with two of the DCM (Deputy Commander for Maintenance) icons of my era, Crawford O. Murphy and Dick Watson, both of whom are no longer with us. One was quiet and unassuming, the other bombastic and dynamic. The common thread, other than mentoring their young maintenance officers was that both had a passion for those kids on the flight line. You want trouble? Say something, or propose something that either of them thought indicated you had lost sight of that ‘greater Mama mission’ - Hell hath no fury…

These were men who influenced careers. One night, late, in the bar at Osan, Dick Watson laid out what became one of the guiding principles of my career, even my life. At an assembly of the maintenance officers – that had gone on too long at that point, I might add: young 2Lt Anderson suddenly got philosophical and asked Watson to describe the distinction between - the releavence of - officer AND gentleman. You could have heard a pin drop, for as all of you know, the officer/gentleman charter (and its feminine gender equivalent) is sacred ground - not a joking matter, regardless of the hour or the sobriety condition. Without hesitating Col Watson said, “Anderson, I called a Momma in Oklahoma today to comfort her, to confirm what she already knew from other official Air Force sources - that her boy was coming home in a wooden box. The officer in me made me make that call that I didn’t have to, and did not want to make. The gentleman in me let me cry with her.”

What I am suggesting is that the farther one’s job and daily duties separate them from that smell of JP-4, that it is incumbent on them to remember that new logistics technology, exotic weapon systems and esoteric management procedures are not the end product. What is important is that right now as we sit here, there is a 2-striper on the ramp at Osan, middle of the night in a cold rain, nursing a hydraulic leak on an 8 AM go. And she will put the same amount of effort to make sure some routine instrument check goes - as she would if that airplane was fragged to bail out a Marine rifle platoon pinned down outside Chu Lai. We take kids off the farm and engender that committement. Somehow, over the years the Air Force manages to pull that off. And it is not done with systems and programs; it is done by the continuing evolution – next generation Watsons and Murphys! Reorganize all you want – but THAT is where maintenance capability comes from.

I’ve been asked several times in past months what I thought of the MOA-to-LOA transition. Well, first of all I am not sure I am qualified to respond, having been out of the loop and out of touch for a number of years. I would also suggest that the time has long passed to be debating whether MOA-to-LOA is/was good. What would appear to me to be far more relevant are the challenges facing LOA in the future. Given the inevitable crunch years that are coming with the USAF maintenance re-organization initiatives, I suspect we need to re-focus on aircraft maintenance officers once again. Depending on who is telling the story, the baselevel senior maintenance officer pool is diminished, depleted, or non-existent. And consistent with the Gospel According to Matthews (that’s me), this pool IS our maintenance capability. So, I will pose the questions to LOA: 1. Is the original focus of MOA still valid?

2. Is LOA’s focus consistent, at least, with the original MOA thrust?

3. What does LOA intend to do to assist the USAF get over the base-level maintenance officer experience shortfall hump?

Assuming that LOA wants to be more than just a social organization, the real relevance of the organization is what it adds to the Air Force. It’s not even as simple as the ‘part of the problem or part of the solution’ dilemma. What can LOA add? If you are not, as an organization, stepping up to the plate on relevant issues you become irrelevant by definition. And such organizations don’t die, they just wither away from, at least in perceived, irrelevance.

I thank you for your kind hospitality shown, this week, to the founders and for the chance to talk with you today. I wish you well in your future endeavors. And will leave you with one final thought to ponder.

- No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

Oh yes, and use sunscreen. Thank You! K

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:

DEVELOPING THE WARRIOR LOGISTICIAN Submitted by 2Lt Ben Derry With the induction of the Airman’s Creed and simplification of the Air Force Mission, Air Force leadership has provided a clear vision toward developing a warrior Airman culture. However, for many Airmen in the logistics career field, the idea of infusing a warrior ethos into our daily operations may seem more like a sarcastic quip than a plausible avenue to leadership. Instilling a warrior ethos is not beyond our grasp. Although the Airman’s Creed offers little to direct the logisticians among us, its guiding principles should resonate somewhere in the reaches of our reasoning for originally joining the Air Force.

I sincerely believe that citizens become Airmen exercise their patriotic duties to protect our Nation and to lead others. In stating, “Guardian of Freedom and Justice; My Nation’s Sword and Shield,” the Airman’s Creed espouses this patriotic duty directly into our Airmen culture. Unfortunately, we rarely discharge those words day to day. How often do we, as leaders, promote a warrior ideology?

The Random House Dictionary defines warrior in two ways. The first, a literal definition, refers to “a person engaged or experienced in warfare,” and the second, perhaps more applicable to this discussion, states “a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness.” If we merge these definitions, insert military focus and add logistician we get a definition that might state, “An Air Force warrior logistician in an Airman who displays great courage, vigor, flexibility, and assertiveness while in the fight or in support of the fight, through leading and inspiring the Airmen who make the mission happen.” (Not sure how all this came out of the definitions, but ok) A good portion of you reading this probably just added, “while avoiding paper cuts,” to my definition of a warrior logistician. Actually, I agree. The warrior side of our profession seems to only emerge during a deployment or an ORI. An F-15C pilot at Maxwell AFB taught me one of the best lessons I’ve learned. In describing a tour in Iraq during

Two Airmen from Dover work jointly with an Army instructor setting up an MA-2 .50 Cal Machine Gun with a PAS-13 Night Optics attachment in preparation for a live night fire exercise.

Operation Northern Watch, this Colonel characterized his mentality (and swagger) as, “Where can I deploy my overwhelming combat capability?” If we envision our ability to lead Airmen into the global logistics environment in the same manner, how much more effective and more inspiring can we be as leaders? Having identified a warrior code and defined a Warrior Logistician, here is a blueprint to evolve our own warrior ethos and, indeed, cement the warrior culture into our domain. {Where is the warrior code? It was not noted or mentioned above? Do not make the reader assume where it is, or they will lose the message.} First, is through physical fitness. I am as guilty as anyone for falling into the, “I just worked 12 hours, why would I go to the gym now” trap. It’s easy! Complacency and laziness are easy! What’s difficult and, most of the time, what’s best is to push for that hour or more a day in the gym to not only demonstrate personal improvement, but also develop the inner warrior strength that rarely occurs without a physical struggle. If the attitude of an organization derives from its leadership, let us lead the way from the office right into the gym.

Second, is through unit identity. Can we develop a distinct warrior culture within our units? I have experienced two opposite variations. The first, and less desirable, occurs when a commander (at any level) lectures about leadership and warrior ideals, but fails to incorporate those ideals into their own persona.

Even worse, the “leader” in this environment often attempts to integrate his or her own failed leadership practices into the organization without council from more experienced individuals. This is the “Self-Said Warrior Effect: I’m a warrior because I say I am. So you will too.” The second variation is systemic, grassroots environment that evolves based upon the qualities of the leader.

The leader never mentions leadership, but always leads by example.

Airmen from across the Globe come together at Fort Riley Kansas for 2 months of Combat Skills Training in preparation for a This leader never gives a Deployment to Afghanistan to train Foreign Nationals.

PowerPoint on warrior ideals, but conducts his or her own character and demeanor based upon those principals. Something remarkable evolves in this environment…pride. Pride in the unit. Pride in themselves and in their leader. No longer is that leader just an officer in the group. He, or she, becomes the officer. There’s a stark contrast just by varying the use of an article. So, are you a leader, or are you the leader?

Third, is through our Airmen. How well can you take care of your warriors? This sentiment should be self-explanatory, but it becomes very easy to overlook during our demanding schedules. Honest appreciation is the greatest tool for inspiring our warriors. One simple test: When was the last time you looked an Airman in the eye and simply said, “Thank you for all the hard work you do on a daily basis. Your effort makes a difference here.” It’s not hard to pat ourselves on the back at the end of a long day, but how often do we do the same for our Airmen?

Our Air Force is postured for developing warrior logisticians.

Our Creed and our mission clearly define what we are as warriors. Our leadership challenge is to stoke the warrior ethos fire bringing this attitude to work every day. There are a number of ways to get the fire started and keep it burning.

Once action is taken, our warrior culture will thrive.

About the Author: 2nd Lt Benjamin Derry joined the Air Force in July of 2007 as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer, stationed at Dover AFB, DE.

Lt Derry currently serves as

Accessories Flight Commander, 436th Maintenance Squadron and member of the MXG's UCI/LSEP Prep Team. He recently

completed

Standard

Aero's

Continuous

Process

Improvement, Visual Management, and Performance Metrics courses, as well as the University of Tennessee's Lean for Business Processes.

K

An Airman from Dover AFB disassembles and reassembles a Russian PKM during the Foreign Weapons portion of Combat Skills Training.

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71

Loggies Deployed ce (of West Maintenan sse James' th Aircraft Je 6 f 3 o 4 d e a th lo f the up Mace o photo) q. (USAF assisting in TSgt Brian lad AB, Ira r AFB, DE a B ve o @ D r , e n mm Squadro omized Hu ppers) cust Coast Cho

MANAS A IR BASE , KYRGYZSTA N- TSgt David Jackson, 376th Expeditio nary Lo gistics Readines s Squadro n refueling main tenance te chnician repla ces a tire on one of the re fueling tr ucks.

Deployed from 521 LRF, Dover AF B (USAF p h oto SrA Ruth Holcomb)

Looking Good in Al As ad.

Sgt Wingeier & SrA Michael Luciano, 43 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Dover AF B, DE, had just finished helping Loadmasters do wnload AH-1 Cobras & CH-46s. (USAF photo )

Tony Ramstein LOA President Maj ent, tend erin Nance and his sup ot Min from SMSgt Andrew Sprock to) pho AF (US deployed to Al Udeid.

BASE, MANAS AIR N-Senior KYRGYZSTA Dale, 376th ey Airman Dew eadiness y Logistics R Expeditionar d lubricants troleum oil an r.

Squadron pe Globemaste fuels a C-17 ope P , S technician, re LR 0 from the 44 ed oy pl de Dale is uth Holcomb) photo SrA R AFB. (USAF

TSgt Mark Weisbrod fr om 436 Mai AFB deploy ntenance G ed to 379 A roup Dover E W as FOD M tires at Al U anager chec deid AB, Qat king those ar. (USAF ph oto)

Dyess AFB, e A. LaCross, A1C Lawrenc tool box ef inventorying TX, Crew Chi o) ot ph etion. (USAF after job compl Sunrise of 4th of July 2008; EC-1 tronic atta 30 Compa ck missio ss Call air n (Japane ground)(P craft landin se Air Se hoto by C g after ele lf D efense Fo ol Herb Ph crce C-130 illips, 386 H in fore EMXG/CC )

SrA Leon Belaustegui, Charleston AFB, SC...AMMO hooking up delivery trailer to bobtail. (USAF photo)

MANAS AIR BA SE, KYRGYZST AN - Airmen fro Readiness Squa m the 376th Ex dron load pallets peditionary Logis of Meals Ready to tics Ministry of Emerge Eat on a truck fro ncy Situations du m the Kyrgyzstan rin g a humanitarian assis 25. The U.S. Depa tance ceremony rtment of Defense here, Nov. donated over 31,00 weather sleeping 0 MREs and more bags, valued at $2 tha n 100 cold 50 ,00 0, to help local Ky tance during the rgyz who may ne coming winter. (U ed assisSAF photo SrA Ru th Holcomb)

MSgt Otis alker and W y le n ta of box of MSgt S adron, tip u STAN -- C q Z S Y s G c s to R ti Y ,K , prepare ary Logis IR BASE aniscalco xpedition E M l th an ry MANAS A 6 a 7 o D 3 e rvivors f h. Sgt. th with th river, Tec ed for su d d t n lif ute West, bo o rk in th fo t id as sen arian a ther gear Manas AB f humanit m o o d fr k cold wea le c n tt u e o tr m b d tions, stan. Air n a flatbe of food ra rn Kyrgyz ts e in th place it o lle u ta a o n p s o d c in boxes include rthquake t. 8, that than 120 . c s O re Oct. 5 ea y o , to id m d a d n f n nkets a ounds o r gear a la p e b f , th o g a s e in d w th n ir sa g the ter clo tary cold n donatin ren's win rplus mili 40 Airme and child n lt water, su a u LRS d th a th f re 7 o o 3 pounds d from 4 lted in m e u y s lo re p s e n d o ing 3,000 lker is donati CC staff. with. (Wa personal the A4 A n re o e h B d F e A y A call for gley deplo from Lan kets they own blan ., West is .C S , B F ston A el Voss) at Charle Sgt Micha T to o h p (USAF

Hill AFB Assumes B-2 Flight Control Composite Repair Workload

Submitted by Mr. Bill Orndorff When a squadron gets a new workload, employees can either welcome the new job or loathe the idea of changing from the tried and true. And working with a new group of people often throws even more trepidation into the mix. In the case of the 575th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (Composites) at Hill AFB, UT, partnering with Northrop Grumman to produce B-2 Spirit parts caused some anxiety at first which, after nearly nine years, has led to cooperation and friendship.

Northrop Grumman transferred its B-2 flight control surfaces workload to the former Aircraft Directorate at Hill in the late 1990s when they closed their plant at Pico Rivera, CA. The scheduled baseline workload refurbished 11 flight control surfaces and two large composite panels in the Program Depot Maintenance (PDM) flow for the Northrop Grumman plant at Palmdale, CA. At that time, the Technical Repair Division (now the 575th) was a sheet metal operation. To most employees, “composites” referred to a metallic skin sandwiched around a honeycomb core. As part of the transition, government employees were sent TDY to Pico Rivera to learn the composites process.

When the trained employees returned to Hill, they were accompanied by tons of work-related equipment and several Northrop

Grumman employees that would be guiding them almost step-bystep in their jobs. How the Air Force and the contractor handled the transition and subsequent workload is a model for the partnering handbook.

Cecil Funtanilla, who now does inspections for the squadron, started working in sheet metal, shooting rivets, in 1997. He remembers Northrop Grumman employees coming to Hill, observing their operation and listing what skills the government employees would need. “I went down there (to Pico Rivera) and they were all good to me even though they knew that the government was taking their jobs,” Mr. Funtanilla said. “I made a lot of friends in California, and a lot of them came up here. Many were dedicated to the B-2 and were more concerned about the fate of the aircraft than changing to another job.”

Not all government employees, however, were eager for the addition of Northrop Grumman employees in their workspace. Rumors that the contractors were going to take over the government jobs; differing personalities; a newer, stricter standard of tolerance; unfamiliar rules, and other changes led to a rough transition at first. “It wasn’t what we were used to,” said Merrill Butler, a B-2 production supervisor for low observable coatings. “With sheet metal, technical orders weren’t very detailed. It was difficult, then, to see inspectors

Photo: Government and contract employees who have worked on the B-2 composites program partnership at Hill AFB, Utah, are, from left, Cecil Funtanilla, Mike Loveless, Merrill Butler and Randy Glanville. Mr. Funtanilla and Mr. Butler switched from sheet metal work to composites when the B-2 project arrived at Hill, while Mr. Loveless and Mr. Glanville moved to Utah with the workload from California. (USAF photo by Bill Orndorff)

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Department of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force.

from Northrop Grumman come with flashlights and a magnifying glass to look at a part we were working on.”

The Process Improvement concept has Additionally, Northrop Grumman guided the partnership employees faced government regfrom the beginning. ulations and requirements that Mr. Butler recalled they were unfamiliar with. “What how what would we ended up doing was every become the composmorning we had meetings togethites facility was origier,” said Randy Glanville, nally a large open area Northrop Grumman engineer and with bare concrete site lead. “We talked about how Debbie Boydston, Hill AFB, and Mike Loveless, Northrop Grumman, look over plans floors. The secure area we were going to make this hapfor refurbishing a B-2 Flight Control Surface.(NGC Courtesy photo) now has marked areas pen. If you could go back to 2000 for equipment (followand see the process then, and compare it to now, you’d see a 180-degree difference. There are ing Lean principles), better lighting and clean rooms. A separate air handling system was installed to keep airborne contaminates a lot of things they picked up.” from other shops out of the composites process.

Mr. Butler noted that with the small number of B-2s –(20), and the need to meet the PDM flow at the Palmdale plant, plus the From the time the components are brought in for work until costs of materials, made the tight schedules at Hill necessary. “It they are returned to the customer, they are inspected and was a new kind of pressure,” Mr. Butler said. “As far as supervi- checked every step of the way. Specialized equipment was sion, that was tough. You have to visit each end item, talk to brought to Hill from Pico Rivera, including X-ray machines, a each employee and find out where they’re at with it, find out shearography booth to laser scan composite parts and find how long it’s going to take them and what you foresee as far as defects, and a 45-foot long, 15-foot wide autoclave for baking and bonding parts. “We have non-destructive inspections, visual problems arising.” inspections, and we write up these end-items and go through the The intense scrutiny, exacting work requirements and tight tests,” said Jim Yerke, 575th Director. “We strip all the coatings schedules have paid off. Since 2000, the majority of B-2 control down and check these parts again to see if there is anything surface deliveries have been on or ahead of schedule. The limitunderlying in the coatings that we missed. Before these parts are ed number of late B-2 control surfaces deliveries have not sigput in a box and shipped out, we have what we call a “six eyes” nificantly impacted Northrop Grumman’s ability to successfully inspection. We have a group of selected individuals that go out deliver B-2 air vehicles to the customer, reports John Wiegel, a and look at these parts for quality and appearance, to review the Northrop Grumman Engineer. documentation paperwork — all tests to make sure everything Standing up the skill base was one of five goals established when that went into this component complies with all the requirethe program began at Hill. Others were to establish a partnership ments set forth in the contract with our customer.” between government and private industry; prepare a facility to support the current composites workload; adapt that building and skill base for future composites work; and deliver the completed product. The 575th successfully met these goals in December 2008 when they completed the first cycle of programmed depot maintenance for B-2 control surface refurbishment. Successful too was the goal of delivering to the customer — Northrop Grumman Palmdale — parts that could be placed on the aircraft with confidence and tested without worrying about the asset. The partnership has since been recognized as a Center of Excellence for composites technology by the

“We were able to design and outfit the building to support a new composites statement of work; after that, there were ongoing capital investments, above and beyond what the original transfer of equipment was,” Mr. Yerke said. “We recognized that there was additional equipment that was better, so it was upgraded. The shearography booth that was in Pico Rivera was transferred to Hill and within the last year we have upgraded that booth to a higher standard. We retrofitted the autoclave —

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Aircraft Directorate and Northrop Grumman personnel prepare the first B-2 Component to be delivered the Northrop Grumman facility in Palmdale, CA, in June 2000 following maintenance at Hill AFB, Utah. (NGC Courtesy photo)

when we originally brought it up here, it was a 600 degree autoclave; now it’s a 750 degree, 200 PSI.” Technicians and supervisors too have a say in improving tools and equipment. “The technology of composites changes on a yearly basis and requires different parameters to be successful.

Our folks here recognized that, and that’s why we’re spending money to upgrade the equipment and upgrade the autoclave, so we can meet future requirements,” Mr. Yerke said. “A lot of facilities around this area don’t have that capability. We’ve received some positive feedback from potential clients that are happy

with the direction we’re taking with the facility. They feel confident not only now, but that we’ll support future statements of work, future requirements as well.”

The partnership, which now includes six Northrop Grumman and 40 government employees, is flexible enough to handle additional B-2 related work. Called “Drop-in Workload,” these items are additional components that are not included in the baseline PDM refurbishment statement of work. Items such as wingtips, leading edges, doors, panels, internal ducting along with “new build” requests, are just a few of the B-2 related components that the partnership is responsible for. “We had four wing tips go through the shop at once, so there was a real focus on getting them done,” Mr. Loveless said. “They had different kinds of damage so we had to come up with innovative ways to do the repairs. It was a team effort — it wasn’t just Northrop Grumman saying ‘this is how you have to do it,’ it was like ‘get your group together…talk about what you can do,’ and it worked out great.”

Maj Gen Robert H. McMahon, former commander of the Hill AFB Maintenance Directorate and 309th Maintenance Wing, and Art Lofton, Northrop Grumman site manager, shake hands after establishing the Joint Partnering Agreement while standing in the opening of the newly installed autoclave. (Courtesy photo)

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In 2003, a significant modification improved the functionality of the nozzle bay doors. As an additional example of partnering, a repair team, made up of engineers and technicians from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Hill AFB, the 575th and Northrop Grumman, improved the doors’ design, replacing the original material with composite plies that were bonded onto the material in the autoclave. The work ensured the bond between the composite seal and the door’s

Hill AFB and Northrop Grumman personnel celebrate delivery of the final B-2 component from the first B-2 PDM cycle in December 2008. (Courtesy photo)

parent material remained secure, and reduced the need for inspection from weekly to once every seven years “One of the keys to the success of this partnership — and it’s the most advanced partnership I’ve seen by far on this center and Air Force-wide — is the talent that has been drawn into focus as far as the work force, and also the support staff of Northrop Grumman,” Mr. Yerke said. “An advantage that we’re enjoying because of the partnering relationship is when issues come up — and they always come up — is the speed of the resolution is much quicker in our relationship that we have now, than we would have under the ‘traditional’ relationship between a contractor and a government entity.”

To meet the needs of the growing industry and attract additional technicians, Hill AFB is working with the Davis Applied Technology College in nearby Kaysville, UT, on composites courses. “We’re working with the school to develop Composites I, II and III courses,” Mr. Yerke said. “Composites is a growing industry. We could very well find ourselves unprepared as we try to compete for those resources unless we grow that composite knowledge throughout the Utah labor market.” The 615-hour Composite Materials Technician course includes mold preparation and construction, fabrication, lamination, core materials, composite part testing and repair and blueprint reading. School fliers estimate there are 123 Utah companies using composites, and there will be a need for 6,600 composites jobs by 2015.

Not that this will affect the Hill-Northrop Grumman arrangement. The partnership is well-liked by the employees as evident by the low employee attrition. On numerous occasions employee’s who once left the 575th often ask to come back with the work structure, knowledge sharing, cooperation, proactive planning and management support all cited as reasons why. “I like it

here. I’ve had chances to go elsewhere, but I like the B-2,” Mr. Funtanilla said. “There’s a lot of prestige working on the B-2.”

“The way the contract is set up enables our ability to work together closely,” Mr. Loveless said. “There was mention of a rough road at the beginning, but I think even from the beginning there was an attitude among the team members that we wanted to work together and we just needed to understand each other. It was working through ways we were used to doing and ways that government employees were used to doing things.

Once we understood how those things worked, we were able to smooth that transition out and feel good about what was going on.”

As far as advice for other possible partnerships, “listen” was the suggestion brought up most often. “Everybody has something to bring to the table,” Mr. Glanville said. “If you listen, you’ll realize you can cooperate with each other and come up with a system to support the customer. A good example is the forward wing tip. We sat down with the Hill engineers and one suggested moving the internal structure over and another came up with how to do the tooling, and another said we could laser this and we could machine these parts out rather than hand blend them.

All of us got together and we worked this part. “At the end of it, we realized we were all one team. When there are only 20 aircraft available, you don’t have time for egos anymore.”

About the author: Bill Orndorff is a management analyst for the 309th Maintenance Wing, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah. He is responsible for the wing’s public affairs and history programs. E-mail: bill.orndorff@hill.af.mil

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Planning the Presidential Inauguration…

An Exercise in Joint Military and Civil Logistics

Members of the U.S. Army, local militia units and Revolutionary War veterans escorted George Washington to Federal Hall in New York City. Two hundred twenty years later, the military’s participation continues in honoring the newly elected commander-in-chief, recognizing civilian control of the armed forces, and in general celebrating democracy. Since the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953, the military’s participation has been formalized into a committee.

Submitted by Maj Chris Paone & Maj Bill Kossick

“Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.”

- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) 1980, quoting a maxim attributed to Rommel, Bradley, and others.

In August 2008, the authors of this article were temporarily assigned to the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee (AFIC), in support of the 56th Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009. AFIC is a joint service organization charged with coordinating all military ceremonial support during the inaugural period 14 to 24 January, 2009. We were a little cautious, but excited nonetheless. At the time, we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into…

The U.S. military has participated in inauguration ceremonies since President George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789.

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Military ceremonial participation traditionally includes musical units, marching bands, color guards, firing details, salute batteries and honor cordons. Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen assigned to the committee also provide valuable assistance to the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), a not-forprofit, partisan organization made up of members the president-elect selected, and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies (JCCIC). The Secretary of Defense authorized nearly 750 service members to be assigned on the day of the inauguration, providing coordination of Department of Defense support in and around the District of Columbia. On the 20th of January, more than 5,712 service members participated in the celebration, both in view of the public and behind the scenes.

SPRING 2009

necessary to accomplish the misPlanning for this year’s Armed Forces sion objectives. Since AFIC proInaugural Committee began in January vides ceremonial support for the 2007 and was grouped into six major Presidential Inaugural Committee phases: Phase I (Assessment), Phase II it was not possible to establish (Pre-Planning), Phase III (Planning, firm requirements early on for Integration, and Team Building), planning. The starting point for Phase IV (Presidential Inaugural planning incorporated the previCommittee Established), Phase V ous inauguration as a baseline for (Execution), and Phase VI (Postpotential requirements. The AFIC Presidential Inaugural Close-out).

Maj Chris Paone, Ceremonies Logistics Coordinator, greets staff researched the 2005 inauguLong before the 2006 midterm elecPresident-elect Obama as he pays a visit to the Armed Forces ration after-action reports, the tions, Phases I and II were well under Inaugural Committee headquarters in downtown Washington Operations Plan (OPLAN) and way and involved assembling a planDC. continuity books to garner lessons ning committee designed to help shape learned, previous planning factors the AFIC team. Minimally manned, the team was largely supported by members of the Military and considerations, and concepts of support to begin developing District of Washington located at Fort Leslie McNair. The most the 2009 support plan. This work all began before Senator important task was to review AFIC’s 2005 Joint Manning Barack Obama was elected president in November 2008.

Document in order to identify all positions required for activities Following the election, the President-elect appoints the PIC to supporting the 2009 inauguration. Originally staged at Fort plan and execute the official inaugural celebratory events. Thus, McNair, the intent was to relocate to the downtown area, clos- the PIC-planned celebratory events, which AFIC supports with er to all of the action. Other key accomplishments required for military ceremonial personnel, are not defined until late the move downtown included locating and securing building November. The JCCIC plans and executes the actual inaugural space; establishing building agreements and land-use permits, oath ceremony in accordance with Section 1 of the 20th acquiring office furniture, requesting parking spaces, and negoti- Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ating access points.

The 56th Presidential Inauguration was the largest attended in Fast forward to Phase III, when the authors arrived. Phase III U.S. history. Unprecedented crowds, estimated as high as 1.8 milrequired detailed planning at the AFIC level – operational level lion people, forced significant changes in planning and execution. planning. Key tasks included establishing the Ceremonies The parade marchers’ assembly area was moved from the Mall to Directorate and other key AFIC staff, reviewing/editing plans, the Ellipse, requiring significant planning changes and interasubmitting land-use permits, coordinating with JCCIC and pub- gency coordination. Unprecedented security concerns significantly increased credentialing requirements, including, for the first lishing DoD Inauguration Guidelines. time, a requirement to credential all 13,000 parade participants.

In Phase III, the logistics team coordinated and built the conAFIC successfully submitted a total of 19,105 U.S Secret Service cept of support for the Ceremonies Directorate. This directorate and U.S Capital Police credentials with a 99.99% success rate. is a 300-person joint service team spread among five Inaugural The security environment, Washington D.C.’s renowned potensupport divisions: the Presidential Swearing-in Ceremony, tial for traffic congestion, and the potential for cold, snowy Inaugural Parade, Street Cordon, Military Assistant escorts, and weather all brought visions of Napoleon’s disastrous Russian foray other Inaugural Events (or Special Events). Each of those divito mind. The AFIC Logistics Directorate was charged with prosions is chaired by an O-5. Leading up to the Inauguration, the viding the 700 AFIC staff and 1,600 task-assigned street cordon Ceremonies Logistics Coordinator and the Logistics Directorate personnel with medical, transportation, food service, supply and were responsible for planning, analyzing, and executing multiengineering support using a fleet of 157 vehicle and 155 personfunctional logistics to include transportation, food service, acquinel, most of whom were vehicle operators. Another unique chalsition, receipt, issue, and recovery of government and lenge of AFIC lies in the fact that it is an organization formed commercial equipment and supplies. temporarily during election years. As a result, the organization The planning of any Presidential Inauguration is a challenging owns no organic assets or capabilities. Everything was procured, task, to say the least. As logisticians, the primary justification to prioritize and allocate limited resources is based on requirements

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THE

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borrowed, coordinated or contracted for in an environment where all expenditures are intensely scrutinized.

In order to narrow our focus and build a realistic plan, we asked ourselves questions such as, “what will it look like when we get there?”, “what will success be like, feel like?” and “how will others know?” Taking the time to answer each of those questions enabled us to develop key goals and measures of success everyone could understand. They would help us quickly prioritize our work and have an immediate impact on the planning effort. Each speaks to time, information and process management: defining the requirement; devising concepts; planning and coordinating support; executing the plan; and assessing its effectiveness.

DEFINE

REQUIREMENTS

“Forget logistics, [and] you lose.”

- Lt. Gen. Fredrick Franks, USA, 7th Corps Commander, Desert Storm, 1990

while the Ceremonies Directorate defined their operational needs. We were all reliant on understanding and communicating the expectations of a successful week of inauguration activities.

Through careful coaching and prodding, we were able to help ceremonial planners consider their logistics needs and capabilities.

DEVISE

CONCEPTS

“Logistic considerations belong not only in the highest echelons of military planning during the process of preparation for war and for specific wartime operations, but may well become the controlling element with relation to timing and successful operation.”

- VADM Oscar C. Badger, USN, address to the Naval War College, 1954

This was the most crucial step in securing resources to meet objectives for mission accomplishment. An accurate definition of When requirements were identified, additional details such as operational requirements ensured sufficient resources were timing, location, restraints and constraints were evaluated to resourced and allocated. For inaugural logistics planning, require- develop possible courses of action to accomplish mission objecments were defined by numbers of personnel requiring meal sup- tives. Establishing the overall concept enabled logisticians to port, types of meals provided, transportation vehicle/movement identify all steps, considerations, and actions necessary to bring requests, identification of types and quantities of assets such as the concept to reality with a goal of efficiency and effectiveness. signs, posts, furniture, cones, sandbags, cots, sleeping bags, and Some factors we considered in devising logistics support concepts beverage containers necessary to support the operational events were the capabilities present in the local National Capital Region. Home to 10-plus as envisioned by the military installations, we Ceremonies Directorate. knew this was where the Central to our analysis, we bulk of capabilities would needed to anticipate and come from. Evaluating the plan for changes in requireabilities of each installation ments or tackle emerging to provide food service, needs to avoid unintended transportation support, stagconsequences. Establishing a ing infrastructure, and secuprocess to capture, track and rity was important to ensure communicate these changes our logistics concepts were coupled with the ability to sound. For example, Bolling account for additions or Air Force Base had closed deletions was important to their dining facility since ensure all military, civil and the last inauguration in interagency organizations 2005—a major planning were synchronized. For logisfactor. To further compliticians, it was frustrating to Members of the Street Cordon stand at the ready to render military honors as the officate things, AFIC was not delay planning support cial motorcade moves from the Capitol along the parade route.

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the only organization approaching these installations for support. The bases were being henpecked by a multitude of agencies such as contingency forces, potential parade participants and others whose requirements were not related to the inauguration. We had to compete for their capability and clearly define the priority of our mission in relation to others.

Another aspect we had to evaluate in developing our logistics concepts was the support we would leverage from other governmental agencies, such as the General Services Administration (GSA). While meshing civilian government and military installation capabilities, we were able to devise a support concept for transportation using a GSA fleet Maj Bill Kossick and Maj Chris Paone helped plan logistics support for the largest Presidential of vehicles, staging areas on military bases Inauguration in U.S. history. where hot meals would be served and logistics packages would be issued, contracted tempokey to airpower”, and the same is true with logistics. As requirerary facilities for command and control, and finally, the use of ments and plans change, it is critical to have a good mechanism government-owned facilities to provide messing and shelter to in place to manage changes and ensure they are communicated street cordon personnel. This concept evolved and developed as quickly and to all parties. Change management is crucial to the mission evolved. Although many details seemed to be fluid, logistics planning; we used a general crosstalk format to prioriwe understood there was only one factor that remained constant tize and communicate the latest information. across all agencies – time. All support revolved around the timing of events and therefore, were backward-planned. These E X E C U T E P L A N S required a synchronization matrix of required agencies and support to be planned and plotted which would eventually feed a “Strategy and tactics provide the scheme for the master events list for ceremonial support execution. conduct of military operations, logistics the

PLAN

A N D C O O R D I N AT E S U P P O R T

“… in its relationship to strategy, logistics assumes the character of a dynamic force, without which the strategic conception is simply a paper plan.”

- CDR C. Theo Vogelsang, USN Narrowly defining our requirements, and coordinating to ensure we delivered the right capability at the right time and in the right location, was a difficult process as there were many unknowns. Much initial planning was compartmentalized without situational awareness of other events or support requirements. Through multiple map exercises, where different agencies responsible for certain aspects of the inauguration ceremonial support briefed their plans, the blinders came off and coordination increased. It is often said in the Air Force, “flexibility is the

means therefore.”

- Lt. Col. George C. Thorpe, USMC On Inauguration Day 2009, 160 Armed Forces Inaugural Committee logisticians partnered with Andrews Air Force Base, Ft Myer, Anacostia Naval Station and the Pentagon in order to execute months of planning and preparation. This was accomplished by synergizing multiple levels of interagency, civil, and military support to stand-up those three key staging hubs. We developed timelines, directed movements, and provided the oversight to spot screen, feed, and move 3,000 personnel executing the swearing-in ceremony, inaugural parade, street cordon, Military Assistants’ escorts, and special events. Between getting to the parade route and actions on the parade route, 200-plus transportation movements took place. In addition, 10,000 meals were served or provided, 900 signs were put up and taken down, 13 command post trailers were installed, cleared of equipment,

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and removed, and many more actions took place behind the scenes. At this point months of planning came into contact with the fog and friction of Inauguration Day – a cold, blustery winter’s day. As the day unfolded, the key to success was the strong leadership at the operational and tactical levels in the field, paired with a strong understanding of the overall mission objectives and understanding of the desired end state.

ASSESS

U.S. service members partner with the USO to hand out water during the 56th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. (Photo by SSgt Adelita Mead)

bands, color guards, firing details, salute batteries and honor cordons, taking center stage supporting the most complex Presidential inauguration to date.

Through many logistics exercises, AFIC map exercises, and logistics crosstalk sessions, we rehearsed, analyzed, assessed and estimated the effectiveness of our support plan. It briefed well and became a reality on inauguration day.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

EFFECTIVENESS

About the Authors:

“In short, logistics is…in the broadest sense, the three big Ms of warfare — materiel, movement, and maintenance. If international politics is ‘the art of the possible,’ and war is its instrument, logistics is the art of defining and extending the possible. It provides the substance that physically permits an army to live and move and have its being.”

Major Chris Paone, USA is the logistics coordinator for the Ceremonies Directorate, Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, US Army Military District of Washington, Joint Forces Headquarters, National Capital Region, and Fort Lesley McNair. He is a graduate of: Providence College (BS, Business Management), University of Maryland University College (Masters, Business Administration), the Combined Logistics Officer Advance Course, and the Theater Logistics Studies Program (TLOG). He is currently assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Major William Kossick, USAF, is the chief of supply and services

- James A. Huston, The Sinews of War: Army Logistics 1775-1953, 1966

for the Logistics Directorate, Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, US Army Military District of Washington, Joint Forces Headquarters, National Capital Region, and Fort Lesley McNair.

He is a graduate of: The United States Air Force Academy (BS,

So here we are…220 years later after the first inauguration, as the military’s participation continues to honor the newly elected commander-in-chief, recognize civilian control of the armed forces and celebrate democracy. Our goal in writing this article was to present a joint perspective on our logistics planning model, supporting the full spectrum of joint military and civilian interagency operations. There were some significant challenges, but most were out of our control to a certain extent as logisticians, such as traffic congestion, long lines, crowd control, and ticketing/viewing issues. The happy ending to this story is that our logistics team brought together musical units, marching

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Computer Science), Aircraft Maintenance and Munitions Officer Course, Squadron Officer School, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Masters, Aviation Management), Air Command and Staff College, LEAN Management System Training, and the Academic Instructor Course. He is currently assigned as Commander, 410th Supply Chain Management Squadron, 638th Supply Chain Management Group, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.

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AFSO21 Crosstalk 566 EMXS ROBINS AFB Submitted By Mr. Steve Arflin (steve.arflin@robins.af.mil) The 566 EMXS conducted an AFSO21 event to deploy the model cell concept into the APS-133 Color Weather Radar Shop. Using the “Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers” or SIPOC process, the members determined how best to incorporate the Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) repair process (a pull system) and the Shop Replaceable Unit (SRU) repair process (a cradle to grave system) into a streamlined receiver/transmitter pull system. This resulted in a redesigned, more user friendly production control board, which tracks items through the shop. It also transformed the shop floor layout into an integrated pull system. This will allow monthly production to increase from 21 to 31 units of LRUs and 7 to 12 units of SRUs. The team has a much clearer understanding of the model cell concept and is now developing new daily standard work, which will probably improve production even more.

E R : A F S O 2 1 C R O S S TA L K

402 MXSG/QP ROBINS AFB Submitted By Mr. Russ Mills (russell.mills@robins.af.mil) The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) received 11 write-ups during the Logistics Standardization Evaluation Team (LSET) visit during the fall of 2007 due to lack of standardization among welding work areas. As a result of root cause analysis and several other AFSO21 techniques, the welding group developed standard practices which ensured no similar actions would occur in the future.

They also developed a standard operating instruction for welding qualification and certification which provided guidance and ensured consistency across the 402 MXW at Robins AFB. During the follow-up LSET visit, there were no negative findings and, in fact, the wing was commended for their significant improvements.

The Production Control Board at WR-ALC.

782 CBSG/GBEC ROBINS AFB Missile Software Distribution Improvements Aid Warfighters

Submitted By Mr. Richard Chapman (richard.chapman@robins.af.mil) Members of the 782nd Combat Sustainment Group (Armament) at WR-ALC used AFSO21 tenets to develop an innovative process for distributing classified and unclassified missile software for AGM-88, AIM-120 and AIM-9X to the field. The key to its success was the use of the Electronic Software Distribution System (ESDS). Tech Order changes making ESDS the official AF software distribution method were approved. Overall benefits included a standardized, rapid and secure software distribution process, elimination of costs for manually copying and mailing software, improved tracking of receipt, and a dramatic reduction in delivery time to worldwide locations. Results to date include a 95% reduction in distribution flow time for classified software (from 156 to 7 days) and a significant increase in first-pass yield, from 6.75 to 100%. AFSO21 in action…continuous improvement, saving resources and eliminating waste!

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436 MXS DOVER AFB Submitted by: MSgt Ken Jones (Kenneth.Jones4@dover.af.mil) Dover Air Force Base’s TF39 Jet Engine Intermediate Maintenance (JEIM) section held a “3rd Pass” Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) to further improve upon an established Air Force Best Practice… and we did it! During the “2nd Pass” RIE in August 2006 the team, reduced the travel time by 70% by strategically locating support equipment at or near point of use. For this event, the team reduced wasted movement an additional 10%. In addition, they devised a future state that would completely change the way TF39s are maintained. Currently, the cellular design is in use, but in the future, the team sees a pull or a “pulse” system being the most efficient method for repairing/overhauling the TF39 engine. The pulse system could realistically reduce work in process by 75%.

A six month study began right after the event to collect more detailed production data and allow time for a concurrent engineering review of the facility.

WR-ALC/XPT ROBINS AFB Submitted By Ms. Lisa Mathews (lisa.mathews@robins.af.mil) The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center’s Plans and Programs Transformation Office (WR-ALC/XPT) hosted an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century Executive Leadership Course for General Officers, Senior Executive Service members and Chief Master Sergeants from across the Air Force during 15-16 Dec 08.

The class received AFSO21 training from the University of Tennessee instructors and Secretary of the Air Force/SO staff. They also participated in tours in the 402nd Maintenance Wing (402 MXW) and Delta Tech Ops in Atlanta.

Additionally, on 16 Dec 08, WR-ALC/XPT hosted four Highly Qualified Equivalents (HQEs) selected by the Secretary of the Air Maj Gen Eidsuane and Ms. Romine at the Air Force Smart Operations for the Force from private industry to work major AFSO21 initiatives for 21st Century Executive Leadership Course. the Air Force. These private industry leaders have extensive backgrounds in continuous process improvement but are new to the Air Force. Their visit to Robins, escorted by SAF/SO staff, served to provide a background in basic Air Force operations. The HQEs took a tour of 402 MXW, as well as, the 116th Air Control Wing and were provided Air Force education from Brigadier General John Posner and his staff.

Based on the success of both endeavors, WR-ALC has been asked to host another course in the spring or summer and additional HQEs visits, as well as, a possible visit from the Air Combat Command commander to capitalize on some of the lessons learned from the air logistics centers’ AFSO21 successes.

319 MOS GRAND FORKS AFB Submitted By: Maj Sarah Williams (sarah.williams@grandforks.af.mil) The 319th Maintenance Operations Squadron Plans Scheduling and Documentation (PS&D) section maintained aircraft jacket files the same way for years. Aircraft jacket files were in paper variety, and many files weighed in excess of 5 pounds. The jacket files must be reviewed annually and hand carried when an aircraft transfers to

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319 MOS Aircraft Jacket Files before

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another base. The 319th MOS PS&D section used scanners to automate existing paper records and installed text printers on office computers to print GO81 into files instead of hard copies. Currently, each aircraft’s files are saved electronically to compact disc and backed up on a network drive. The automated digital jacket file process saves 400 man hours, $3,000 in office supplies and 71 square feet of storage space per year.

319 MOS Aircraft Jacket Files after

319 MOS GRAND FORKS AFB Submitted By: Maj Sarah Williams (sarah.williams@grandforks.af.mil)

E R : A F S O 2 1 C R O S S TA L K

Maintainers with questions about a Time Compliance Technical Order (TCTO) used to walk from their work center in another building to the Plans Scheduling and Documentation (PS&D) section to look at the paper record. Each TCTO had its own paper folder containing GO81 printouts to indicate which parts of the TCTO were complied with. The PS&D section scanned pre-existing paper records and installed text printers to print additional documents to file.

Currently, TCTO information is saved to a file on the network where any maintainer has quick access to it without walking to another building. The automated TCTO files saves 120 man hours, $1,300 in office supplies and 59 square feet of storage space per year.

436TH MXS DOVER AFB Paint Booth Filter Change Process…Simple but Effective!

POC: Lt Matt Ratcliffe DSN: 445-6423 In the summer of 2008, the 436th Maintenance Squadron’s Fabrication Flight Corrosion Control Section won a HQ AMC “Best Practice” for its new paint booth filter change process. Each of the three paint booths in the section possesses three levels of filters, referred to by their stage (1, 2, & 3). The particle levels in the three stage system are monitored by a monometer (which measures air flow through the filters) each time the paint booths are turned on. By state law, the filters require replacement at a specific monometer reading.

Previously, it was common practice to change all three filters in a booth at the same time, based upon the monometer reading and overall appearance. The new method uses a spreadsheet to track the history of past monometer readings before and after the filter change to determine which stages will be replaced at the next required change. This new process saved the AF $3,913.00 in FY 2006 and $2,453.00 in FY 2007 in addition to 2.5 hours of labor per filter change.

436 MXS Mr Dennis Walston’s bottom-up innovations results in manpower and parts savings.

436 MXS DOVER AFB C-5 Regionalized Isochronal Inspection Delayed Discrepancy RIE

Team Dover recently tackled a critical RIE in an effort to reduce Delayed Discrepancies (DDs) before and during C-5 Home Station Check (HSC) and Isochronal (ISO) inspections. The team included members from Dover and Travis AFBs, the Air Force Global Logistics Support Center (AFGLSC), Defense Logistics Agency and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and they instituted new methods of tracking DDs. In addition, the event discovered a need for formalized tail number bin procedures to provide for stricter control of “bit and piece” items that had been previously issued from supply for minor aircraft discrepancies. The team uncovered the need to establish a minor “bit and piece” bill of materials (BOM) for the regionalized ISO inspections. Creating the BOM will

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force the more common “bit and piece� parts to the supply shelves thereby enabling the ISO team to clear more DDs during ISO. Finally, the team discussed the enhancement of the existing communication process between the aircraft owning unit, ISO team and AFGLSC during the ISO pre- and postdock meetings.

Dover's 436 MXS award winning Regionalized ISO team leaning the supply system to enhance customer delayed discrepancies.

For further information regarding this DD RIE, please contact Capt Paul Smith at DSN 445-5806.

309 AMARG DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB Submitted by: Anthony Williams (anthony.william@dm.af.mil) and Reginald Williams, (reginald.williams@dm.af.mil) The disposal section completed a CPI event focused on 6S. The event was predicated on inefficiencies; span of control; and cost reduction, and addressed issues with ITKs and transportation of equipment.

Previously, crews would travel to a job site with their individual tool kits in a pick-up truck. The issues identified consisted of lack of tool box standardization; issues with storing/securing tools/ equipment; and production stops due to crews leaving the worksite to retrieve tools/equipment.

309 AMARG Team Members: James Ackerson, Tony Williams, Dennis Varney, Tomas Chavez, Tamell Askew and Bryon Worley.

As a result of the event, new consolidated took kits were designed to store commonly used tools. This resulted in an overall reduction of tool boxes from 22 to 5, and allowed for better tool control and accountability.

Five new trailers will be procured and equipped with all of the tools/equipment that the mobile disposal crews require. This will eliminate travel time back to the industrial area to obtain tools/equipment that were forgotten on the initial trip to the worksite.

The floor plan of the trailers will also incorporate 6S principles to minimize waste.

A layered audit process was implemented to assure sustainment, and when this is fully implemented, the anticipated annual savings will be $120K. Continued on next page...

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305TH MXS MCGUIRE AFB McGuire Leans Big Jet Inspections

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Submitted by MSgt Mark Pospischil, 305th MXGP AFSO 21 Program Manager McGuire AFB's 305th Maintenance Squadron is achieving major efficiencies and cost reductions with the recent adoption of an initiative to combine the C-17A Home Station Check and the KC-10A ACheck scheduled inspections. The Maintenance Squadron started in late 2006 with an AFSO21 Rapid Improvement Event identifying ways to reduce manpower and equipment. By reorganizing five sections into a single integrated flight, management positions were reduced 65%, returning personnel to aircraft inspection duties. They also implemented an aggressive dual aircraft certification program, qualifying all Consolidation of KC-10 A-Check and C-17 HSC maintenance inspections.

Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) team members (From left) MSgt Parrott assigned personnel to inspect both aircraft within a 180-day window. and MSgt Edwards showing critical path chart of inspection flow.

The use of eight self-propelled scissor lifts instead of maintenance stands helped cut overall inspection times by 15%, while point-of-use supply kits were also created, and by utilizing 6S, all necessary equipment was collocated with the mechanic, eliminating wasteful travel time. During the transformation, the squadron also transitioned from a dual to a single-hangar operation; support agencies relocated into the same facility, further reducing travel time and freeing up the second hangar to be used for unscheduled aircraft maintenance. Three CTKs were then consolidated into one, returning over $50,000 worth of equipment to the supply system. As a result of these efficiencies, overall inspection times were reduced from the AMC standard three days to two for the C-17A and from five days to three for the KC-10A. The 305th Maintenance Squadron has completed 61 C-17A inspections and 32 KC-10A inspections for CY 2008.

43 LRS POPE AFB Armory Just Does It…”Lock and Load”

Submitted By: Maj Scott Vaughan (scott.vaughan@pope.af.mil) With high deployment rates, weapons accountability becomes a very critical area for control. The “43 LRS Armory Just Do It” was a one day event where we identified additional measures to enhance weapons issue and turn in. The additional measures include weapons vault custodians who maintain the R14 (weapons inventory sheet) for each unit with vault accounts. Additionally, each custodian maintains keys to unlock their weapons cases at their own unit in a secure area to maintain a “dual-control principle”.

Each custodian is required to undergo annual refresher training. Finally, the 43 LRS enforces proper banding and sealing and requires entries in the vault logbook stating reasons for all personnel entering the vault. The “Armory Just Do It” resulted in better asset visibility from the moment of issue until the moment of return.

43 LRS POPE AFB Revamps Pick Up and Deliveries…”Faster is Better”

Submitted By: Maj Scott Vaughan (scott.vaughan@pope.af.mil) The 43 LRS at Pope Air Force Base revamped their Pick-Up & Delivery Process, streamlining to better assist our customers. This Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) focused on reducing the number of sweeps and personnel required to execute the pick-up & delivery (P&D) process. With those goals in focus the following items were implemented; the Receiving Section now in-checks cargo instead of TMO (P&D was physically relocated to Receiving from TMO and directional signs were made for carriers), Receiving then pre-sorts property by squadron/unit, and Receiving puts MICAPS directly on P&D vehicles. Vehicle Operations personnel were trained on the new P&D processes and tasked with updating delivery guides and destination charts. Finally, bench stock holding areas were relocated to the ground floor of the warehouse to reduce travel times, and P&D implemented one bench stock sweep per day. This RIE reduced the total touch and wait time by 25%, manpower by 50%, and sweeps by 33%.

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43 LRS POPE AFB Fixes “Hurry-Up- and-Wait” Syndrome

Submitted By: Maj Scott Vaughan (scott.vaughan@pope.af.mil) Deployment lines can be the poster event for the “hurry-up and wait” slogan. In the past, deployers were required to show up 5 hours ahead of aircraft departure to in-check bags and weigh items. In addition, there were no signs directing personnel to the AMC passenger terminal, resulting in a long, wasteful process for deployers. Now, deploying members show up the duty day prior to aircraft departure to accomplish bag check/drop-off and weigh in. Also, signs were put up directing personnel straight to the terminal.

These improvements resulted in standardized show times of 1.5 hours prior to aircraft departure, allowing for more time spent with families and ensuring that all bag weighing and loading is still completed well in advance of aircraft departure…ultimately avoiding the long and tedious 5 hour process of the past!

6 MXS MACDILL AFB

MacDill PE Team Sharpens Sword with Andrews Jet.

Performing Periodic Inspections Fleetwide

Submitted by: 1st Lt Josephine Beacham (Josephine.beacham@macdill.af.mil) MacDill’s Aircraft Inspection Section received aircraft 62-3543 (AFRC-owned KC-135 shown below) from the 459th Maintenance Group (Andrews AFB, MD) to assist in accomplishing a #1 Periodic (PE) inspection. This inspection is accomplished every 1,800 flight hours or every 18 months and requires an indepth evaluation of the aircraft structures and major components. Through AFSO21, MacDill has streamlined this inspection to a single-shift five day process while Andrews requires multiple shifts and up to 15 days to complete. Aircraft 62-3543 was overdue on this inspection since November 2008. A collective effort from 16 Active Duty technicians from MacDill, four Reserve technicians from the 927 MXG, and four technicians from the 459 MXG accomplished the inspection within the 5 day goal in December 2008. This total force effort not only reduced the 459th’s maintenance workload; it helped MacDill technicians maintain proficiency and continually improve the process. This initiative directly supports the AMC/CC's vision to pursue synergies across the MAF and increase manpower utilization and efficiency. We accomplished three other PEs for Selfridge, McConnell, and Andrews earlier in CY08 and are currently coordinating to assist Andrews with two additional inspections in January and March.

60 AMXS TRAVIS AFB Transforming the AMXS Flight Line Operation Model

Submitted by Maj Dave Watts, DSN 837-7958.

In November 2008 members from the 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air Force Base tackled the challenge of redefining their flight line operation model to better meet the demands of C-5 flight line maintenance. The AFSO21 Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) was sponsored by the 60th Maintenance Group Commander, Colonel Carol A. Johnson, with the intent of increasing C-5 flight line production efficiency by 10%. As part of the RIE the team created Value Stream Maps (VSM) for both current and future states of their flight line operations. The VSMs were then used to develop a tailored flight line operation model. Critical elements addressed by the model include; effective use of expediters (not just taxi drivers anymore), maximizing productivity in an 8hour shift, transportation wait time, parts ordering time, span of control, C-5 fleet management, and many other “Just-do-it” action Continued on next page...

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items. The resulting model is best described as three equally capable teams, each assigned six C-5 aircraft (18 PAI), and each team led by a Team Leader responsible for all aspects of their team’s performance to include both aircraft maintenance and administrative actions for the team members. The new model was rolled out in January 2009 and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Look for updates in the near future.

Left: Team members: (back, left to right) SrA Hartman, SSgt Rodriguez, Capt Knudsen, Mr. White, Maj Watts, MSgt Thomas, MSgt Nimmo; (front, left to right) SSgt Hall, Capt Arnold, Mr. Jimenez

436TH MXS DOVER AFB

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Dover Shift Turnover Times Inspired by a 6-minute turnover at a Wal-Mart Distribution facility, the 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron set out to slash their shift turnover time from 90 to 30 minutes. A value stream mapping event identified several areas of waste to eliminate and highlighted time saving process changes. One change removed the expeditors from the production meeting in order to accelerate sending the lead mechanics out to the aircraft for immediate turnover. The tools and the support mechanics would follow in the second pass. Simple changes like this, which cost no money, reduced the turnover to an average of 36 minutes. Additionally, the variation in turnover times was decreased with this standardized process. Future improvements include creating standard work for the aircraft turnover and adopting visual tools for roll call.

For more information, please contact MSgt Charles Paul at charles.paul2@dover.af.mil K

In Memory of Lt. Col. (ret.) Ann L. Isaacs Colonel Isaacs was born Ann Holstein in St. Marie’s, Idaho, on October 9, 1963.

She received her commission in 1986 from the University of Washington, Reserve Officer Training Corps. She also received a Master’s Degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Her successful career saw her serve in a variety of aircraft maintenance positions, including commander of a maintenance squadron. At her retirement, she was the 752nd Combat Sustainment Group Deputy Director at Robins Air Force Base Air Logistics Center, Ga. Col Isaacs was also a long time member of LOA. Funeral services were held December 18, 2008, in the chapel of McCullough Funeral Home in Warner Robins, Georgia with interment at Arlington National Cemetery February 18, 2009.

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CGO Corner FLIGHT 1549 As I sit down to write this article, I am inspired by the good fortune of an ill fated US Airways flight bound from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina. As you recall, the Airbus A320 was brought down shortly after take-off due to damaged engines as a result of bird strikes. Amazingly the pilot, a professional with more than three decades in the cockpit (fighter jet and commercial airline), skillfully landed the jet in the frigid Hudson River enabling all 150 passengers and 5 crew members to return to the arms of their family Capt Ernest Cage and friends with only minor injuries. There was no whining and moaning or indecision in the cockpit of Flight 1549, just instinctive reflexes and split second decision making. In short, the pilot and co-pilot knew exactly what needed to be done and remained faithful to their mission till the end. They were ready for the ultimate test and succeeded with flying colors.

Over the past year and still today, many of you have been engaged in combat support and sortie generation efforts within the area of operations. These hostile environments have demanded the same level of due diligence and unwavering conviction displayed by the crew of Flight 1549. Our business—this science we call logistics—is arguably the hub of Air Force operations and we all have a critical part, regardless of our Loggie specialty, to do the best job we can everyday.

I started my Air Force ROTC career very much by chance. My first two years at Virginia Tech were spent in the Army program. I loved shooting the M-16 and M-60, running in formation and singing Jodies, and heading out to the field twice a semester to participate in a highly interactive war-game (field training exercise). On the verge of heading to Airborne School during the summer of my sophomore year, I realized that I did not have the true conviction to be a professional Infantryman—a trained soldier on a valiant mission in support of freedom and democracy. Yet my passion for the military and its values LOGISTICS OFFICER CREED compelled me to look for another avenue to serve, and so I crossed into I am a United States Air Force Logistics Officer, and I am proud of my Corps. the Blue and have been honored to serve.

As Army ROTC cadets the realties of our training were always emphasized.

We were not simply playing games—we were training to find, and destroy the enemy. I remember two of my upper-classmen very well—in fact I can see them and hear their voices as I write this article. Excellence was the only standard that was acceptable to both of them and we all looked up to these two young men just a few years our senior. Two years into my career as an Air Force officer both of these men would be killed while courageously performing their duties on the desert sands in combat. They knew exactly what needed to be done and allowed their men to return home with honor – objective accomplished.

I wrote the Logistics Officer’s Creed in 2002 and it was subsequently first published in this journal in 2003. I end this installment of the CGO Corner with this piece from the past. It speaks to this great vocation we have all immersed ourselves in and the grave mission we have all been charged to carry out each day in support of freedom—indeed we never know when we will find ourselves in situations such as at the helm of Flight 1549 without any engine power.

Capt “Nest” Cage is a Logistics Readiness Officer currently in his second year as a USAF Logistics Career Broadening Officer at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, OK. Nest has been a staff writer for the Exceptional Release since 2006. He also currently serves as the President of the Crossroads Chapter.

I am the driving force and backbone of the finest Aerospace Force on the planet.

I speak many different languages, maintenance, munitions, transportation, supply, fuels, and plans, which come together as one to produce an agile and ready fighting force.

I solve problems, and invent new solutions, always with the past, present, and future in mind.

I am a leader, mentor, and commander of Airmen… the finest in the world, they are my top priority.

I am respected by aviators and supporters alike for my professionalism, and skills set, without me the mission cannot be accomplished, so I must always be ready.

I exemplify the core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence in everything I do. Mission accomplishment is the cornerstone of my existence.

I have faith in my God and my family…. from them I gain my strength.

I can aspire to wear silver oak leafs, eagles and stars during my tenure, but above all I must aspire to be the best logistician I can be everyday, for I know every time I don my uniform, my Air Force and Nation are depending on me to project Air Power. The integrity of my Corps depends on me and my actions.

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Chapter CrossTalk ALI AL SALEM CHAPTER Submitted by Lt Col Al Bello

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The “Mighty Dub Dub” Chapter of the Logistic Officer Association (LOA) recently toured the Army’s 311th Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC) at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The 311 ESC is the epicenter for convoy movements into Iraq. Our members received a mission brief, convoy planning brief and a tour of the vehicle maintenance unit responsible for maintaining Army and Air Force convoy vehicles that move the bulk of the cargo into the AOR. The day ended with a Battle Update Assessment brief to the Commanding General.

Four days later, the “Mighty Dub Dubs” hosted 24 Army officers from the 311th ESC. We provided a Wing mission brief and a tour of air hub operations from arrival of a passenger or equipment item through processing and departure to the Forward Operating Base.

The events of the day introduced the 311th ESC officers to the integral parts of the logistics mission and offered an understanding as to how we move their highest priority cargo, the Warfighter, to the front line.

AIRBRIDGE CHAPTER – DOVER AFB, DE Submitted by: Maj Andy Levien Another great quarter for the Dover Chapter—full of guest speakers, tours, and an expanding membership! Our officer’s took the chapter to the next level by developing a 12-month battle rhythm and then keeping to it. Our plan includes a professional tour, a social event, a community service event, and 3 guest speakers a quarter—we put the plan into effect this quarter with great success.

The highlight of this quarter was our trip to the Harley Davidson Plant in York, PA, and Herr’s Foods in Nottingham, PA (see picture at Harley Factory). All of our tours over the last couple years have focused on trying to see Lean at work in industry with the hope of bringing some of these ideas back to Dover. This trip was no different—the visuDover LOA Tours Harley Davidson Manufacturing Plant in York, PA al factory tools that Harley used were ingenious and the use of what we call the “Idea Parking Plan” is in full force. At the Herr Plant, the way they re-use energy so they create very little waste was great to see. This was definitely a worthwhile trip for our chapter.

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Always wanting to have fun outside of work, 18 of us took our families to Hershey Park in PA. Although very cold, it was a very fun day filled with camaraderie!

Our highlight speaker of the quarter was Col (sel) Stephen Petters. He is currently a student at ICAF, but drove to Dover to share his experiences from 11 months in Afghanstan with us. The Logistics and Leadership lessons he shared were invaluable—a great brief in our effort to build true logistic professionals.

We aren’t slowing down next quarter: a visit to the local soup kitchen, a ski trip, a trip to Toyota/GE in Kentucky, and much more.

Our chapter is growing—we have added a few Delaware Air National Guard logisticians to our team and we now have 35 members!

GRAND FORKS CHAPTER Submitted by Maj Sarah Williams The “Warriors of the North” LOA chapter at Grand Forks AFB closed out the year by visiting Ideal Aerosmith, Inc, a local business which manufactures test and calibration equipment for various aeronautical platforms. The company has been in business since 1938 when it was founded by a group of airline aircraft maintenance personnel.

During the tour, 12 logistics professionals learned how their “Corrective/Preventative Action Process” adds to their continuous quality improvement. In other words, Ideal formally reviews and takes appropriate measures to improve processes and eliminate nonvalue added effort as a result of internal audit results, employee feedback, and customer inputs. Ideal Aerosmith ensures transparent feedback between their employees and highly valued customers in order to deliver products of the highest standards. The company successfully embraced Six Sigma methodology in 2003 and continues to implement these principles to deliver outstanding products/service to their customers while continually making their manufacturing processes more efficient. Specifically, Ideal utilizes an internal Business Scorecard which has been and continues to be a driving force for increased efficiency.

This company’s dedication to quality and process improvement has enabled it to grow from an office in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, to a corporation with facilities in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and Menlo Park, CA. This was an enlightening tour for everyone to see how a small company begun by a few experts dedicated to quality is now global with international customers that range from the military and aerospace companies to the automotive, petroleum, communications, and research industries. Ideal Aerosmith gave us firsthand knowledge that commitment to product quality and continuous process improvement equals success.

WOLF PACK CHAPTER – KUNSAN AIR BASE, REPUBLIC OF KOREA Submitted by Capt Sean Bojanowski Excitement is in the air here at Kunsan AB, and it’s not because we are out of Alarm Black, MOPP 4.

After more than four years of relative inactivity, the Wolf Pack Chapter leapt back into action in Aug 08 with the new class of 08-09. During this short time, a new constitution, bylaws and a Wolf Pack Scholarship have been authored. National Membership has grown from 8 to 26 The Wolfpack Chapter hosts Brig Gen Bruce Litchfield, PACAF/A4. members, and went from being ranked #63 to #30 in the nation. In October, Brigadier General Litchfield, PACAF/A4, just coming from the LOA conference the week prior, discussed during our luncheon the LOA conference and answered our questions on the future Logistics career field.

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In December, Colonel Scott W. Jansson, the commander of the 508th Aerospace Sustainment Wing, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah. Col Jansson and his team hosted questions and answer session about changes in the Logistics Career field and the importance of broadening our career. They departed with a better understanding of our mission, and more specifically an inside view of Kunsan’s challenges & limitations.

In fundraising, on a 12 degree, heavy snow day, the LOA officers performed flight line FOD Checks on vehicles crossing the flight line ensuring our F-16 were free of debris and earning over $300 for our 09 operating funds. We are excited about the New Year and the Wolf Pack Chapter the challenges that await. You will be hearing a lot more from us in the next quarter.

CHURCHILL LOA CHAPTER – RAF LAKENHEATH/RAF MILDENHALL

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Submitted by Maj Tony Lombardo We are excited! Our RAF Lakenheath/Mildenhall Churchill LOA Chapter had a revival in 2008!

We created a new web-site, diversified our activities, participated in base and community events, and established a partnership with our British loggies just up the Fen. At the beginning of the year, our executive council’s goal was to revive the chapter. We wanted to have an event each month that would focus on professional development and at the same be engaging enough to have our members want to squeeze it into hectic schedules. Did we succeed? You be the judge…

We began 2008 full force by having a membership drive and icebreaker. We The Churchill Chapter visits Marshall’s Aerospace, UK. set the tone, generated interest in LOA, and charted a course for the year. Soon after our first meeting, we took advantage of Lieutenant General Gabreski’s visit and received a brief on the future of Aircraft Maintenance and Logistics. From there the LOA locomotive just kept moving…we toured Marshall’s Aerospace, UK’s leading aerospace contractor, hosted Lockheed Martin and received a brief on F-35 capabilities and a cockpit demonstration, hosted a LOA luncheon for the AFSOC A4M and A4R and received a Logistics Transformation brief, hosted a luncheon with the USAFE A4M received a brief on the future of the 21A/M career fields, held a LOA appreciation BBQ for our members, sent representatives to the National LOA Conference, participated in the base wide Airmen Christmas Cookie Drive contributing to over 14,000 cookies bagged and baked, volunteering over 170 hrs to a local animal shelter landscaping their small animal area, and built a partnership with over 20 British Maintenance and Supply officers at RAF Marham!

Despite the deployments, the exercises, the unrelenting ops tempo, and our hectic schedules the Churchill LOA Chapter made a commitment at the beginning of the year to take time out for our professional development and for ourselves. It wasn’t easy,

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The Churchill Chapter improved the community by doing some landscaping at a local animal shelter.

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but by all accounts I think we succeeded! Capt Tyler Schroeder our Events’ Officer said it best, “This has been the most engaging, energetic, and eclectic year we’ve had. You know you’ve done something right when Maintenance and Logistics officers are disappointed they can’t make a LOA event.”

Our success did not come easy nor without lots of hard work. First, I would like to thank our chapter advisors, Col Marcus Novak and Col Michael Saville, for their support and guidance over the last year. I also want to especially thank this year’s executive officers. They were the backbone of our success and made our chapter revival possible: Capt Heather Wooten, Maj Ronald Thomas, Capt Jeffery Hunziker, Capt Sean Goode, Capt Tyler Schoeder, and Lt Katie White.

RAINIER CHAPTER – MCCHORD AFB, WA Submitted by Capt Joe Balk

McChord’s Aerial Port Squadron personnel loading a C-17A on an early foggy morning at McChord AFB.

The McChord Rainier Chapter recently held elections for 2009. Major Jennifer Barnard was nominated President; Lt Col Will Phillips, Vice President; Capt Joe Balk, Information Officer; 1Lt Sarah Turner, Treasurer; and 1Lt K. Blythe McGann, Professional Development/Events officer. The Rainier Chapter is currently 49 members strong.

Colonel Tracy Smiedendorf (62 MXG/CC) was Rainier Chapter’s first guest speaker for 2009. He gave a detailed briefing on his experience as a member of the recent Lieutenant Colonel Promotion board. He offered career advice and highlighted his perspective of those items important to board members when scoring promotion packages.

The Rainier Chapter LOA President, Major Jennifer Barnard, closed the meeting with an overview of the 2009 professional development agenda. This included deployment briefings by McChord’s other two Group Commanders, tours of the Port of Tacoma and the Boeing Company Logistics Center, summer golf tournament, and the LOA Conference attendance in October.

BLACKJACK CHAPTER — NELLIS/CREECH AFB Submitted by Capt Kylene Ruth Greetings from Las Vegas! Recent chapter highlights include a senior mentorship session with the USAFWC/CC Maj Gen Stephen L. Hoog. He noted, “Challenges will always be present, but it is the tactical level logisticians that make the mission happen on a daily basis.”

Additionally, the chapter toured Creech AFB for an introduction to Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The 432 EMXG provided detailed briefings on UAS operations, MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and the challenges of supporting numerous deployed sites and Remote Split Operations. Blackjack Chapter member 1Lt Bradley Whitby remarked, “The tour provided a glimpse of the continually evolving logistical requirement. It was exciting to see first-hand the impact the Airmen up at Creech are having on the War effort.”

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It will be an exciting Spring and Summer with senior mentorship sessions, an ALC visit, and a casino logistics tour. We recently launched our chapter CoP if you are interested: https://afkm.wpafb.af.mil/ASPs/CoP/ OpenCoP.asp?Filter=AC-LG-02-49 Members from Beale Air Force Base’s Logistics Officer Association High Flight Chapter volunteered again for the 5th year in a row gathering toys from charitable residents during the 2008 Toys for the Troops Kids annual event. In November 2003 the California Republican Veterans of America in Sacramento sought a way to acknowledge the dedication and service of parents serving in uniform. Many of these military person- Members of the Blackjack Chapter pose next to a MQ-9 Reaper during a recent Unmanned Aerial Systems nel are sacrificing everything, while being tour at Creech AFB. separated from their families during the holidays. With the continuous generosity and support of the local community, the program collects nearly 25,000 toys for military families every year and has expanded distribution to military bases from each branch of service in Nevada, California, Hawaii, Washington, and Arizona. Check out our website for more information about the Beale High Flight Chapter and Toys for the Troops Kids at www.loanational.org/beale/.

WASATCH WARRIOR CHAPTER – HILL AFB Submitted by Maj Rich Boatman Ever wonder how the logistics of a major airline work? Our chapter had the pleasure of touring Delta Airline operations at Salt Lake City International and see firsthand the whole gamut of operations. Our gracious hosts took us through their maintenance hangar replete with a tire and engine build up along with a behind-the-scenes look at the entire luggage operation. It didn’t end there as we toured ramp maintenance, food servicing, and the cockpit of a Boeing 767 just 30 minutes shy of departure. We wrapped it all up with a tour of the tower giving all in attendance a great appreciation for what the typical traveler never gets to see, along with commercial lessons learned that could be applied to Air Force operations.

In November, we had the great opportunity to host a luncheon with the PACAF/A4 (at the time), Brig Gen Bruce Litchfield. Our chapter thanks Brig Gen Litchfield for sharing his insights.

The Wasatch Warriors were also honored to host the Ogden Air Logistics Center Commander, Maj Gen Close during our January luncheon. Gen Close’s presentation brought an understanding to our membership on how Ogden ALC is contributing to the Air Force’s priorities.

Our chapter thanks Gen Close for taking time to professionally develop our chapter members.

Right: Wasatch Warriors pose in front of Delta Hangar on which a flag was painted to memorialize a fellow employee’s son who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the War on Terror. K

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LOGISTICS OFFICER ASSOCIATION Post Office Box 2264 Arlington, VA 22202

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 768 Nashville, Tennessee