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
The Exceptional Release
EXECUTIVE BOARD
SPRING 2003
President Lt Col Evan Miller president@loanational.org
FEATURES
Summer 2007
Vice President Lt Col Pat Kumashiro vicepres@loanational.org
LOA CONFERENCE 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Treasurer Lt Col Stephen Petters treasurer@loanational.org
Air Force One: A Cut Above by Lt Col Deborah L. Kuth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Information Officer Maj Stephanie Halcrow InfoOfficer@loanational.org Membership Development Maj Jeff Martin membership@loanational.org
Joint Logistics: DLA 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
“Perfection…..IS the standard” by Col James Hannon and Maj Felix Johnfinn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Combat Sortie Generation in the Expeditionary Environment by Lt Col Michael C. Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 A Loggie in the Acquisitions World by Capt Matthew S. Drossner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Chapter Support Lt Col Dennis Dabney chaptersupport@loanational.org
654 CLSS Resurrects Damaged B-ONE by Maj Chris Reichardt & MSgt Rickie Gress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Executive Senior Advisor Lt Gen Donald J. Wetekam
F-16 Post-Production Support: Depot Activation for F-16 CCIP Parts by Capt Rich Boatman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Webmaster/Website Maj JD DuVall webmaster@loanational.org www.loanational.org
Maintainers Early Involvement with the F-35 Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Ms. Mary H. Parker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
THE EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE Editor Col Debra Shattuck editor@loanational.org Assistant Editor Col (ret) Mary H. Parker assteditior@loanational.org Executive Director, Marketing/PR ER Managing Editor/Publisher Marta Hannon marta@loanational.org ER Worldwide Staff Col Cheryl Allen, SAF/AQQM Maj Gene K. Carter, 314 MXS/CC Maj Richard Fletcher, ACSC Student Maj Paul Pethel, 354 MXS/MXM
Strategic Partnership Results in Vendor Managed Inventory at Point of Use by Maj Brad Archer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Competitors Set for AMC Rodeo 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 VDATS: Revolutionizing Automatic Test Equipment the Air Force Way by 1Lt Christopher Lundell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Air Force Maintenance Community Announce Award Winners . . . . . . . .54
DEPARTMENTS President’s LOG(istics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Editor’s Debrief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Logisticians’ Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Graphic Design MMagination, Inc. - Ft Washington, MD www.mmagination.com
CGO Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
LOA National PO Box 2264 – Arlington, VA 22202
Milestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Issue No. 104 - Summer 2007
Chapter Crosstalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
President’s LOG(istics) First, I have to say that I am thrilled to be part of the National Board again and I would like to thank Col Rick Matthews for both his service to LOA and for his assistance in my transition as the new President of this fantastic organization. It is my honor and privilege to serve our great organization. As a member for nearly 15 years, I have seen firsthand the benefits of LOA and I know that it has become an incredibly powerful, yet intangible force multiplier. From the bases in the Middle East to the Air Logistics Centers to the Joint Staff, LOA makes us all better officers and better logisticians. For the last three years, I have been a big benefactor of LOA. My tour on the Joint
Lt Col Evan Miller
Staff taught me much about how our government works and how the civil-military relationship plays out between the executive and legislative branches of government. However, one drawback was that my job took me out of the Air Force that I grew up in. I discovered that while my aperture opened wider, I lost some of my connection to the Air Force… and certainly Air Force logistics. Unlike most of our members of our organization, I rarely discussed logistics or aircraft and focused much of my attention on federal level interagency plans and Joint Force development. My primary concentration was on many
ER: PRESIDENT’S LOG(ISTICS)
other operations associated with the Global War on Terrorism and defense support to civil authorities and Joint important topics. That’s were LOA bridged the gap. LOA made it possible for me to keep track of the changing landscape in our Air Force and to track the major accomplishments and initiatives that have occurred. My network of friends across the organization was always available to keep me in touch with the Air Force. So, I have seen firsthand, the power of LOA and I feel like I owe a lot to the organization. I have been in the position of President for one month which has been long enough to give me a good feeling about the future of LOA. On the immediate horizon, our upcoming conference is on track to set new records. More importantly, the conference program promises a spectrum of both formal and informal gatherings aimed at making us all better officers and logisticians. We are putting together an agenda that will equip you with tools you can use today to solve problems in your workplace. We’re inviting some of our best and most experienced warfighters to inspire and inform you. Finally, we are hosting it in a world class location – Washington DC — and we are looking forward to seeing you there. So come join us from 12 to 15 November, 2007 at the Hilton Washington in Washington, DC and celebrate LOA’s 25th Anniversary, learn about our Proud Past and get a glimpse of our Bright Future. As President, I want to continue to grow the organization. Growth to me means to extend our roots deeper and build on an already strong foundation. I would like to increase our membership by continuing our efforts to lure logistics officers, civilians and contractors from all services and all grades into the organization. I also want to expand and mature our individual and collective networks. I hope to serve the membership and the executive board and help make LOA even better. The benefits we reap from LOA are essential for the continued effectiveness of the Air Force and those benefits will always be an intangible force multiplier. It is up to us how much. Again, it is my honor to be President of LOA and I appreciate everyone that had the confidence in me to take on this responsibility. On behalf of the entire LOA community, I’d like to thank Col Rick Matthews for his guidance during his tenure as president. He set us on a course to make some important modifications to our business practices and gave us a vision for the future. I plan to capitalize on that momentum and I look forward to giving you a very strong report on the State of LOA at the national conference. Until next ER, stay focused, stay prepared, and stay ahead of the pack! V/R,
EVAN MILLER, LT COL, USAF PRESIDENT, LOGISTICS OFFICER ASSOCIATION 2 SUMMER
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The E xceptional R elease
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
3
Editor’s Debrief Greetings readers from your worldwide ER editorial team. Before I begin my summary of this issue’s contents, I want to thank each of you who took the time to respond to our ER survey. You submitted lots of great ideas the editorial team and I will try to incorporate in coming issues. On one hand, the survey reminded us just how diverse our reading audience is. For example, some commented that the joint articles are their favorite while others wished for a more Air Force-centric view. Some preferred more articles by and about CGOs while others noted that the senior leader
Col Deb Shattuck
perspectives and strategic level articles were their favorite. On the other hand, the survey provided us some very creative ideas for issue themes, senior leader interviews, and article topics. This quarter’s theme is acquisition logistics. Many rank and file logisticians aren’t very familiar with the challenges of acquisition and how it interfaces with our functional disciplines. We’ve put together an issue for this quarter designed to inform and expand
ER: EDITOR’S DEBRIEF
your horizons. In addition to reading this issue of the ER I also encourage each of you to visit the Defense Acquisition University web site at www.dau.mil and sign up for one of their online courses as a means to enhance your professional development in the acquisition arena. Our senior leader perspective is from Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich who, until his recent move to HQ Defense Logistics Agency, was the senior advisor for the “joint” James River LOA Chapter. Fittingly, our Joint Logistics feature this quarter highlights the Defense Logistics Agency where Admiral Heinrich now serves as Director, Logistics Operations and Readiness. Col Mary Parker (USAF, ret.), Deputy for Logistics in the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards AFB, describes the evolution of maintainers’ influence on the development of the Joint Strike Fighter. Three articles from the Ogden Air Logistics Center describe a unique vendor managed inventory program, development of a new Joint Threat Emitter, and the challenges of transitioning F-16 components from Original Equipment Manufacturer to organic repair. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center provides insights on their new Versatile Depot Automatic Test Station. We’ve got a pair of articles from Andrews AFB describing how logisticians provide our nation’s leaders with top quality worldwide air transportation and support. We round out this issue with two “expeditionary” views, one describing the exploits of the 379 EMXG and the other recounting the resurrection of a badly damaged B-1B bomber at Diego Garcia. I also draw your attention to a new, regular, feature in the ER. Maj Stephanie Halcrow, the LOA Information Officer will be editing a special “Logistics Library” that will include reading recommendations from senior logisticians and book reviews. Finally, I’d like to remind our readers that, even though the “official” ER survey is over, we are always interested in receiving feedback from our readers so please don’t hesitate to drop a line to editor@loanational.org if you have any inputs for our editorial team. And, if you are an active duty O-6, O-6 select or civilian equivalent, this is your chance to shape the future of the ER by signing on as the new Editor-in-Chief. It is time for me to pass off the editorial pen. KEEP ‘EM FLYING—SAFELY!!
––COL DEB SHATTUCK AND YOUR ER TEAM
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LOA WANTS YOU! The Worldwide ER Staff is currently taking applications for the position of EDITOR. Details: Lead ER Worldwide staff in the continuing effort to produce a world class peer-reviewed quarterly Journal. Qualifications: Active Duty, 0-6 / 0-6 select and up or civilian equivalent only. Editorial or PA experience very helpful. Training and guidance from current editor and ER Staff. Submit letter of interest to: Editor@loanational.org
2007 LOA S CHOLARSHIP Call for Nominations The LOA scholarship program is intended to assist the most deserving Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, National Guard, or Reserve enlisted or DoD civilian (Through GS-8, WG-9 or Standard Career Group- YA PB 1, YB PB 1, YP PB 1 or Scientific and Engineering Career Group- YD PB 1, YE PB 1) in a logistics specialty, with college expenses towards an associate or bachelor degree. 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: 28 AUGUST, 2007 Winners are presented their scholarship award at the annual conference banquet. For submission criteria please visit: https://www.loanational.org/g-3.htm
Perspectives IN STEP
WITH
REAR ADMIRAL HEINRICH
C O M M A N D E R , D E F E N S E S U P P LY C E N T E R R I C H M O N D Editor’s Note: Since responding to our interview, Rear Admiral Heinrich has moved on to a new assignment as Director, Logistics Operations and Readiness (J-3/4) at HQ Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA. ER:You currently command the Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR), an organization responsible for worldwide supply chain management of more than 1.2 million repair parts and supply Rear Admiral Heinrich items supporting an incredible 1,300 major weapon systems. How does your organization effectively manage such a broad and diverse enterprise and what are the biggest challenges to mission execution?
R A D M H E I N R I C H : Providing warfighter support is the reason why we’re in business. Now, more than ever, we understand that support is crucial as we continue to fight the global war on terrorism. At Defense Logistics Agency, our four focus areas are enhancing warfighter support, growth and development using the latest technology, stewardship, and life cycle leadership, which incorporates providing leadership and expertise to better collaborate with our customers.
ER: PERSPECTIVES
DLA’s three new strategic thrusts are: Extend the Enterprise; Connect Warfighter Demand with Supply; and Supply Chain Excellence. As we extend the enterprise to where our customers are working, we want to be right next to the artisan in the depot and the troubleshooter on the flight line. Because of that, we are in the process of positioning DLA demand planners at all Air Force, Navy and Army aviation depots throughout CONUS. In the future, we will bulk up our on-site presence at the Mobility Air Forces Logistics Support Center at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and the Combat Air Forces Logistics Support Center at Langley AFB, Va. In our supply and distribution business lines, there are both gaps and layers of support between DLA and the final users of our material. These gaps/layers create obstacles to the effective and efficient operation of the department’s end-to-end supply chains. Our goal is to connect warfighter demand with supply. Providing supply chain excellence is at the forefront of what we do. It’s a focus area that we continue to work hard with both our customers and our suppliers. One of our challenges is unfilled orders, but we work hard to resolve them. Our Air Force, Army, and Navy war rooms give us a chance to attack our high priority unfilled orders. The war rooms allow us to collaborate with our customers and see what needs to be done — and fast — so that our customers can get their parts. We know that unfilled orders can be costly, both in readiness and the cost of operations. War rooms are a force multiplier; focusing my attention and the attention of our entire team on setting supply chain priorities. What matters most to our customers, also matters most to us. ER:It seems that in today’s military the only constant is change. “Transformation” is the ever-present buzzword. What sorts of transformational efforts is DSCR undertaking and how will they benefit your customers?
R A D M H E I N R I C H : The keystone of our transformation is a state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning System solution called Business Systems Modernization. We recently finished transitioning all of our national stock numbers into the new system, and are preparing to turn off our 30-year-old, legacy, COBOL-based system. That legacy system couldn’t meet current or future operational needs. It was inflexible and didn’t provide real-time access to logistics data; it had high maintenance costs and it was becoming increasingly unreliable; it involved batch processing; and our customers had limited input and visibility. As with any new system, we’re working to make it “hum.” We’re going to make this transformation initiative the centerpiece of our efforts to provide 21st century, world class logistics support. The recent BRAC law provides the basis for the Agency’s larger efforts to Extend the Enterprise. A couple of the BRAC provisions will shift responsibility for supply, storage and distribution to DLA at 13 of the services’ maintenance depots. The goal of a fully visible and integrated, joint, end-to-end supply chain was the vision of the architects of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure law. Under BRAC, DLA will be responsible for the management of consumable items transferred from 6
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our service teammates, procurement of depot-level reparable items; supply, storage and distribution at DoD depot-level maintenance facilities; and the privatization of packaged petroleum, lubricants, gases and tires. Our intent is to link the work performed at DLA supply centers with the work at depot locations; better linking our supplier network with warfighter demand. In the next couple of years we will network our supply centers with the depots through capabilities such as BSM, collaborative demand planning and our world-class distribution operations. ER: In last quarter’s ER, General Schwartz discussed the close partnership between USTRANSCOM and its commercial partners. What are some of the commercial partnerships your organization relies upon to execute its mission?
R A D M H E I N R I C H : Performance Based Logistics (PBL) partnerships are becoming popular throughout the services and DLA. DSCR has made awarding of PBL-type contracts and developing partnerships on service-awarded PBLs a priority. DSCR, partnering with the Navy and General Electric, awarded its first PBL-type contract in September 2005 in support of the F404 engine that is used in the Air Force’s F-117 Nighthawk and Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet. This $200 million, five-year contract, covers 2,765 national stock numbers that support worldwide demands for the engine. During the first year of the contract, unfilled orders over 30 days decreased 40 percent. We’re also working on new PBL contracts for Air Force engines, which will include such services as reduction of mission impaired capability (MICAP) hours, collaborative forecasting, reliability improvement, obsolescence management and reduction of customer wait time. As we expand our aviation support for reparable items and commodities, the use of PBL contracting strategies will be the cornerstone of our support, as we move from managing parts to weapon system focused program support. ER: You have the unique position of being the only Navy senior advisor to a LOA chapter—the “joint” James River Chapter. Why did you accept the invitation to be the chapter’s senior advisor and what advice do you have for other LOA Chapters that may be considering reaching out to sister Service logisticians?
R A D M H E I N R I C H : Several reasons, actually, but two stand out. First, it is important to provide our officers with professional organizations that enhance their ability to help our warfighters achieve their missions. And that goes for our civilian employees and enlisted members who also are members of LOA. Most Air Force people who work for DLA will return to the Air Force some day, and I don’t think they should wait until then to network with other LOA members. I take my role as their mentor very seriously, and I see membership in LOA as crucial to their career development. Secondly, it is important for DLA leaders to let our service partners know that we’re in this fight together. That is why we stood up this chapter in 2004. We need to get the DLA message to our service partners, and one of the ways we do that is by speaking to Air Force “loggies” at LOA conferences. Many LOA chapters are already doing good things in reaching out to sister services. For example, last fall our chapter visited Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va., to broaden our knowledge base of those operating forces. Our folks were joined by several members of the Langley Air Force Base LOA chapter, who had the same goal. That trip was very beneficial for all in raising our level of understanding. ER: Do you have any additional comments you would like to make to the 3,500 members of the Logistics Officer Association?
R A D M H E I N R I C H : I am deeply honored to have been associated with the James River LOA chapter during the two years I’ve served as DSCR commander. It’s a fantastic organization and it’s been an opportunity for us all to learn from one another. I don’t have to tell you that logistics support is a complicated process, with many moving parts. Logisticians must have a wide range of skills and knowledge — as well as a heartfelt commitment to serving and valuing the customer: our military. That focus links us together no matter what uniform we wear. Each one of our nation’s aircraft represents the culmination of efforts by logisticians who link supply and demand by working in concert with the service branches and suppliers. We also recognize that at the heart of that flight is a pilot, a maintenance crew and a myriad of support personnel on the ground who depend on logisticians so that sortie can be flown — and we’re not going to let them down. At DLA, we are going to meet our warfighter customers’ expectations by continually challenging ourselves to be a learning organization, capable of changing our culture and behavior so that we effectively face our customers and suppliers. In my new assignment as director of logistics operations and readiness at DLA headquarters at Fort Belvoir, I will remain active in aviation acquisition and logistics for a while longer. I plan to continue my membership in LOA and remain active in its conferences and programs. I very much appreciate the association’s interest in working with this first “joint” chapter. K EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE
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oggies!
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d the to atten u o y e it ary inv sonally ’s 25th Annivers held at r e p to e n like sociatio DC, to b th . Our I would fficer As in Washington th – 15 O s c ti 2 Logis ence mber 1 th l Confer is Nove Nationa gton Hilton th Future...a 25 hin l Region ht the Was oud Past, Brig ational Capita nce r N “P e fere theme, ry” is driving th best con and e th is a s th ith firsth turn to Anniver team to make e you w id ’s v r o r te can re p p a Ch So n is to so you io d e is v n r r a future. u ever. O and lessons le dominate the th old ge bo d to knowled better prepare t together with pumped e s g it ill leave s comyour un y to learn and w u o y ad istic ntee come re iends. I guara rce and the log fr o F w and ne to lead our Air . y up, read a bright future to in F munity en, USA , Maj G R E Y E A. P POLLY pter r o ital Cha Advis p a C l a tion LOA Na
gs F Greetin
LOA CONFERENCE 2007 WE’RE HERE TO PUMP YOU UP! By Lt Col Peter H. Miyares While this phrase may invoke memories of Saturday Night Live sketches, my thoughts go back to a June evening in 1979 after seeing Rocky II. My friends and I shadow boxed the whole way home, often raising our arms in victory. Adrenaline was rushing – we were pumped! That feeling made such an impression on me that decades later as a squadron commander, preceding IG Inspections, I showed clips to my Airmen of Rocky training hard, which led to victory. Everyone left the auditorium shadow boxing and pumped up, ready to take on the world (and the worst the IG could throw at us).
“Pumped Up!”, that’s how we want you to come away feeling after attending LOA’s 25th Anniversary Conference, hosted this year by the LOA’s National Capital Region Chapter. This year’s conference will be held at the Washington Hilton, in Washington DC, 1919 Connecticut Ave NW, 12-15 November. The theme is “Proud Past, Bright Future . . . a 25th Anniversary.”
We will present lessons from our proud past that can be directly applied to today’s problems, to bring on a Bright Future. We will equip you with tools you can take and use to execute the mission. You will be inspired through stories from the past and present, where human character traits can and should be applied to the conditions we face today. As logisticians, we confront numerous challenges daily, including an increased ops tempo, long and dangerous deployments, and taking on missions we might never have conceived of just a few years ago all the while looking for opportunities to capitalize on AF Smart Operations 21 (AFSO21). We are expected to lead and are looked to for stability in an ever changing environment. When faced with these challenges, we can either take them on or we can cower from them....Cowering is not an option. Success requires inspiration, ingenuity and just plain guts, but this is nothing new under the sun. Those who have gone before us faced similar challenges and we have lessons to learn from them. At this conference we will spend more time in panel discussions and breakout sessions, which will allow us to dig deeper, ask the tough questions, and engage the experts. We asked you what you wanted and some of the topics you sent us are: reasons for and impact of manpower reductions; effectiveness of deployment training; AFSO21 101 for all levels of leadership; Joint Logistics; the impact of change on the lowest organizational levels; the Global Logistics Support Center; Civilian Career development and deployments. Group Commander and Squadron Commander skull sessions are also planned to address the issues on your mind. As with every LOA Conference, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones. On Monday the 12th there will be an ice breaker and the traditional golf tournament, plus an opportunity to tour the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport. For our spouses we are arranging a tour of Mount Vernon among others. As an added twist, all chapters are encouraged to submit a 2-3 minute video focusing on this year’s theme. Votes for the best video will be taken at the conference and the winning chapter will receive $1000. Registration opens soon; go to the LOA Website, http://www.loanational.org/ for registration information and updates. Make plans now to come to Washington DC for LOA’s 25th Anniversary Conference. Prepare to be equipped, prepped and pumped to take on the challenges that lie before you so that one day you too can raise your arms in victory over your challenges.
LOA 25th Anniversary 1982-2007 Proud Past – Bright Future
Don’t Miss 2007 LOA National Conference 12-15 November Hilton Washington, 1919 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC Hosted by the Capital Region LOA Chapter Register Today! WWW.LOANATIONAL.ORG/CONFERENCE Exhibit Space Available WWW.LOANATIONAL.ORG/CONFERENCE Questions? Email Marta Hannon MARTA@LOANATIONAL.ORG
Give Them the Recognition They Deserve! Do you know someone who always goes above and beyond? Nominate those deserving individuals for a National Award! Nominations are Due 30 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 R Y 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 30 August and should be sent via e-mail to InfoOfficer@loanational.org. Chapter leadership should refer to http://www.loanational.org/g-5.htm for specific guidance on award nominations.
Joint Logistics
Joint Logistics
Joint Logistics
Joint Logistics
DLA 101 Tires, fuel, uniforms, food, medical supplies, construction equipment, aviation repair parts, and a host of other consumable items are delivered to the warfighter every day. What’s the significance? Consumables are the life blood of national defense, but where and how do we get them? The answer is from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), DOD’s largest logistics combat support agency, which provides practically every consumable item required by the military services and defense agencies. If our forces eat it, wear it, maintain equipment with it, or burn it as fuel…DLA probably provides it. Founded in 1961 as a single source warehouse of common materiel for all services, DLA has grown into an active supply chain partner, predicting and preparing for customer needs. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, VA, the agency’s nearly 22,000 employees (primarily civilian with 500 military) run the world’s largest combat logistics support operation in 48 states and 28 international locations. DLA’s customer base is more than just US military services. DLA provides support to US allies, coalition partners, and even the Federal Emergency Management Agency for humanitarian and natural disaster relief. DLA provides improved purchasing through long-term contracts with large volumes of items. Global in scale, DLA is transforming and extending itself into a more customer-centric, more collaborative provider to the military services by focusing on four core areas of operations: 12
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WARFIGHTER SUPPORT – DLA is positioned and engaged with mission-focused customers to understand and anticipate needs as they plan and carry out operations.
STEWARDSHIP – DLA scrutinizes every business process to ensure it is providing the best possible logistics performance at the best possible value, while reducing costs to the customer.
GROWTH
AND
DEVELOPMENT – DLA develops world-class
supply chain professionals through first-class training and positions them at the “tip of the spear,” side-by-side with the warfighter. DLA Contingency Support Teams are deployed intheater to focus on DLA operations for forward sustainment support.
LEADERSHIP – DLA professionals are leading the transformation of integrated supply chains across the DOD. DLA is also leading the way in transforming logistics throughout DOD. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) legislation has mandated that the DOD’s supply, storage and distribution (SS&D) processes will be integrated for the military services. DLA is at the forefront of this effort, maximizing opportunities for SS&D joint effectiveness, reducing duplication of functions and inventory, and optimizing resources and processes. DLA and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) are partnering and leading the way in building a
model for BRAC implementation. Organized for success, DLA has six major business units and seven service activity sites.
2.) Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) Philadelphia, PA
Have you ever wondered who provides your uniform and food on the installa++++ tion? The answer is DSCP. DSCP is responsible for troop support—providBUSINESS UNITS ing almost 100 percent of the food, 1.) Defense Supply Center clothing and medical materiel used by Richmond (DSCR) Richmond, VA military personnel, as well as supplying DSCR serves as the primary aviamuch of the construction and equipTraffic Jam in Afghanstan 1 Aug 05. tion source of supply for more ment supplies. In FY06, DSCP supthan 1.2 million repair parts for plied products and services valued at over 1,300 major weapons sysmore than $12.4B to its customers. DSCP provides many critical tems. The items range from items for the Air Force, including the new physical training critical safety-of-flight airuniform and Airman Battle From the Des frame structural compoUniform. In addition, it k of Maj Gen Loren Reno Vice Director , Defense Lo nents; bearings; and airalso provides special purgistics Agenc y, Fort Belvo craft engine parts; to elecir, Va. pose items such as: flight This primer on the Defense Logistics Age some of the tric cable and electrical suits, flyers’ jackets and ncy (D processes an d pr C oducts that en LA) is a concise descrip ol on el To power products; lubricatm Bruns for tio A2 leather jackets. On ab n le of our warfighter pulling it toge s. Thanks to ther. ing oils; batteries; industhe construction side, As you refres h your know trial gases, bearings; preledge of wha on where the DSCP supplies cargo-loadt DLA does, Agency is he let me add so aded strategi cision instruments; envime thoughts ing systems; material hancally. I observe a ch ronmental products; and anging warfig dling; search and rescue; and hting and stra of DLA’s exis tegic environm te nc consumable items. firefighting equipment. ent over the next 20+ year e. For DLA’s first 20+ ye 46 years ars, it manag s, it managed ed supplies. suppliers. N demand. Thi Also, the Air Force procures For the ow we find th s is a significa Like the rest of the e need to lin nt ence, and st k supply and much of its pharmaceutical, rengthened su change. BRAC, better systems, forw enterprise, DSCR pply linking of supp ard presly and deman chain and acquisition ex medical and surgical product cellence will d. works closely with the enable this needs through DSCP. A related stra warfighters to ensure tegy is Exten ding the Ent opportunity to er prise. As a D im their needs are met. epartment, w 3.) Defense Supply Center we can put D prove demand signals an e have great d thus require LA systems and people fa ments determ An example of this have all lear Columbus (DSCC) Columbus, rther “forwar ination if ned that colla d” in the supp borative requ in isolation. world-class support ly chain. We irements are The benefits OH better than on are many: re times, better es produced duced invent acquisition re involves the B-1B’s or ies, more co sponsiveness many cases, mpatible lead , and fewer “t DSCC is DLA’s inventory conas BRAC im wheel assembly selfouches” and plementation same people handoffs. In prescribes, th doing that w trol point for land, maritime and is will be re-b ork now—no connected sy locking nuts. adging of the net growth in stems and pr footprint—bu ocesses. missile weapons system parts, t now with Considering that So, as you re ad about DLA hope you’ll se including electronic devices and and learn mor e our commitm each of the eight e about wha and effectiven ent to warfig t w e hter support do, I electronic parts. DSCC manages ess good stew wheels on the Band value th ar the vast DLA e efficiencies enterprise. M dship delivers. Many op about 2 million items, with annuportunities ex y hope is yo experience, 1B requires 18 u will consid ist within learn and he er lp a sh D pe LA al sales of $3.2B and nearly ape the future ople. assignment nuts, a shortage . We are alw to ays looking fo 525,000 contracts supporting more r go od of these selfthan 1,400 weapon systems. DLA’s locking nuts Product Testing Center (PTC) is resulted in located at DSCC. The PTC is a grounding several aircraft. Faced with the full-service, customer-focused testing contract transitioning between vendors, and an average monthly facility with the capability to satisfy demand of 1,000; the DSCR immediately engaged to rectify the sitthe requirements of a broad range of military and commercial appliuation. The outcome was the delivery of 3,000 nuts 60 days early, thereby eliminating 2,500 backorders and returning grounded air- cations in a reliable, cost-effective and timely manner. craft to mission capable. Continued on next page...
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Joint Logistics
Joint Logistics
DSCC’s Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Materials Shortages office is a key player in ensuring that weapon system maintainers have the repair parts they need and all of the commodities to meet system readiness needs. This office manages over 18,000 components that are no longer available from industry. DSCC is implementing the 2005 BRAC recommendations on Tire Commodity Management Privatization, transforming the manner that tires are supplied to DOD—an effort that will save the services more than $172M. DSCC recently awarded two contracts for aviation and land vehicle tires that will provide worldwide support. 4.) Defense Distribution Center (DDC) New Cumberland, PA DDC is the second largest warehousing operation in North America. Comprised of 26 depots around the world, DDC is responsible for the receipt, storage, issue, packing, preservation, and transportation of more than 4 million items and inventory valued at $90B. DDC continuously collaborates with the USAF to maintain world-class customer support. A recent example is DDC’s Defense Distribution Depot Oklahoma City (DDOO) and OC-ALC F100 LEAN initiatives. In support of F100 LEAN efforts, DDOO proposed an improved Maintenance Turn-in Process and the repositioning of fast moving DLA items to the maintenance shops. As a result, DDOO support time to maintenance was reduced from 18 hours to 18 minutes on some items.
Joint Logistics
Joint Logistics
5.) Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) Fort Belvoir, VA DESC is responsible for acquisition and management of energy products for DOD. DESC’s mission not only includes basic petroleum and coal products but also natural gas. DESC has a unique role with its military construction (MILCON). Nearly all of its MILCON is directly related to fuels storage or fuels delivery systems. In 2006, at the request of the Air Force, DESC began looking into assuming responsibility of USAF bulk fuel facilities operations and maintenance. The results of the analysis promised an annual savings of nearly $7M, and DESC began a phased implementation of contracts. 6.) Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) Battle Creek, MI DRMS is charged with managing 14
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an ever-changing inventory of DOD excess property items. The Air Force and American taxpayers benefit from DRMS’s operation. The first priority for DRMS, and the function that offers the greatest savings to Air Force units, is the reutilization program. Worldwide Air Force units can shop at nearby DRMS locations or on-line for new or used equipment items turned in as excess by other military units. In FY06 DRMS filled nearly 15,000 requisitions from Air Force units for property with an original acquisition value of $336M. DRMS also provides hazardous waste disposal management for the Air Force, and handles demilitarization of equipment that cannot be sold in an operational configuration. Additionally, DRMS has become an “expeditionary” organization to meet forward deployed requirements. The DRMS worldwide presence includes disposal specialists in 14 foreign countries, two US territories (Guam and Puerto Rico), and 39 states. In addition, 70 DRMS personnel are serving at DRM Offices in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
FIELD ACTIVITIES Besides the three field activities to support the Combatant Commanders at DLA Europe, DLA Pacific, and DLA Central, the remaining DLA field activities include: 1.) Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) Battle Creek, MI The mission of DLIS is to provide integrated, interoperable, quality logistics data and enterprise IT solutions for joint
No Mission Too Large: A contractor hired by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) goes about the process of turning a giant C-5 transport into small scraps of metal in a field adjacent to the Dover Air Force Base runways in this January, 2007 photo. The process known as demilitarization is one of the services DRMS offers to the armed forces along with its better known mission of managing excess property. (US Air Force photo)
3.) Defense Automatic Addressing System Center (DAASC) Wright-Patterson AFB, OH The DAASC receives, edits, validates, and routes logistics transactions. It is an essential and vital part of the DLA logistics line of communication. 4.) Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) Fort Belvoir, VA DNSC has the primary mission to plan, facilitate and acquire services and supplies necessary to support its U.S. Air Force airmen of the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron conduct a phase post engine run operational check on a F-16 Fighting strategic and critical Falcon at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Maintenance personnel around the world depend on DLA to obtain many of the spare parts and materiel they need materials inventory to keep their weapon systems operational. (DoD photo by SSgt Michael R. Holzworth) located in depots throughout the United warfighters, the military services, DOD, other federal agencies and States, with the ultimate goal to reduce US dependency on foreign international partners in order to optimize the effectiveness and supply sources. efficiency of the DOD supply chain. Even Lockheed Martin has rec++++ ognized the value of DLIS—DLIS manages the company’s 82,500 F22 production level drawings data. This type of data sharing expe- The next decade will be challenging for DLA as it faces major dites the processing of cataloging information; facilitates item entry changes. While implementing DOD’s first large scale Enterprise control; and ensures data integrity on all F-22 items. The result is Resource Planning solution; reorganizing for BRAC; adapting to higher quality logistics data produced in less time for a lower cost. ever-changing customer missions; and posturing to support new sys2.) Document Automation & Production Service (DAPS) Mechanicsburg, PA DAPS offers more than just printing for DOD. DAPS provides document automation products and services. This includes: building libraries of digital documents allowing for online access; providing multifunctional devices that print, copy, fax and scan from networks in the customer’s workspaces; and converting paper documents to standard digital formats for digital warehousing and distribution. DAPS is AFMC’s printer and distributor of all technical orders for the USAF. Today, the USAF has about 130,000 Technical Orders (TOs) in existence comprised of more than 13 million pages. This centralization and standardization for TOs provides considerable savings and efficiencies to the USAF.
tems, DLA will remain the day-to-day supplier of readiness. The development of sweeping innovative initiatives will enable the Agency to meet these challenges while continuing to maintain an agile workforce postured to support the operations of today and challenges of tomorrow. Being a part of DLA is a rewarding experience. An assignment to DLA would give you the opportunity to learn and help shape the future. You can advocate for your own service and help to provide items and services needed in our military. More information and points of contacts for DLA’s business units or service activities are available at http://www.dla.mil/dla_pubsite/default.aspx. Thanks to the members of Team DLA that contributed to this article. K
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Air Force One: A Cut Above
Submitted by Lt Col Deborah L. Kuth Experto Crede—“Trust one who has experience.” This is the motto of the 89th Airlift Wing and serves as the foundation for the Presidential Airlift Group (PAG) at Andrews AFB, MD. The proud men and women of the PAG are responsible for flying and maintaining the world’s most recognizable aircraft, the VC-25A or “Air Force One,” and for sustaining an impressive 100% departure reliability rate. The PAG is responsible for the maintenance, procurement, and operations leadership that allows the President of the United States to execute the duties of the office of the Presidency while on board the “Flying White House.” The President’s staff, the First Lady, and guests are also provided the resources to fulfill the responsibilities of their respective offices. The PAG is comprised of highly qualified Airmen assigned to one of two squadrons: the Presidential Airlift Squadron (PAS) and the Presidential Logistics Squadron (PLS). The PAS consists of pilots, navigators, flight engineers, flight attendants, communication systems operators and security forces personnel. Their mission is to transport the President and his staff to loca-
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tions around the world while seamlessly executing the duties required to lead our great Nation. Communications capabilities and first class service that are second to none is the standard our passengers expect and receive. The PLS is comprised of many different specialties; information managers, crew chiefs, supply, plans and scheduling, facility, hydraulic, engines, electrical/environmental, communications/navigation, electronic countermeasures and mission communications specialists. The PLS is the only active duty, organic Air Force maintenance unit on Andrews AFB. It is where the best of the best are selected to serve. The unit is selectively manned, requiring detailed records screening, interviews and security screening prior to hiring an individual from the pool of candidates. Once selected each member signs up to a tall order—to ensure a very small fleet loaded with unique systems is ready to go at a moment’s notice. It’s not good enough to get the aircraft off the ground—we need to ensure everything works when needed. It’s a true team effort. Pivotal to our team’s success is the extreme dedication of our contractor partners. We employ field service representatives (FSR) from Boeing, L3 Communications and General Electric
Engines. The FSRs are an integral part of the team providing expertise for both the original green airplane and its modified systems. They work hand-in-hand with the maintainers to provide the best care for our customer and ensure critical, one-of-a-kind assets like the VC-25 are always mission ready. DynCorp maintenance, contracted maintenance for the bulk of the 89th Airlift Wing’s aircraft, is tasked to provide back shop support for our aircraft to include fuels, sheet metal and upholstery/cabinetry work when required. Additionally, Boeing manages the closed-loop supply system and warehouse that keeps our nearly 20 year-old airplane outfitted with the right parts when needed. The PLS maintains two VC-25As, Boeing 747200B aircraft. They also maintain a C-32A, Boeing 757, when one of the VC-25A aircraft is in heavy maintenance or depot. The VC-25A has four General Electric CF6-80C2B1 engines, is over 231 feet long, 63 feet high and has a wing span exceeding 195 feet. It has a range of 7800 statute miles and can carry a crew/passenger load of 102. The aircraft is configured with state-of-the-art communications, an executive suite consisting of a stateroom (with dressing room, lavatory and shower) and the President’s office. On the main floor we have a conference room/dining room and separate accommodations for guests, senior staff, Secret Service, security personnel and news media. The aircraft has two galleys, six lavatories, and a medical annex. So, how do we provide 100% departure reliability with a one-of-akind, limited (most times to one) asset? One word—EXPERIENCE! Every maintainer goes through in-depth training once assigned to the unit. Upon completion of an almost two year training program the new hire is considered qualified to “go alone” on their specific area of expertise. This may be surprising considering we only hire 7-level, very qualified and highly motivated individuals. However, considering the unit’s mission, it is clear that delays or failures are not an option. Those
tasked with maintaining the expansive interior, referred to as “interior sergeants,” require extensive training in order to properly upkeep the leather, woods and fabrics found throughout the aircraft. It is time well spent as we take pride in providing a safe, reliable and connected aircraft that is also very comfortable. The Air Force One team, current and past members, understand what it takes to make the motto Experto Crede come to life. From aircrew to maintainers, the PAG is home to a winning team. It is indeed an honor and privilege to serve our Commander-in-Chief. Lt Col Deborah L. Kuth is the Commander,
Presidential
Logistics
Squadron, 89th Airlift Wing, Andrews AFB, MD. K
Sam Fox… Perfection IS the Standard Submitted by Col James Hannon and Maj Felix Johnfinn In the words of Gen Moseley, the Air Force has two “no fail” missions—the USAF Aerial Demonstration Squadron (Thunderbirds) and the 89th Airlift Wing. The 89th Airlift Wing’s mission, often referred to as “VIPSAM,” is to move our nation’s leaders to any destination around the world in a safe, comfortable, and reliable fashion…while at the same time ensuring they are both connected and protected. Oh, and I might add, do it at a 99% or better departure reliability rate! Clearly, this is no small feat and requires expertise and passion—“SAM FOX” passion, as we call it here at Andrews. The term “SAM FOX” is an acronym dating back to the 1960s derived from the term Special Air Mission Foreign; it was the call sign prefix used to identify very important DV missions. Today that acronym has evolved to denote VIPSAM support provided by the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB, MD since this is the primary location from which our nation’s senior leaders arrive and depart. More importantly, “SAM FOX” denotes an attitude of professional excellence. The close proximity of Andrews AFB to Washington, D.C. provides senior leaders such as the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, Service Secretaries and Congressional members, etc. with a secure and convenient travel hub.
There are four distinct aircraft that support America’s key leaders. The C-40B, the equivalent of a commercial 737, became operational on 24 January 2003. This aircraft blends an extensive range with additional communication and comfort level for DVs. It joined another Boeing aircraft, the C-32A. The C-32A, the equivalent of a commercial 757, is the workhorse of the DV airlift fleet. It is an extremely reliable aircraft and is often used to transport the Vice President. Two smaller corporate jet models manufactured by Gulfstream round out the fleet: the C-20B Gulfstream III, which is an older model, and the C-37A Gulfstream V. Current recapitalization plans consist of replacing the current fleet with Gulfstream 550 model aircraft scheduled to begin delivery in 2008. The newer model has added capabilities and range, making our customers more effective in accomplishing their objectives. The 89th Airlift Wing is separated into the Presidential Airlift Group (PAG), Operations Group (OG), Airlift Support Group (ASG), and the Maintenance Group (MXG). The PAG specifically supports Presidential airlift with a combined operations and maintenance team. The OG and MXG provide the aircraft, aircrews and maintainers that normally support customers from the Vice President on down. The ASG takes care of the aerial port needs and aircraft ground system communications that support the VIPSAM fleet of aircraft. The 89th Maintenance Group is a proud team of professionals that maintain and provide contractual oversight for the largest aircraft maintenance contract in Air Mobility Command. This contract includes transient alert support for
Top
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the Air Force’s busiest Transient Alert operation, organizational level support for a fleet of 19 H-1 helicopters, supply/fuels support (to include PAG), munitions storage, and back-shop maintenance (cabinetry, AGE, wheel and tire, etc.). The military portion of the 89 MXG is divided into two Divisions: Maintenance Operations Division (MOD) and the Performance Management Division (PMD). The MOD consists of two sections, the Flying Crew Chief (FCC) Section and the Maintenance Operation Control (MOC). The FCC Section provides onboard maintenance technicians (FCCs) for every mission on our Boeing aircraft (C-32s & C-40s)… sometimes called the “big jets.” The Maintenance Operations Center (MOC) tracks the maintenance status of all 89 AW assets (except the VC-25s) as well as any not mission capable (NMC) transient aircraft. The Program Management Division provides direct contract oversight, surveillance and evaluation for the DynCorp maintenance contract. This contract provides all the functions the 89th Logistics Group performed prior to 2001—munitions, supply, back shop, rotary, and fixed wing maintenance. The PMD is made up of Contracting Officer’s Representatives (COR) that perform surveillance to ensure the performance based contract requirements are
met daily. The COR personnel are both bluesuit and civil service and are primarily from aircraft maintenance related career fields. Finally, the Programs Section monitors programmatic issues for the assigned Boeing and Gulfstream aircraft. This section provides a much needed conduit between the 89 MXG, the system program offices and Air Mobility Command. The programs office is made up of both bluesuiters and contracted (DynCorp) personnel. The contractor provides maintenance on all 89 AW aircraft and takes pride in maintaining them to “SAM FOX” standards. Since 2001 they have been an integral part of the team, providing a skilled workforce that forms the foundation supporting the airlift of our key leaders. Trend Western, a subcontractor to DynCorp, provides transportation and POL related services. DynCorp also supports all back shop requirements for the PAG. It is the only back shop in the Air Force with an upholstery and cabinetry shop that we are aware of. Both shops specialize in producing highly crafted items for DV comfort and survival. They are all master craftsmen and can literally make just about anything. No doubt there is a surreal feeling when you are part of the “SAM FOX” team. The work performed every day contributes to the successful transportation of our nation’s leadership, enhancing their ability to make strategic decisions impacting the United States and the rest of the world. There is a lot of focused work in this group to ensure perfection is the standard, and the work ethic has become a lifestyle. At Andrews, we are all proud to be a part of “SAM FOX” maintenance. Col Jim Hannon was Commander, 89th Maintenance Group when he co-wrote this article. He has since moved on to CAG Director, USNORTHCOM, Peterson AFB, CO. His co-author was Major
89 MXG TSgt Agustin Delarosa and DynCorp Aircraft Mechanics John Moretz (left) and John Geltinger (right) performing a quality assurance surveilance on a C-32 aircraft. (USAF photo 89 MXG AAFB)
Felix
Johnfinn,
Maintenance
Operations
Officer,
Maintenance Group. K
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89th
Combat Sortie Generation in the Expeditionary Environment
“Where the Rubber Meets the Road” Submitted by Lt Col Michael C. Lawrence The 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, forward deployed to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, is bolstered by a world-class maintenance organization that maintains and delivers safe, reliable, and effective aircraft and munitions to meet Central Command Air Forces requirements. 379th maintainers provide unrelenting, lethal airpower in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM as well as Joint Task Force-HORN OF AFRICA. This is where the rubber meets the road. Over the past year, the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Group (EMXG) has generated over 19,000 sorties supporting 97,000 combat flying hours, offloading of 332 million pounds of fuel and delivery of 34,000 tons of cargo and 164,000 passengers to over 33,000 joint and coalition receivers. These numbers represent three to four times the annual flying program requirements of a typical wing. Such a level of performance only occurs with outstanding personnel performing our nation’s business with a clear and purposeful mission focus. To maintain that edge, 379 EMXG has infused its daily activities with three simple but vital principles:
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Safe, reliable, and effective aircraft and munitions maintenance Maximize readiness Be the best I think that you will find the 379 EMXG very similar to most wings operationally, but with an unceasing operational tempo and larger scale. In addition to describing our operations, I will also discuss the organizational structure, mission and how we execute that mission. Like any organization, we aim to improve, and to that end, I will cover what I think the Air Force is doing well and what we could improve in expeditionary aircraft maintenance and how it relates to in-garrison preparation for deployments. Finally, I will discuss 379 EMXG’s Maintenance Mission Effectiveness, which could have significant impact on how the Air Force measures aircraft maintenance performance. This article will convey how we are able to maintain, generate, and deliver combat airpower with unrelenting lethality every day, all day. During the past few Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) deployments, this EMXG has maintained and generated an average 85 to 100 active duty, ANG, and USAFR aircraft to include the B-1B, C-21, C-130H/J, E-8, F-15E, F-16CJ, KC-135 and RC-135. Roles and
missions include air interdiction, close air support, tactical airlift, aerial refueling, medevac, surveillance and reconnaissance. What a logistician experiences while deployed to the 379th is easily the opportunity of a lifetime. Similar to home station maintenance groups, there are three squadrons assigned to the 379 EMXG: Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (EAMXS), Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron (EMXS), and the Expeditionary Maintenance Operations Squadron (EMOS). There are only nine permanent party members assigned: group commander, deputy commander, group chief, wing weapons manager, three squadron commanders, and two maintenance superintendents. The balance of EMXG’s 1,000 personnel are deployed within aviation Unit Type Code (UTC) positions, either for traditional 120-day AEF rotations or shorter 30-, 45-, or 60day periods. Key squadron and flight positions are on Expeditionary Combat Support taskings. Over a 12-month span, the 379 EMXG will blend over 6,200 personnel from 68 bases and 7 major commands into a focused, sortie-producing team.
wheels and tires. EMXS also possesses a unique Type III Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory that services 1,300 items for 300 AOR customers. It does not matter what uniform is worn, because these proud professionals assist our coalition partners, other Services and several government agencies. EMXS truly has theaterwide reach, because what cannot be shipped to our location is serviced in-place by forward deployed “combat calibrators.” EMXS performs all fighter aircraft phases and due to Air Tasking Order (ATO) requirements, typically do more phase inspections in a single AEF rotation than most wings accomplish in 2 years.
Maintenance Flight Inspection Section personnel de-panel an F-16 for a 400hour Phase inspection. (USAF photo)
To the chagrin of some first-time deployers, the base does not function like a temporary duty location or even security assistance Flag exercise. 379 EMXG operates exactly the same as home station, so “fight like you train” is a reality here. We have standing Data Integrity, Intermediate Repair Enhancement, and Maintenance Standardization Evaluation Programs. For example, our Quality Assurance professionals have exceeded 1,000 monthly inspections and are a key component for weaving varied maintenance backgrounds together into a cohesive force. The crossflow of ideas helps execute the mission and provides dividends at home stations. We can’t do what we do everyday without the solid maintenance discipline they help to enforce. No combat sortie generation effort is complete without EMXS professionals. If it is in the air, they put it there. The EMXS is home to five Centralized Intermediate Repair Facilities (CIRFs), including KC-135 brakes, patient liquid oxygen converters, gaseous oxygen converters, T-56 engines and propellers, and C-130/KC-135
The EMXS workforce is tailored by functional area managers from each of the participating bases during each AEF. They are able to eliminate a large number of positions that come with each aviation package because some skill sets are the same regardless of mission design series. This enables participating units to retain more capability. Reducing the package size also reduces the number of required bed spaces and ensures we keep only those Airmen absolutely required in theater. In short, if we cannot fully employ a maintainer we have wasted a resource.
The EMOS has a central role in sortie generation, especially in the Maintenance Operations Center (MOC) and Analysis sections. On average, the MOC integrates experts from nine different bases to control maintenance on multiple types of aircraft, each bringing slightly different operating procedures to the AOR. Yet they quickly build a cohesive team as one of the wing’s most important command and control nodes. The Analysis section has a similar challenge. Each AEF, Analysis melds technicians operating on two distinct maintenance information system platforms. To be effective, these personnel are given access to both databases to extract meaningful metrics for data integrity and maintenance management purposes. 379 EMXG faces unique challenges such as high personnel turnover, non-stop ATO requirements and finally, severe weather conditions made worse by limited infrastructure. Personnel rotations range from Continued on next page...
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EXPEDITIONARY ENVIRONMENT IN THE
E R : C O M B AT S O R T I E G E N E R AT I O N
45 to 180 days and some personnel return two or three times in a single year. The ATO is unrelenting—there is no “time out,” “PAUSE EX,” or “academic situation” rule set. In fact, almost every mission capable (MC) aircraft flies at least once, and sometimes multiple times, each day. As a result, there is no “fly” shift and “fix” shift; both shifts are “fly and fix.” Don’t look to the hills for the swing shift cavalry because there is no such thing. Because of this very demanding battle rhythm, it usually takes a unit a few weeks to get into stride.
Kits and mismanagement of the associated accounts has garnered more than a little trouble for some deployed units. Moreover, high velocity spares support is absolutely crucial. No amount of demand data ever keeps a unit 100% MICAP-free. What is most important is the ability to make maintenance plans based on time definite delivery of parts and the ability to make shortterm adjustments to kit levels given emerging and changing demand on previously low demand items.
Meeting the ATO After 10 years is made more diffiof de-ploying cult by the limited Munitions crew members perform pre-assembly inspections on bomb fuses, boosters, and components. (USAF Photo) to USCENTfacilities available COM AOR, I to maintenance. We have no aircraft hangars, very few sunshades, and limited can say that our Air Force sustainment efforts have significantly storage, all exacerbated by intense weather. Summer tempera- improved and overall we are doing very well. For example, we tures routinely top 125 degrees, and year-round high winds and enjoy stockage effectiveness rates above 96% for each mission blowing sand can stop flight line maintenance for long periods design series (MDS). Gone are the days when a maintainer might pencil in a supply delete. Here, you are more apt to have each day. a weather or Air Traffic Control deviation than for supply. So, how do we make it work? We divide our fleet into two: statSuperior home station training is also paying dividends that are ic and non-static fleets. The static fleet consists of smaller airrealized daily. Deploying units routinely redeploy with all percraft which have longer swap-out periods, usually tied to the sonnel 100% task qualified and several “outstanding” Career AEF, upon which we conduct phase and some major mainteDevelopment Course end-of-course examination scores. nance. The non-static fleet consists of larger aircraft, which routinely swap-out for isochronal inspection or major maintenance Additionally, Air Force Engineering and Technical Services performed at home station. With limited infrastructure and a (AFETS) personnel are being integrated better than ever on demanding air tasking order, we do not have the luxury of sit- each MDS. AFETS personnel have been force multipliers over ting jets down for extended periods of time. Every serviceable my last year and have been influential in resolving significant propulsion and avionics systemic problems, which in turn helped jet is on the schedule. with ongoing in-garrison modifications like the F-15E Suite 5.0 Sustainment of both these fleets is founded on trained and ready upgrade. Finally, on-site depot engineers have been priceless. units and high velocity spares support. When home stations These engineers have provided technical support, to include deploy their aircraft maintenance units (AMU), they cannot technical drawings, technical order review, battle damage repairs, afford to treat this like a pickup game. Deviations to UT C temporary repairs, and so on. Most importantly, they have solidrequirements are generally not accepted because a discrete skill ified a precision-based conduit between system program offices set is required to support the flying operation, to include supply and the field. personnel. Unfamiliarity with replenishing Readiness Spares 22
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While we have made huge strides, there is still room for improvement, especially with deployment preparation. Specifically, fighter units need not just check with the unit they are replacing to determine expected utilization rate and average sortie duration. AMU OICs should, along with their operations counterparts, coordinate with the Combat Plans division of the Combined Air Operations Center for expected average sortie duration (ASD) and flying hour consumption. During the last year, I have seen units talk only to the unit they are replacing and assume that is sufficient. This is a potential pitfall that must be avoided in deployment planning because of the impact to required phase inspections and associated personnel. Secondly, the information you receive from the Combat Plans division may mean that you need to bring more jets. At this location and with the typical ATO requirements, the existing paradigm of 12 jets per AMU simply has not proven adequate. Longer ASDs drive higher break rates, often in unfamiliar systems. Third, supply posturing must include bringing 7-level personnel who know how to replenish spares kits and know how to manage the money associated with those kits. Don’t bring a 3level just because it is their time to deploy—there is no substitute for experience in this ATO cycle. The 379 EMXG uses an innovative approach to assessing how well it is performing the mission. Maintenance Mission Effectiveness (MME) measures the rate at which maintenance is able to successfully generate the requisite amount of station time, vulnerability period, number of air refuelings or cargo/passenger deliveries. Our goal is 95 percent. From wing leadership on down, our primary measure of merit is MME—not the MC rate. The rationale is simple: MME is the best measure of ATO performance. As such, short-term and long-term fleet health concerns are of equal importance. Individual units may experience poor MC rates but keep their MME rates above standards. Here, that is not necessarily a cause for great alarm. In these cases, units are usually experiencing significant turbulence to sortie generation, which manifests itself as ground aborts, air aborts or excessive break rates. In this way, MME functions as a leading—not lagging—indicator, which is important in this environment. Supervisors, commanders, and individual Airmen are focused on what they can do to maximize readiness in a safe, reliable and effective manner. Does this have implications for home station? How many times have you seen relatively good home station MC rates, but flying scheduling effectiveness remain below standard with your operations counterparts not meeting Ready Aircrew Program requirements? Shouldn’t we instead concentrate on whether aircrews are able to cover the vulnerability period or the refueling track station
time? Are we focused on the right metric? The larger point is not to suggest that mission capability is unimportant. Admittedly, it has great significance and is a historical mainstay of unit performance, but should it be the number one measure of merit? 379 EMXG continually examines our deviations and MME to determine whether we are having a problem with basic post flights, or if the ATO is not allowing sufficient maintenance recovery time. It’s a continual process. Every mission is important, but if our MME starts a decline it is readily apparent because we are able to see what portion of the vulnerability period or station time was not supported for maintenance reasons. This would be more difficult (next to impossible) by relying on MC rates alone. MME deciphers whether a RC-135 RIVET JOINT covered its surveillance station time or if a B-1B bomber was able to perform its mission. This is not the flying scheduling effectiveness rate by another name. It’s not important if the aircraft is launched late but still met its tasking. For example, as long as a C-130 gets the pallet to the forward operating base as required or a Strike Eagle covers all of its vulnerability period, we check the block. Conversely, if the aircraft takes off on time, but was mission ineffective for maintenance factors, MME takes a hit. With MME, we have a measure that tells us, without qualification, whether or not we supported our number one customer, operations—and this time both operations and maintenance agree. The 379 EMXG stands ready to maintain and deliver safe, reliable and effective aircraft and munitions by maximizing readiness and striving to be the best. Every day, lives depend on our ability to project airpower and deliver attitude adjustments to the enemy across a 5,400 mile AOR—and there is no substitute for victory. We serve so Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines may return home alive and victorious. After all, this is where the rubber meets the road. Lt Col Michael C. Lawrence is the Commander, 379 Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. He is responsible for the largest and most diverse squadron in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility and is charged with generating 26,000 combat sorties annually. He is responsible for the leadership, training, productivity, safety, and discipline of over 830 active duty, Air National Guard, Reserve, DoD civilian, and contractor maintenance personnel from 68 bases and 7 major commands and in doing so, maintains up to 8 Aircraft Maintenance Units with over 80 aircraft from 12 different weapons system platforms valued at $8.3B. K
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A Loggie in the Acquisitions World
Submitted by Capt Matthew S. Drossner Across our Air Force training ranges, there are literally hundreds of electronic warfare (EW) assets that verify the performance of airborne electronic warfare (EW) equipment and aircraft operators. With this equipment, range operators generate dense, tactically correct Surface to Air Missile and Anti-Aircraft Artillery threat environments, enabling our pilots to become battle-hardened before the battle ever starts. As an example, the Joint Threat Emitter (JTE) is a next generation computer-controlled, mobile air defense threat simulator that enables our aircrews to train in threat environments that match actual combat conditions. As a Munitions Maintenance Officer, there have been numerous times I have asked myself, “How did this thing make it into the inventory?” Fortunately, I received the opportunity to work in the JTE program at Ogden Air Logistics Center where I am learning what problems and tradeoffs exist when developing and fielding a new weapon system. In August 2002, the Air Force awarded the partnership of Modern Technologies Corporation (MTC) and Northrop Grumman Amherst Systems (NGAS) the JTE contract. The 501st Combat Sustainment Squadron located at Hill AFB manages acquisition and fielding. The first JTE pre-production unit was delivered to Mountain Home AFB in May 2006, where members of the 266th Range Squadron put it through a rigorous test environment. My role, as the Logistics Manager, is to work together with other team members in an Integrated Product Team to reach a common goal: the production and fielding of highly reliable, maintainable, and sustainable JTE systems. The IPT members: Mechanical, Electrical, and Software engineers, Procuring Contracting Officer, Administrative Contracting Officer, Equipment Specialist, two Acquisition personnel, a Financial Management person, the contractor (MTC/NGAS), the customer (user), the Program Manager, and many other organizations that support the program office.
The Joint Threat Emitter is a multi-threat, hi-fidelity simulator that trains combat aircrews to defeat or avoid Integrated Air Defense Systems around the world. It was developed and awarded using the Flexible Acquisition and Sustainment Tool (FAST) which slashed time off the traditional acquisition process. (Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman)
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Many logistics questions and concerns come up when developing and fielding a new system and the following are just a few of the literally hundreds that may arise. How do you buy spares for a system with no telling metrics? Where do you store systems once they are purchased? How do you assign stock numbers or Air Force part numbers? What kind of support equipment is needed and how do you buy it? Do you want the equipment loaded in REMIS/CAMS, and how do you assign Standard Reporting Designators, Work Unit Codes, and Source Maintenance and Recoverability codes? What do you want the contractor to do while they’re maintaining the system(s) for the first couple of years during Interim Contractor Support? Who will maintain the system afterwards—the Air Force or the contractor? What
levels of maintenance will be performed and who will perform them? How do you create and maintain Technical Orders?”
TEU
Now that I am managing the logistics of a program, I see the plethora of requirements to address when fielding a new system, and I understand that everything maintainers and operators want in a system is not possible, as it all comes down to one thing: money—there is just not enough of it to go around.
THE SYSTEM NUTSHELL
IN A
Logistically, the JTE system is much more maintenance friendly than its legacy predecessors. Its modular, mobile design consists of three units: a Threat Emitter Unit (TEU), a Command and Control Unit (C2U), and a Remote Power Unit (RPU). A JTE set can contain up to 12 TEUs with one C2U, or a master C2U which can run in parallel with another C2U to control up to 24 TEUs.
T H R E AT E M I T T E R U N I T ( T E U ) The TEU is the business end of the system that contains all the transmitters and antennas to “shoot” at target aircraft. The flexible pedestal design of the TEU allows for cost-effective and maintenance-friendly configuration changes/upgrades. The system utilizes an incremental growth concept to expand its capabilities over the life cycle of the production contract, in which upgrades (blocks) will be developed and fielded periodically. Once fielded, existing systems could convert to a block utilizing a “kit” concept. This forced me to consider where the parts for the kit will be stored; how long it takes to change out antennas, transmitters, etc when removing/installing the kit; how $300,000 parts will be transported to/from the storage locations; and how I will I ensure technical data is available, current, and safe.
COMMAND CONTROL UNIT (C2U) The C2U provides overall command and control of the JTE Set. There are two versions of the C2U, a mobile and a fixed configuration. The fixed configuration will be located in a Range Control Center or some central location with access to radar feeds and positional data. The first C2U delivered to Mountain Home is a mobile unit, and comprises a shelter with two operator consoles located inside and a communication rack that houses UHF, VHF, and non-tactical radios. It has an environmental control unit which regulates temperatures in the shelter, protecting the equipment and providing comfortable working conditions for the operators. The beauty of the mobile and fixed versions is that other than the trailer and shelter, the equipment is exactly the same. Consequently, configuration control is not a problem. If a maintainer needs a computer for the mobile C2U, he/she will only have one stock/part number to order making the C2U quick and easy to order, install, and return to a Full Mission Capable status.
REMOTE POWER UNIT (RPU) The Remote Power Unit (RPU), self contained, environmentally safe diesel generator provides power for either the C2U or the TEU, and mounts on a trailer that has a built in multiple walled fuel tank to prevent spills. The TEU can operate at remote sites without commercial power by utilizing the RPU as a stand alone power source.
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ER: A LOGGIE
IN THE
ACQUISITIONS WORLD
WHY
IS
JTE
NEEDED?
The last threat emitter system to roll off the assembly line was in the late 1980’s and is quickly approaching 20 years of age. With today’s shrinking military budget and sustainment costs rising, we must find a way to retire the expensive, custom built, difficult to maintain and sustain legacy systems, and replace them with cheaper, better performing systems. As with any high-tech military equipment, keeping repair parts for sustainment is difficult; operating and sustainment costs and diminishing manufacturing sources become greater every year. Many legacy systems were built to military specification with customized parts, and require numerous upgrades to modernize their capabilities and increase their reliability. Another benefit to procuring and fielding JTE is that it utilizes the Commercial-Off-The-Shelf concept, making upgrades relatively easy to incorporate. When legacy systems were built, advanced fighter aircraft such as F-22’s and F-35’s were not in the inventory. Legacy systems provide little training for F22/35 aircrews and have no test capability for these types of modern aircraft equipment. JTE provides training against these aircraft and become an enabler for those aircrews. Finally, once legacy systems are put in place, they require a tractor trailer to move, and require man- The modern JTE was developed to provide realistic threat training scenarios for the Air Force's power and time to setup, as well as pre-existing site newest aircraft like the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter. infrastructure to run them. The TEU and C2U can be towed behind a one-ton pickup, or light duty comAs a loggie assigned to the ALC, I truly believe logisticians and mercial truck, and are capable of being setup by two maintainers users from the field must be involved in every Air Force acquisiin an hour. The RPU is a standard “Hobart” type generator. The tion program from day one. The reason is that most people in entire JTE system can be air transported by a C-130, C-17, or Cacquisition career fields have never worked in the field dealing 5 cargo aircraft. Aircraft size and payload determine how many with the daily problems we encounter; thus, maintainer input TEUs and RPUs can be transported by a single plane. provides the acquisition personnel with valuable insight. While One of the interesting aspects of this threat emitter system is the some may disagree with me, few operational loggies understand involvement of maintainers and operators of the system in the what happens at an ALC. In the end, loggies are the Airmen development process. Members of the 266th Range Squadron asking “How did this thing make it into the inventory?” Once were highly involved in the tests since day one. Operations and a system is built and fielded, whether we like it or not, we are maintenance personnel worked closely with the engineering and stuck with it, and getting involved early is the only way we can development staff at MTC/NGAS throughout the design and ensure a highly reliable, maintainable, and sustainable product development process. This close involvement led to a highly throughout the life of a system—a logistician’s dream! maintainable and sustainable threat emitter that is incredibly intuitive to operate. The JTE system will be a valued addition to the Air Force, a blessing for the maintainers that work on it, and provide the highest fidelity threats for the aircrews that use the range for electronic combat and ECM training for years to come.
Captain Matthew S. Drossner is a core 21M munitions maintenance officer assigned to the Ogden Air Logistics Center, 84th Combat Sustainment Wing and is the Logistics Manager, Joint Threat Emitter Program. Captain Drossner is has served in multiple munitions maintenance positions at Barksdale AFB.
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654 CLSS Bad to the B-ONE!
Submitted by Maj Chris Reichardt & MSgt Rickie Gress In May 2006, a B-1 bomber returning from a training mission flew into Diego Garcia and landed with its gear up. The $283M aircraft skidded 7,000 feet down the runway, causing approximately $8M of damage to the aircraft and closing the runway for 69 hours. Engineers at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC), Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, were notified within 24 hours of the mishap, and immediately began outlining a recovery plan to get the crippled aircraft off the runway, repaired and operational again.
much time over the “drawing board” and devised a restoration plan that differed from the traditional repair methods of removing the damaged sheet metal and fixing the problems one at a time. Instead, engineers opted to remove the damaged sections - two nacelles that hold the engines and the nose section - and replace them with functioning pieces from a retired aircraft—enter the 654th Combat Logistics Support Squadron (CLSS).
Mr. Al Maeder is the Engineering Section Chief for B-1 Structures and Flight Systems assigned to the 555th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron (ACSS) at OC-ALC. He said the mishap aircraft was moved off the runway within 39 hours of the accident, using innovative procedures developed by Mr. John Morgan, B-1 Structural Engineer, 555 ACSS. “We were also responsible for configuration of the aircraft and for getting it into flyable condition,” said Mr. Maeder. Because incidents of this type are rare, a technical order for the repairs had never been written nor was there a designated “right way” to repair the damage, said Mr. Morgan.
Following the Safety Investigation Board and Accident Investigation Board, a team of 16 military and civilian personnel from the ALC at Tinker Air Force Base prepared for this one-ofkind restoration project to repair the damaged B-1 bomber at Diego Garcia. Exercising Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center’s motto, “War-winning capabilities on-time, on-cost,” the repair team set out to do just that. The team consisted of two engineers from the 555 ACSS, two technicians from the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and 12 Airmen from the 654th . “We knew going in that this was going to be a long and challenging repair process. It’s what the team trains for, and at the end of day they can see tangible results having returned a $283M asset to the war fighter,” said SMSgt Kevin Ruane, Maintenance Flight Chief for 654 CLSS.
The B-1 aircraft was originally manufactured in sections across the country and assembled in Palmdale, California. Engineers spent
The first order of business was to secure B-1 replacement parts to accomplish the repairs. Those sections included both engine nacelles
Top photo: The team of 16 military and civilian personnel from OC-ALC stands before their one-of-kind restoration project at Diego Garcia.
and the Forward Equipment Bay (FEB) from a B-1 stored at the Aerospace Main-tenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) at DavisMonthan AFB, Arizona. The team departed for AMARC on 10 Sep 06. A month later they had accomplished the daunting task of removing not only major aircraft production sections that have never been replaced in the field, Team removing severely damaged nacelle but also numerous Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), parts and equipment. One CLSS supply technician was also on the team and coordinated shipment of 55K pounds of equipment and parts to Diego Garcia via C-5. By mid-November, the CLSS team had removed both damaged nacelles and the FEB. After the nacelles were removed, several sheared Hi-Locks were discovered on the right side nacelle hanger beam. During trial fit of the FEB, it was discovered that 5% of the attachment holes did not align with the existing aircraft structure. The onsite engineer was key to overcoming these issues. “Deploying with an engineer paid huge dividends,” stated TSgt Tim Blair, 654 CLSS Assistant Fabrication Section Chief. With no technical data written, each step of the rebuild had to be evaluated and approved by the engineer. It was also discovered on trial fit that the radar wire harness was missing from the FEB removed from the donor B-1 at AMARC. This forced our two electricians to cannibalize it from the damaged FEB. This proved to be a very tedious process to include a continuity check on the entire harness encompassing nearly 1000 pins and five days to complete. Then they set out to snake the harness through all four bays of the FEB to install it. The job took just shy of a month filled with bending over backwards, upside down and hanging by their toes to complete. With this extra month worth of work SSgt Jeremy Harper and SSgt Jimmy Hardwick still finished ahead of schedule. “It was a difficult task, especially in the field, but we were able to adapt with the help of home station,” said SSgt Harper, an Electro-Environmental Craftsman with the 654 CLSS. CLSS also used their aircraft battle damage repair skills in accomplishing two skin repairs necessary due to severe surface buckling during the landing. The repairs were pretty basic fuselage skin repairs, but the problem was access. The latrine and galley had to be removed, along with roughly 50 lexann trim panels. The team had to maintain strict tolerance with the damage cutout and rivet pattern, or more of the cockpit / flight deck would have had to be dismantled. They also had to ensure a perfect seal on the repairs so as not to affect
cabin pressure. Another factor affecting the repair time was the supply chain. The average time to receive parts was 14 days due to limited flights to the island. The “unexpected” was, and always is, the toughest obstacle to overcome, like having the proper fasteners and hardware for all the little things that popped up. The team would have had to deploy with a cargo ship of bench stock to alleviate that problem. Also, very limited support equipment led to a bevy of ORM issues…i.e. removing / installing MLG / weapons bay doors, only having one of certain assets so when they were inoperable we had to wait for them to be repaired, and having a limited number of maintenance platforms. Carefully looking at all options and weighing safety and mission requirements, the difficult job was completed without any safety incidents. Although there were no other B-1s on the ramp, the team did get great support from Air Mobility Command’s Det 1 and the Navy by volunteering their limited resources when called upon. The entire rebuild was definitely a collaboration of talented Airmen and civilians working to resurrect this B-1 bomber. The 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas, was vital to the total effort sending two crew chiefs, a fuels technician and an AGE mechanic that were in place from the start. The AGE mechanic, SSgt Kyle Smith, was tireless in keeping a predominantly one-deep AGE pool in top running order. Four Egress technicians, an electrician and two Survival Equipment specialists also augmented the team at various times throughout the trip. In April, a special flight crew arrived from the 10th Test Flight Squadron, also at Tinker AFB, to perform a Functional Check Flight (FCF). The FCF for this aircraft was a significant event considering that numerous major components were replaced with assets that had been in the “bone yard” just months before. Additionally, all four engines were replaced—a major issue in any aircraft maintainers book. After eight months on the road and much hard work, having the aircraft successfully complete its Functional Check Flight was more than satisfying. Indeed, the real satisfaction comes from knowing this aircraft is fully-mission capable once again, back in the fight and ready to do its part in supporting our nation’s effort on the Global War on Terrorism. Major Chris Reichardt is the Logistics Supervisor for the 654th Combat Logistics Support Squadron, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. MSgt Rickie Gress led the Air Force recovery team on this mission and is the Fabrication Section Chief for the 654th. K
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F-16 PostProduction Support: Depot Activation for F-16 CCIP Parts Submitted by Captain Rich Boatman Have you ever wondered what it takes to stand up an organic depot repair line? Probably not, if you’re anything like I was before taking my current assignment as Depot Activation Program Manager for seventeen F-16 Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP) end items. The job entails transitioning items from Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) repair to organic repair at Ogden Air Logistics Center (OO-ALC). Even with a 21A core AFSC I rarely gave thought to what happened to repairable aircraft parts once 350/unserviceable tags and documentation in IMDS were completed. As far as I was concerned, from that point on those parts belonged to the respective item manager, and as long as the Aircraft Maintenance Unit had parts issue from supply and MICAP requisitions filled in short order, I didn’t think twice about where those unserviceable parts went. My new job gave me a whole new perspective on the matter.
H I G H C O S T S , L O W FA U LT S My depot activation team was tasked to transition 17 organizational level maintenance remove-and-replace items to OOALC for organic repair. Analysis of historical data brought a striking realization: On average, 70% of the assets sent to the respective OEMs for repair tested “no fault 30
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found” (NFF) and were put right back into the supply chain to fill requisitions. I couldn’t believe that 7 out of 10 items sent in for repair were found to pass OEM testing for serviceability! I thought about all the associated hours spent debriefing pilot reported discrepancies, conducting troubleshooting, ordering/receiving property, packing and shipping assets just to have 7 of 10 items submitted be issued right back out to another field unit after a quick stop at the OEM. I also learned that the Air Force pays full repair rates on most of these items— just to have them bench checked. By my rough calculation the Air Force spent over $4 million on NFF items last year for just the 17 end items my team was concerned with. That figure does not even include the manpower and logistics tail such as tech data, support equipment requirements, or associated packing and shipping on those replaced components. I know that Air Force leaders have charged all of us with implementing AFSO21 initiatives to mitigate the impact of reduced resources and I had just stumbled across a huge manpower and cost driver. The question now was, how could my team help drive the current NFF rate down when we created organic repair capability at OOALC for our 17 end items?
TO OUR SURPRISE… Our integrated product team (IPT) visited three OEMs, touring their repair lines and
identifying what equipment we needed to establish a repair capability at Ogden. At each of the OEMs the story was the same with regard to the level of documentation they saw from the field. Those items that actually made it to the facility with tags attached were typically documented as “broke”, “inop”, “defective”, “Maintenance Fault Listing XXX…”, or something with similar brevity. Not knowing the circumstances of how components failed in the
SSgt Albert Zaletel, a depot aircraft at Hill AFB structural maintenance craftsman, prepares the closure beam -where a wing attaches to an F-16 Fighting Falcon's fuselage -- for fuel spool manifold installation. (USAF photo by G.A. Volb)
An F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels with a KC-135 Stratotanker. (USAF photo by MSgt Ruby Zarzyczny)
field, OEMs have no option other than running standard test programs to isolate unknown malfunctions. If units pass this screening they are sent right back out the door serviceable. I queried each OEM as to their REMIS or IMDS accessibility and surprisingly found they are not given even limited access. I also found out that Maintenance Fault Listings don’t factor into the OEM’s repair process; they relate strictly to an aircraft manufacturer’s operational flight program, and the OEMs don’t correlate fault listings with their serviceability testing regimen. It immediately became clear that descriptive discrepancy information was critical because it’s essentially all an OEM repair technician has to go by. Every technician spoken with said they would investigate in greater detail if a part under test arrived with descriptive failure documentation. This was a stark contrast to what I was accustomed to. Typically, field units do emphasize aircraft/equipment forms and IMDS documentation because these are some of our barometers indicating how well or poorly we “do maintenance.” But, now I was learning that not as much attention was being paid to ensuring discrepancy descriptions on unser-
viceable tags actually state something beyond “broke” or “unserviceable.” After realizing that a serviceability tag is the ideal vehicle to communicate with OEM repair facilities, it’s apparent that this is an area we can definitely improve—how well are we “doing maintenance” from a larger AF perspective?
THE REAL CHALLENGE Next we focused on the heavy lifting of transitioning the source of repair for our 17 end items. The program requirements quickly yielded depths of detail I hadn’t imagined existed. The obvious requirements were technical data, engineering drawings, bills of material, benchstock, workstations and test equipment. One of the more difficult requirements was determining the test equipment solution to use. Although it seems simple to find test equipment that can host all these items, laying the groundwork correctly ensures you have a viable hardware/software interface. Another consideration is the design of interface test adapters to “talk” to proposed test solutions. To give you an appreciation of my new perspective, let me share some of the questions my team were faced with: What level of
accuracy can we fund test program software to, and what do the OEMs have as their target? Was OEM software developed to only find defective sub-components 70% of the time? Do we start from scratch on software development or purchase OEM test software that was built to interface with different test equipment? What percent of the software can be rehosted on the new test solution and is it worth the asking price? How are we going to sustain test equipment? How do we ensure delivery of design change notices, and what process will we put in place to ensure the test program is still valid with the new change? How will we validate that a change in the operational flight program doesn’t drive a new test profile? What government furnished equipment (GFE) do we plan to relocate for organic work and is that equipment sustainable? What unintended consequences are there if we relocate GFE to Ogden? What is the contract strategy for accomplishing our requirements? This litany of questions only scratches the surface as we revealed the scope of items that had to be considered if organic repair was to meet target NFF reductions. Continued on next page... EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE
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WORK
IN
PROGRESS
In the 5 short months since we stood up our IPT, our team went from a $29M deficit to fully funded at $45M, wrote justification and approval documents for sole source exceptions under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, established a master program schedule, funding/spend plans, funded test programs for 13 shop-replaceable units (SRU), funded a test solution engineering study, authored statements of objectives for all three OEMs. We’re also coordinating stock listing of all SRUs and working tech data development in conjunction with Lockheed. During this time I’ve seen my contracting officer change, direct supervisor change, and squadron leadership change, only to PCA to a new rotation myself. Despite significant turnover, everyone on the IPT continues to execute this program with the goal of driving down the NFF. As a closing thought I would offer that if you find negatively trending components in the course of your daily business, ensure detailed discrepancy information is reaching the appropriate program manager. Direct field input gets attention, and by providing detailed info your units become key players in improving parts reliability. Captain Rich Boatman is a core 21A aircraft maintenance officer assigned to the Ogden Air Logistics Center, 508th Aircraft Sustainment Wing and is Program Manager, Common Configuration Implementation Program Depot Activation.
Captain Boatman has
had previous aircraft maintenance assignments at Misawa AB and Seymour-Johnson AFB. K
Our technology and expertise played a key role in the transformation of Ogden, ALC at Hill Air Force Base. Enhancing processes and securely locating inventory at point-of-use proved dramatic results. z More time available to turn out warfighter assets z 11 More jets in the field z Stock outs were eliminated by 100% z Travel time was reduced by 330% z Non-productive time was reduced by $83,000 a month z Vending machines paid for themselves in under 6 months
Call us to see how we can help your logistics operation receive similar results or read a complete case study at: www.cribmaster.com/cs.htm
1.888.419.1399 1 2005 USAF-LOA National Conference - www.loanational.org
An F-16 aircraft returns Shaw AFB from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, May 8. (USAF photo by SSgt Nathan G. Bevier)
Maintainers Early Involvement with the F-35 Program
An Airman with the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force, Edwards AFB, sprays down an F16 Fighting Falcon before its final chemical decontamination test. The goal of the testing is to decontaminate an entire aircraft quickly and return it to service. (USAF photo by Mark McCoy)
Submitted by Col (ret) Mary H. Parker In September 1984, the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff decreed that Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) would become a foundational logistics tenet of aircraft and equipment procurements in the United States Air Force. To that end, the Deputy Chiefs of Staff for Research, Development, & Acquisition (AF/RD), and Air Force Logistics & Engineering (AF/LE) formed an Action Team to address R&M. The R&M 2000 Action Plan was a result of their initiatives and designed to accelerate R&M improvements of current and future weapon systems. One of the programs under the auspices of the R&M 2000 Action Plan was the Blue Two Visit (BTV) Program. The BTV Program exposed acquisition program managers and design engineers to real-world operating conditions and maintenance procedural constraints. The primary goal of the BTV Program was to allow face-to-face interaction between Air Force maintainers, industry designers, and program managers in order to influence R&M into the design of future weapon systems and support equipment. In the early 1990s, Logistics Test was the first formal attempt to garner the maintainer input with an established structure and the documen-
tation. The creation of the Logistics Test and Evaluation (LT&E) program under the Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E) institutionalized maintainer input into the weapons system design. The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Office (JPO) supported the early involvement of maintainers in the design process during the Technology Development Phase TDP (formerly known as the Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP)), and further institutionalized that involvement with the establishment of the Contractor Support Detachment (CSD) located in the manufacturing plant at Fort Worth, TX in 2002. Maintainers from the USAF, USN, USMC and UK Royal Air Force are members of the CSD and provide their maintainability inputs to the design engineers on the factory floor. Today, the JSF Program at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB is fully embracing the LT&E Program as the F-35 Conventional Takeoff/Landing (CTOL) version fighter undergoes the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the Requirements Development, Acquisition System, and Test and Evaluation Processes.
TSgt Mayorga, a Crew Chief, The 412th Aircraft was part of a team that perMaintenance Squadron formed the beta testing for the established the F-35 Aircraft Computerized Maintenance Maintenance Unit (AMU) Management System (CMMS), with 22 personnel from variwhich is a subset of the F-35 ous logistics AFSCs [Engines, Autonomous Logistics Avionics, Structures/Low Information System (ALIS). Observable (LO), Weapons, CMMS can be described as a Egress, Fuels, Electric & computer database of informaEnvironmental (E&E), AGE, tion for maintenance operaSupply, Training, and Plans tions that could also be called & Scheduling]. This initial Core Automated Maintenance cadre of maintainers is System, or Integrated matrixed into the organizaMaintenance Data System on tional structure of the F-35 steroids. He annotated that the Edwards Integrated Test Force Tina Slade and Jennifer Tanyatanaboon prepare an F-16 Fighting Falcon for a biological contamination trial at Edwards AFB. They are microbiologists with Battelle, the lead contractor for software was not user friendly: it (ITF) which possesses functhe Joint Strike Force decontamination project. (USAF photo by Jeffrey Youngblood) had too many screens; it was tional experts from other distoo busy; and it had too many ciplines (i.e. engineering, test support, operations, etc.) forming one consolidated test team. The buttons, plus it lacked the visual identification for grounding or parAMU maintainers work side-by-side with the engineers in their spe- tially grounding discrepancies. His suggestion to add a red bar for codecific disciplines (human factors, R&M, armament, LO, etc.) pro- 3 discrepancies and a yellow bar for code-2 discrepancies was adopted viding valuable feedback on proposals and designs. Although these by the engineers and supported by the contractor. maintainers do not have an aircraft assigned to the AMU, they are MSgt Mitchell, a Weapons Loader, was part of a group that identiintimately involved with the contractor’s design engineers and profied a problem with carbon deposits from the aircraft gun gases. As gram managers on a daily and recurring basis via telecons, the gun fires, the adjacent panels are coated with a black sooty NetMeetings, Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs), Preliminary material that require post-firing cleaning. This carbon material Design Reviews (PDRs), Small Group Try-Outs (SGTOs), and the affected the LO properties of the panels and had to be “chiseled” first of many R&M Demonstrations plus Environmental, Safety, and off. The initial cleaning procedure required a “green scrubby” to Health (ESH) Tests. Again, the ITF is continuing the BTV proremove the black build-up. MSgt Mitchell aptly pointed out that gram efforts started over two decades ago and are persistent in identhe “green scrubby” was not going to work. Today, there is a study tifying things that just will not work in the realm of maintainabiliunderway to examine solutions to the cleaning issue without affectty on the flightline. These maintainers are impacting the design of ing the LO properties of the panels. the 5th Generation of Jet Fighters TSgt Casey Schoettmer, an Egress Technician, was involved with the live test and evaluation of the IGQ Type 6000 parachute system and MG-5 harness. The IGQ Type 6000 parachute system coupled with the MG-5 harness provide the means of crew escape for pilots after the F-35 ejection seat is fired. He documented a problem with a fabric keeper on the MG-5 harness used to stow the leg straps on the seat when the pilot was not strapped in. The keeper caused severe discomfort to the human test jumpers during the ground tests for the live jump tests. The corrective action permanently removed the keeper from the leg straps for both live jump tests and on the Martin Baker US16E ejection seats harness for the F-35. A few months after the test, TSgt Schoettmer discovered an installed keeper on the US16E seats used by the contractor to conduct training for F-35 aircrew and technicians. Quickly recognizing the disparity, he notified the appropriate office to ensure proper configuration management for the training seats.
MSgt Graham (E&E) and TSgt Wescott (Avionics) participated in a multiphase project with the Integrated Power Package (IPP) removal and installation (R&I) demonstration at the Northrop Grumman facility in El Segundo, CA. Initially, they assisted with the verification of the steps for removing the IPP from the bay utilizing the universal jack stand and the adapter plate for the IPP. Meanwhile, the design engineers were evaluating the maintainers’ ability to gain access to the IPP in the bay with the prescribed tools. Additionally, the maintainers identified issues with adequate hand and arm accessibility to the mounts for the components. With this input, the engineers adjusted the angle on some sway braces to allow for increased access space and thereby improved the ability of the maintainers to work in the confined area. The second visit to the facility included members from the other services (USN & USMC) for evaluations on anthropometric and tool accessibility, while the third visit centered on performing the task in Mission-Oriented Continued on next page... EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE
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design features where additional analysis is required; to formulate Watch Items (WITs) or Deficiency Reports (DRs); and to collect quantifiable data for the final test report. Both the ITF at NAS Patuxent River (test site for the Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) & Carrier Variant (CV) versions of the F-35), and Lockheed Martin (LM) Corporation, the prime contractor for the F-35 Program, accepted LT&E process.. Under the Total System Performance and Integration Responsibility contract for the F-35 Program, where LM has the lead in the ITF structure, the contractor produced test plan documents and operating instructions that include LT&E as an underlying principle for testing the “M” in R&M. The maintainers are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get their hands on this newest addition to the 5th Generation Jet Fighter category and ready to put it through the LT&E process. They have lofty expectations for the outcome of LT&E due to the high standards set by the Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) outlined in the Operational Requirements Document. One of the KPPs is Mission Reliability (MR). The JSF Contract Specification (JCS) metrics for meeting this MR KPP are: Mean Flight Hour Between Failure (Design Controllable), Mean Time to Repair (Unscheduled), Maximum Time to Repair (All Unscheduled), Maintenance Manhours Per Flight Hour (Unscheduled), and Maintenance Manhours Per Flight Hour (Scheduled, Design Controllable). The maintainers also have these elevated expectations because they are being included in the design process as the design engineers seek their opinions and expertise as highly qualified maintenance technicians, and the ultimate end-users.
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter makes its initial flight over Fort Worth, Texas. (LMCO photo by David Drais)
Protective Posture (MOPP) gear. MSgt Graham and TSgt Wescott donned the MOPP-4 Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST) garments, gloves, boots, and mask to perform the R&I of the IPP. They worked with the design engineers to identify concerns with the type of hardware used because it was snagging and tearing their rubber gloves. This early involvement in the design process was critical to designing-in maintainability for the R&I process of the IPP in all operational environments. While these may seem like simplistic issues, they are just the initial evaluations of the design and processes for the F-35. When the aircraft arrive at Edwards AFB, the maintainers utilize the Logistics Test Management System (LTMS) to conduct LT&E. LTMS is a webbased tool (https://www.LogTestManagementSystem.org) developed by the 412th Logistics Test Squadron (MXLS) for use in all DT&E Programs, and possibly in Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) Programs. Mr. Pezzini, F-35 LT&E Program Manager, has been updating the LTMS and the Logistics Test Data Sheet (LTDS) that the maintainers will use to collect logistics test data within the framework of the F-35 Logistics Test Measures (LTMs). The LTDS is a standardized questionnaire that encourages objectivity and also generates reproducible and retrievable data with the “1 through 6” numeric rating scale. The LTMs provide the maintainer with a standardized and repeatable method of evaluating a maintenance task, while measuring specific performance parameters. For the specified maintenance task, the maintainer will perform the task, evaluate the system and procedures, and complete the LTDS with the appropriate ratings and comments based on their maintenance experience on other weapon systems. The data from the LTDS will be entered into the LTMS for a supervisory review and also for a data review board process. The ratings help identify tasks or aircraft 36
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We can be grateful for the foundation that the R&M 2000 Action Plan built for us, and the legacy the BTVs left for us to further develop the LT&E process to test and gather data on the maintainability of the F-35 Lightning II. With this foundation, legacy and process, we can be certain to have an aircraft for our future that is a testament to outstanding R&M! Col (ret) Mary H. Parker is the Deputy for Logistics in the F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) at Edwards AFB. She is responsible for oversight of aircraft maintenance, Joint Technical Data (JTD) verification, Logistics Test & Evaluation (LT&E), and Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) activities at the Edwards ITF. She joined the Civil Service ranks in Nov 06, following a 26-year Air Force career in Aircraft/Munitions Maintenance and Acquisition Logistics. K
Strategic Partnership Results in Vendor Managed Inventory at Point of Use Submitted by Maj Brad Archer In June 2003, the Maintenance Directorate (now 309th Maintenance Wing) at Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, initiated a transformation project designed to explore alternative methods for procuring, controlling, and managing tools and shop stock (tape, gloves, coveralls, sanding disks, batteries, etc…). The project’s two-fold objective dramatically improves tool and shop stock support for Air Force Materiel Command maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) installations. It accomplishes this first element through vending machines that take advantage of accurate, real-time inventory information. The project’s second element reduces total ownership costs associated with managing the supply chain for tools and shop stock. As members of the government acquisition team began to conduct market research and define work statement requirements, team members embarked on three site visits to uncover what impacts vendor managed inventory (VMI) programs were having on the aerospace and manufacturing industries. Before discussing the benefits of VMI, it is worthwhile to define it. VMI is a means of optimizing supply chain performance in which the industrial distributor (supplier) is responsible for maintaining inventory levels. The
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industrial distributor has access to inventory data and is responsible for generating purchase orders for the government (customer). The site visits quickly uncovered numerous reasons customers and suppliers engage in VMI agreements. From the customer’s perspective, primary interests for VMI are to reduce total ownership costs, yet maintain a minimum amount of inventory more readily accessible to the mechanic’s work center. Suppliers indicated a strong desire to increase sales and expand their customer base. Given these distinctions, one may assume that customers have experienced a great amount of benefit and suppliers have accepted a larger piece of the supply chain management responsibility. After our discussions with aerospace and manufacturing industries, the case for a change in strategy, structure, and system for managing the tool and shop stock supply chain was essential to synchronize a customercentric, responsive supply chain in order to meet the demands of the 21st Century warfighter. As a result, a competitively procured 5-year, $89 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity performance-based logistics contract was established in July 2004 in recognition of the fact that procuring, controlling, and managing tools and shop stock was outside the 309th Maintenance Wing’s core competency. Through the con-
tract, the supplier offers a full-range of services to include: vending machine implementation, tooling and cutter regrind; reverse engineering for locally manufactured and modified tools and fixtures; tool repair, tool kit buildup and reconditioning; annual bill of material reviews; quarterly tool kit inspections, and inventory management. The flexibility built into the contract includes a special clause allowing the government to renegotiate the sales volume discount percentage twice per year based on current and future sales volume. Initially, the government realized a 16% discount for all tool and shop stock purchases. After the first year of the contract, the government negotiated and leveraged the supplier’s corporate strength to increase the sales volume discount to 23%. Finally, the competitive procurement provided the two other Air Logistics Centers, along with the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC), the opportunity to initiate future delivery orders under this contract.
VMI BENEFITS The benefits of VMI are numerous for both the customer and supplier. Both parties are interested in providing better service to the warfighter. Having the right item in stock when the customer needs it benefits all parties involved. Data entry errors are reduced due to electronic data interchange communications between the supplier and a commercial off-theshelf inventory management system. The inventory management system embedded in the vending machine possesses automated purchasing capabilities and designated min/max levels for each line item, completely eliminated “stock-outs”.
Today, the supplier pre-positions consignment inventory in a government owned vending machine at the point of use. The machine tracks inventory consumption and links demand and replenishment planning. Automatic alerts and notifications are sent to the supplier’s appropriate employees when situations indicate that human intervention is necessary before potential inventory shortages become a problem. The government pays for actual usage only when consumed. Then, the machine tally’s monthly withdrawals and invoices the government at the resource cost center or delivery order levels. Supply specialists now have the freedom to focus on their core mission, sourcing Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency parts, managing Bills of Material, and working awaiting part listings, etc., instead of reconciling endless GPC statements. Likewise, production will not stop because a mechanic does not have the right tool or shop stock item. The supplier is presently managing over $2.5 million worth of tool and shop stock inventory while providing coverage on 4,535 line items (over 2,100 line items are stocked in the vending machines). This process improvement unequivocally embraces the fourth principle of lean thinking: pull. By moving from a “push” to “pull” system with vending machines as enablers, Ogden’s leadership sent a clear message to the workforce—“We want you to have everything you need to do your job.” Consequently, it played a small part in setting the stage for Ogden to become a world-class MRO organization.
Rows of finished products are tagged by employees at OO-ALC before being shipped to their new aircraft. (USAF photo by Beth Young)
Prior to implementation, Ogden ALC relied upon supply specialists to manually annotate changes in inventory and order replenishment for tools and shop stock with the Government Purchase Card (GPC). The government absorbed the cost of the material up front and incurred an enormous carrying cost. Furthermore, no automated record of shop stock usage by employee, job, line, work shift, and other factors existed. Bottomline, no cost accounting system was in-place to accurately forecast and budget what will be needed to handle new work loads (F-22, F-35, night vision goggles, etc.) in the future.
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
Given the risk of placing balance sheet inventory dollars effectively in the control of the government before an invoice is issued or a purchase order received, it’s not surprising that some suppliers may be reluctant to enter into such an agreement. With respect to this partnership, a straightforward performance work statement empowered the supplier to formulate creative solutions to meet performance objectives and helped minimize risk while improving MRO performance.
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E R : S T R AT E G I C PA R T N E R S H I P R E S U LT S
The performance objectives identified by the government were classified into three areas: program management, tool management, and shop stock management. The cornerstone of the performance objectives centered around three specific requirements to include the issue of a existing tool kit within 10 business days and a new tool kit within 20 business days, fill backordered standard hand tools within 1 business day, and fill backordered shop stock within 1 business day. The illustrations below highlight the supplier’s success in meeting the core performance objectives.
P E R F O R M A N C E R E S U LT S To date, Ogden has purchased and installed approximately 115 vending machines. By implementing an end-to-end supply chain with point-of-use vending machines, such as MRO cabinets and lockers, the tools and shop stock are more readily accessible to the mechanic. This capability has significantly contributed to providing the warfighter a level of support never before seen, especially in the areas of returning aircraft and spare parts back to the customer faster. In fact, the vending machines reduced travel time by 87.5% and reduced non-productive time valued at $83,000 each month, among many other realized cost savings that were uncovered by a post implementation cost savings study.
After contract VMI agreements are “win, win” award, the governfor the government and supplier. ment worked closeWhile, the Air Force is aggresly with the supplier sively interested in ways to to implement the reduce operating and sustaincreative solutions ment costs by 10% before FY11, with minimal a VMI program is merely one impact to operapiece of the equation to help tional requirements. achieve this goal. The cost Likewise, first and accounting system and sales volsecond line superviume discount benefits derived sors off the shop by the government are comfloor and supplier pelling reasons for the engaged in techniDepartment of Defense to cal interchange embrace more VMI programs meetings to discuss with a sense of urgency. what constraints Strategically partnering with were hindering prosuppliers for commodities will duction performnot only improve operational ance. A collaboraperformance, but ultimately will tive working relaprovide the warfighter with "Point of Use" machines at Ogden Air Logistics Center have significantly reduced travel tionship between products faster and cheaper. time for mechanics to obtain materials they need to do their jobs. (Photo USAF) customer and supAre you ready to do your part? plier is the hallmark of a true strategic partnership. It paved the way for the govern- Maj Brad Archer is currently assigned as an Operations ment to integrate the VMI program without a hitch. In the end, Officer, 30th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Vandenberg Air the government and supplier agreed that VMI agreements will Force Base, California. He previously served in the Logistics continue to flourish in the future. Now it’s just a matter of time Career Broadening Program, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill to make this a reality and derive the financial benefits of leverAir Force Base, Utah. Special thanks to Maj Nic Clementz aging the government’s purchasing power. and Maj Rick Hughes for their contributions to this initiative and article. K 40
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Competitors Set for AMC Rodeo 2007
More than 55 U.S. and international teams are expected to participate in Air Mobility Command’s Rodeo 2007 which will be held at McChord Air Force Base, Washington from 22-28 July. Rodeos began in 1962 as a combat skills competition to develop and improve air mobility techniques and procedures. In 1979, Rodeo was expanded to include international air mobility partners. Rodeo competitions focus on readiness, and feature airdrop, air refueling, and other events showcasing security forces, aerial port, maintenance, and aeromedical evacuation personnel. This year’s Rodeo event will feature not only Air Mobility Command teams, but those from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and international competitors from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Nineteen other countries are sending observer teams. Stay tuned in an upcoming issue of the Exceptional Release for a more thorough look at Rodeo 2007. [Information on Rodeo 2007 was provided by YC-02 Jacquelynne Devine, HQ AMC PAO.]
VDATS: REVOLUTIONIZING AUTOMATIC TEST EQUIPMENT THE AIR FORCE WAY Dempsey Ventress shows off a VDATS unit to prospective users from other bases. The VDATS tester shown here is still under construction.
Shown here is a VDATS core tester (left) paired with an RF bay (right). These are being used to develop test software and not all of the cabling is installed.
Submitted by 1Lt Christopher Lundell People who have worked in avionics have an acute understanding of how important test equipment is to maintenance operations. Test stations are used to troubleshoot and diagnose problems. Furthermore, they certify the completion of correct repairs and the unit is ready to return to service. To be certain, there are some devices that can be repaired using bench equipment, knowledgeable technicians, and a lot of time. However, with the rising complexity of electronics, these examples are few and far between. Today, testers are so important that, quite frequently, production comes to a near stop when a tester breaks down. Therefore, the ability of a depot to keep its test equipment functioning properly can have a significant impact on their ability to support the needs of the warfighter. The Versatile Depot Automatic Test Station (VDATS) team at Warner-Robins AFB is working hard to get the first of a new breed of test station ready for the shop floor by the end of 2007. But, striving to get a tester ready for production on schedule is not what sets the VDATS program apart. The VDATS program is unique in the way the Air Force utilized personnel to develop an important system. In an age where the government depends more and more on industry to develop technology, the VDATS program stands apart as an example of how to make an organic development effort work.
W H Y V D AT S If you sometimes find yourself feeling nostalgic for old test equipment, then you have probably never worked in the 402d Electronics Maintenance Group (402 EMXG) avionics depot at Warner-Robins AFB. Technicians in the 402 EMXG find themselves frequently putting in extra effort to keep their 260 automatic test equipment (ATE) stations working. Maintaining a near 90% mission capable on these testers is quite challenging due to their complexity and age. The average ATE station in The COMETS tester is a patchwork of old equipment with a few upgrades. This is the last COMETS tester the 402 EMXG still uses. VDATS is scheduled to replace it in late 2007.
the 402 EMXG is 24 years old. Finding specifications, drawings, and parts for a tester manufactured in 1983 is very difficult. Colonel Dennis Daley, commander of the 402 EMXG, explained, “We definitely have problems with obsolescence. Over the years, we haven’t recapitalized on our test equipment like we should have because of funding constraints. So, as our equipment continues to age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain high production levels. These testers are critical to our AF avionics repair mission, but their growing unreliability has made them our primary constraint.” Keep in mind that 24 years is just an average. Many of the testers in the avionics depot make 1983 seem like yesterday. For example, 402 EMXG technicians still use the Computer-Operated Two VDATS core testers. Multifunction Electronics Test System (COMETS). The COMETS traces its origin to around 1968 when development supThe team was under pressure from the beginning to obligate $13M ported the Mark II avionics subsystem on the F-111D, but now diag- on VDATS by the end of FY06. In February 2006, the 402 EMXG noses the circuit cards in the Pave Penny system. While the station partnered with Colonel Dennis Beers’ 742d Combat Sustainment received a few upgrades over the years, much of the equipment in use Group (CBSG) and Ms Diane Suchan’s 402d Software dates back to the early 1970’s. Consequently, nearly all of the items Maintenance Group (SMXG) to assemble a team of program manlack support from their respective manufacturers and drop-in replace- agers, avionics production experts and software engineers from ments are hard to obtain. As a result, it often takes months to get across the Warner-Robin’s Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) to the COMETS back up and running when a piece of equipment fails. develop an acquisition strategy to meet aggressive schedule, techniAnother factor complicating the support of the test equipment in cal, and cost goals. After studying the situation, the team created the 402 EMXG is the many different types of testers. Over the “an-outside-the-box” plan relying on local government personnel to years, ATE development matched production needs of the avionics build the system. depot. In many cases, the specific requirements of the units to be tested drove the creation of special testers that cannot test other units. This proliferation of different types of ATE made it difficult to plan upgrades, gain economies of scale, pool spare parts, and have alternate testers available in the event one fails. Furthermore, instead of being able to deal with one set of issues, engineers and technicians reluctantly became experts on many different systems in order to keep them running.
This organic approach relied on each of the three distinct groups to contribute in areas aligned with their core competencies. The 742 CBSG, responsible for most automatic test platforms, served as the VDATS program office. The 402 EMXG provided hardware expertise and constructed the first set of testers. The 402 SMXG managed the software engineering aspects of the program. This utilization of the different functional areas allowed the VDATS team to address the many issues involved with systems acquisition.
Then there are contractor concerns. Many contracts include propriety rights over tester data; test equipment contractors are no different from other defense contractors in the amount of proprietary data they claim. All too often, decisions are made to save money in the short term and not buy data. This common practice can make finding critical data difficult for depot engineers. Consequently, this leads to much higher maintenance and troubleshooting costs compared to testers with adequate data packages. These factors contribute to a situation of declining test equipment support. Given how important test equipment is to depot maintenance operations, action was necessary.
Major Peter Lasch, the 742 CBSG VDATS Program Manager, described the working the relationship, “Ideally, the customer comes in with requirements and we match that to an existing tester. So, normally the working relationships between the program office and the depot aren’t this close. But, the organic approach required a lot more interaction between the groups. Fortunately, we worked really well together as a team.”
GOING ORGANIC Air Force leaders noticed the decline in tester supportability and decided to do something. In 2006, a team of test equipment experts at Warner-Robins AFB reviewed the options.
The VDATS tester never was a 100% solution to the avionics depot’s problems. Rather, it was intended to address 80% of the 402 EMXG’s immediate workload with the flexibility for increased capacity as funds became available. In the future, adding roll-up bays can provide necessary capability for most of the remaining workload, or additional software re-hosting can increase the breadth of individual VDATS testers. Continued on next page... EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE
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E R : V D AT S
Another expected However, the broad advantage of using a range of requirements common tester will dictated two versions be the ability to of VDATS from the move workload beginning. The basic around when testers version was the core fail. This will allow tester that tests digital work to continue and analog circuits by while the test itself. A roll-up bay equipment experts added to the core repair the failed tester enabled the tester. Mr. Ventress more advanced funce x p l a i n e d , tions for radio frequen“Probably the greatcy (RF) circuits. Both est advantage of the core tester and the VDATS will be the RF bay add-on can use Shown here is the terminal the operator uses to execute the programs run on the COMETS. ability to transport commercial-off-theworkload between shelf (COTS) components, but which COTS components still remains undetermined. different testers, which will provide immeasurable impact on convenience, cost savings, and services to the warfighter.” The software engineers used several criteria when choosing the components for the core tester and the RF bay. They teamed up All of these advantages have the production personnel in the with the vendors to avoid potential obsolescence issues and 402 EMXG excited about the arrival of VDATS. The first checked with the manufacturers to make sure that the compo- VDATS unit, slated to replace the previously mentioned nents they picked were supportable by the manufacturer into the COMETS, is on schedule for delivery at the end of 2007. The near future. Additionally, the manufacturers agreed to notify the 402 EMXG plans to build 42 VDATS units over the next few government in advance of any plans to stop supporting the com- years. They should notice the benefits of a common tester as they use the 42 units in three different configurations to replace ponents. 80 testers in 25 different configurations.
THE FUTURE
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V D AT S
The avionics depot at Warner-Robins AFB invested heavily in VDATS. They invested $52M in transformation funds to rehost workload to the new tester and expect to complete the replacement by the end of FY10. At that point, VDATS will become the standard 402 EMXG tester. The 402 EMXG has high expectations for the new tester and is looking forward to the advantages of the system. Mr. Demsey Ventress, the EMXG lead engineer on VDATS, elaborated on some of those advantages. He said, “The commonality of having just one tester will have several advantages. For starters, spares will be easier to manage because there won’t be as many one-of-a-kind components. Secondly, operator training will be simplified because there will only be one system to learn. That also means we won’t lose corporate knowledge when somebody is promoted or retires because there will be other people who know the system.” In addition, the VDATS team anticipates the open architecture design will be a great benefit for the users. Open architecture will not only help reduce the impact of equipment obsolescence, but also will make upgrades easier and less costly.
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The team believes that 402 EMXG is not the only group that will eventually use the VDATS. The other two Air Force ALCs and the Army expressed interest in the System. Major Lasch described the future expansion plans for VDATS, “We’re looking at VDATS to be the common tester for WR-ALC, maybe not the only one, but reducing the number of testers will definitely be a big help. We’re also encouraging the other ALCs to look at VDATS where it is a good fit to reduce their number of tester configurations. The Army is interested in the system as well. However, all of them are waiting to see tit work. Once we’re able to produce units off of VDATS, they’ll be able to make a better determination of what is involved.”
A D VA N TA G E S
OF THE
ORGANIC APPROACH
In many cases, it is not possible for the government to develop systems using organic resources. Contracts with industry partners are especially necessary when the government lacks the knowledge, time, and/or ability to create the proper solution. But when feasible, organic development offers many important advantages. Organic development creates government experts on the systems and reduces dependency on contractor knowledge. Mr. Ventress
stated, “Developing the system in-house provided a great opportunity for on-the-job training for the engineers and technicians that will have to support this station in the future.” Furthermore, the organic development effort eliminates the problem of proprietary data. Since the government chose commercial-off-the-shelf components and demanded the use of open system architectures, the Air Force does not need to worry about not being able to support VDATS because they lack the necessary drawings and technical data. This makes future upgrades and support much more cost effective to the government. Mr. Ventriss said, “One of the key advantages of VDATS is that we won’t have to worry about proprietary data rights. This will allow us many more options for supporting the stations in the future.” Major Lasch agreed, “The level of documentation we’re getting for VDATS is amazing. We’re getting level three engineering drawings—that’s almost unheard of.” The VDATS program proved it is not always cheaper to outsource system design. The VDATS core tester will cost approximately $850K per copy, while the RF bay will cost roughly $500K per unit. While this may seem expensive, the government expects to save over $20M on the construction of the first 31 test stations versus the projected costs of a GSA buy for a similar tester.
“It’s a unique way to develop a system. It’s definitely a lot of work, but the advantages in this case far outweigh the effort. We learned a lot by handling the project organically. One thing is for sure, to make it work you need to have product experts. We had experienced experts who have spent a lot of time supporting test stations, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for us. If you have the right level of expertise, an organic approach would be a good way to develop a system.” Most of the advantages of using an organic approach are bigger than just a short-term cost reduction. The ability to streamline the acquisition process and customize it to the needs of the Air Force will save the government much more in the long run. Using an organic development approach, the VDATS team created a tester that will be easier to support by avoiding some of the typical pitfalls associated with contract efforts. The avoidance of proprietary data issues, opportunity to develop in-house expertise, and elimination of dependence on time-consuming and costly contracts greatly enhances the supportability of VDATS for the future. 1Lt Christopher Lundell is an electrical engineer in the 402 EMXG at Robins AFB responsible for over 700 pieces of test equipment. K
Major Lasch summed up the organic development experience,
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Logistici
Logisticians’ Library
Logisticians’ Library
ogisticians’ Library
Logisticians’ Library Welcome to the first book review of the newly developed Logisticians’ Library, a focused reading list. The focus of the Logistics Officer Association is training our replacements and sharing ideas. The LOA Logisticians’ Library is one of the tools at your disposal. The reading list includes books on mentorship, leadership, logistics and the current global military environment. Fittingly, the first book’s theme is mentorship. Each quarter, a book review will be written and published in the Exceptional Release. Book reviews will also be available on the website at www.loanational.org.
We look forward to your feedback – comments can be sent to
infoofficer@loanational.org
If you are a mentor, I recommend you read this book before you read anything else. If you aren’t a mentor, I’m certain that after reading this book you will be convinced to become one. Enjoy. Do you endeavor to improve your organization? Are you struggling with how to mentor those that work for you? Do you strive to be the best officer/civilian/contractor that you can be? If your answer is “absolutely”, then Developing the Leaders Around You, by Dr. John C. Maxwell is the book for you. Dr. John C. Maxwell boasts a long history of studying and working in the mentorship field. He has written numerous books of the topic of leadership and he possesses a special knack for breaking down leadership clichés into easy to understand and, more importantly, easy to apply principles. Dr. Maxwell draws many of his lessons from his real life experiences as a pastor—but don’t let that scare you off. As you read the book, you will appreciate that leading a large religious organization is every bit as challenging as any other. As such, Dr. Maxwell’s principles are applicable to the military – especially if your unit has a variety of skills, variety of personalities and variety of agendas. The focus of Developing the Leaders Around You is mentoring, but the book begins by highlighting the power of teams. The author often points out the obvious, but ties it to not so obvious and he does so in this introductory story. The obvious is that teams win championships, not individuals. The not so obvious is that the key to continued championships is not only having the best athletes, but continuing to develop the best athletes that you have. Dr. Maxwell spends the rest of the book describing how to develop the “best athletes” around you. Dr. Maxwell first asks us to ask ourselves: “Am I raising potential leaders?” He believes that an organization’s growth potential will be solely determined by its people and so it is imperative for leaders to reproduce leaders. As military leaders, we
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might find this concept elementary since we attend never ending professional military courses on leadership. But these courses focus on personal leadership development and how to lead others effectively. Do we really know how to develop other leaders? To that end, I believe the most important chapter in the book is “Identifying Potential Leaders.” The author argues in order to develop the most effective leaders you need to surround yourself with those that have the most potential.
Logisticians’ L i b r a r y B o o k s h e l f SUMMER 2007
Dr.
Maxwell defies the old adage “I don’t know how to define it, but I’ll know it when I see it” as he easily describes the characteristics of a potential leader—something that we will all find useful.
MENTORSHIP Developing the Leaders Around You, John C. Maxwell How Good People Make Tough Choices, Rushworth M. Kidder
Maxwell finishes the book by explaining how to “Coach a
LEADERSHIP
dream team of leaders.” He outlines several characteristics of
The Leadership Moment, Michael Useem
a dream team coach to include communicating the plan,
Leading Strategic Change, J. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen
knowing the team members preferences and providing support—uniquely focused on developing the dream team of leaders for as opposed to leading the dream team. My only criticism of this book (and other books by this author that I’ve read) is the over simplification of the extremely dynamic effort of leadership.
The lessons seem
common sense and the steps to success to good to be true. But I’d rather have him over simplify a difficult subject than
LOGISTICS: Lean Six Sigma for Service, Michael L. George Logistics of War, AFLMA
G L O B A L M I L I T A R Y E N V I R O N M E N T: Pentagon’s New Map, Thomas P.M. Barnett The World is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman
make it even more complicated. And so, for this very criti-
M I L I TA RY H I S T O RY
cism, this book is a great point of departure for any mentor –
Killer Angels, Michael Shaara
mentee relationship.
Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power, Victor Hanson
Developing the Leaders Around You is applicable to any organization but especially applicable to the logistics community
HAVE
where we are dedicated to training our replacements and shar-
THE
ing ideas. I’m convinced once you read this book, you’ll be
BOOK YOU WOULD LIKE TO WRITE A REVIEW OF FOR
convicted and empowered to develop the leaders around you. Major Stephanie Halcrow is a student at the Naval
THE
A BOOK YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND FOR
LOGISTICIANS’ LIBRARY
READING LIST?
LOGISTICIANS’ LIBRARY?
SIMPLY
HAVE
A
SUBMIT THE
NAME OF THE BOOK AND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION AS TO WHY YOU RECOMMEND IT TO INFOOFFICER@LOANATIONAL.ORG OR EDITOR@LOANATIONAL.ORG.
Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. K
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CGO Corner “DEPUTY” LEADERSHIP Walking across the stage to receive the Mission Support Group company grade officer of the quarter award from the commander I could not help but smile – to think only eight months ago I was less than optimistic about my assignment as Deputy Installation Deployment Officer (IDO). I had just finished a fantastic tour as an aerial port flight commander leading and working beside some of America’s finest and it
Capt Vianesa Vargas
was inspiring! I had been blessed with an unmatched superintendent who seemingly knew how to handle every crisis. I had my own secretary, a huge office, and most importantly I had free reign to carry out the taskings given to my flight by the squadron commander. Everyday I marveled at the idea that so much responsibility was riding on me and my actions – this was the kind of company grade leadership challenge I had studied about as a cadet! I was equally thrilled about moving on to my first Logistics Readiness Squadron (LRS). As a captain I was sure that I would end up leading one of the unit’s seven flights.
However, these thoughts quickly
vanished during my initial meeting with the commander as he explained that he had big plans for me as
ER: CGO CORNER
the deputy IDO. I would be “assisting” the IDO (a major) manage Osan’s massive wartime and exercise reception/beddown program.
Capt Ernest Cage
Of course I did not express my disappointment directly with the comman-
der’s decision but, needless to say, I was extremely unsure about this new posting. Upon arriving at the readiness flight building I was greeted by the superintendent who showed me to my cubical strategically located directly outside of the flight commander’s office; what a slap in the face I thought to myself.
As I sat at my desk reviewing
some continuity books the flight commander, my new boss — Major Antonio Vargas walked in and greeted me with a loud California “dude!” I could not help but laugh; I needed a good laugh that day and it would not be the last… The past eight months have been some of the best in my Air Force career to date.
The squadron commander was dead on with
his initial assessment and I am grateful for his foresight. Serving as Osan’s deputy IDO has allowed me to touch and work wing wide issues that would have been distant news as a functional area flight commander. It would seem that at least twice weekly a hot O-6/O-7 issue needs to be worked immediately. Major Vargas draws up a plan of attack we select a course of action and it is off to the fire fight – guns blazing. It’s always a team effort and I cherish the opportunity to be mentored daily by a field grade officer.
The wing leadership knows us both by name and where the Major goes I’m not to far behind.
While not many captains will find themselves “deputized” within a squadron after flight command almost all lieutenants will spend their first two years as deputy flight commanders, or assistant officers in charge (OIC). To assist these officers through their first test of “tough leadership” I have put together the “The Deputy’s Rules to Success.” These six guidelines have helped me turn what I thought would be a mediocre assignment into a very memorable and rewarding tour.
C H E C K Y O U R E G O AT T H E D O O R The key to your success as the number two is to first accept the fact that you are not running the show. Rather use the skills and knowledge you have gained to compliment your boss’s leadership style. As you build a working relationship and trust, you will be given more leverage to exercise increased authority. Remember first impressions are lasting – bite your lip and drive on!
KNOW WHEN TO SPEAK Never try to out do your boss in a public forum unless specifically asked for a second opinion; even then tread with caution. Making 48
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a leader look bad in front of others is the quickest way to loose trust. This is not to say you should be seen and not heard—to the contrary you must be an advocate for the flight’s mission and the boss’s priorities, policies, and ideas.
BECOME A KEY MEMBER
OF THE LEADERSHIP TEAM In many cases there will not be a required list of daily tasks for you to complete as a deputy. Rather your taskings will come from your boss as he/she tries to mitigate the huge workload that comes with running a flight. Step up to plate and embrace each assignment given to you with passion and enthusiasm. Each tasking you complete will only increase your credibility with the boss. Also strive to own a process; whether that be completing a weekly report or attending a meeting. This will keep you on the boss’s radar screen and allow you to learn even more about the workings of the organization. Additionally, stay close to your SNCOs; at every opportunity you should latch yourself onto them and learn about enlisted leadership methodologies. Their opinions about your performance will have a great deal of weight on your boss’s decision to give you more responsibility.
GET
TO KNOW YOUR AIRMEN While you may not directly supervise any personnel it is still your responsibility to get to know the Airmen who work in your organization. As an officer you must exercise basic leadership daily regardless of duty title – your Airmen demand it! Understanding the goals or problems your subordinates may have will allow you to help the boss handle these issues more effectively. Your Airmen will also appreciate your concern for their well being.
GET
IN THE WEEDS While the boss will undoubtedly be tasked with endless meetings, and mountains of EPRs and decorations, you will probably find yourself with some downtime. Use these precious moments to become an expert in the mission of your shop. Interrogate the AFIs, and T.O.s and then go out and ask your Airmen to show you how to complete the task. You will be surprised at how excited they will be to involve you. Your knowledge will impress them and gain you creditability with your subordinates and superiors.
WAT C H Y O U R B O S S U P C L O S E
A N D F R O M A FA R You can learn a lot about leadership and how to run a flight just by observing. As the number two you should know your boss’s routine and the hot issues he/she is handling at any given time. Additionally, mentorship is a key part of development and it does not have to come from a Colonel or General to help you succeed. Your boss can give you much insight into what to do and what not to do. You will also see many things during your daily routine that you would like to emulate or steer clear of. Lastly, be ready to step up and take the reins of the organization if your boss goes TDY or gets deployed. The best way to prove to the leadership that you are ready for your own shop is to do an outstanding job as an interim leader – that is how I got my first flight command. In closing, I think the adage “grow where you are planted” describes my tour at Osan perfectly. I arrived assuming I would be selected for yet another flight command but I will leave having served as a deputy—an experience that has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. Hang tough; your time will come and when it does you will be well prepared to succeed. My next article in the winter edition of the “ER” will be from the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center as I start my two year journey as an Air Force Logistics Career Broadener. The CGO Corner is written by Captain Vianesa Vargas is the squadron operations officer, 60th Aerial Port Squadron, Travis AFB, California and Capt “Nest” Cage, who is currently, Deputy IDO and Chief, Base War Reserve Materiel and Support Agreements Management, 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron, Osan AB, Korea. For comments, submissions or questions about the CGO Corner please email CGOCORNER@LOANational.org K
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Chapter Crosstalk MIDDLE GEORGIA CHAPTER – WARNER ROBINS AFB, GA Submitted by: Capt Brad Douglass
E R : C H A P T E R C R O S S TA L K
The Middle Georgia Chapter had an exciting three months to offer local and regional members. In February our very own Maj Gen Tom Owen, WR-ALC Commander, discussed how LOA membership benefited him over his distinguished career. We followed that discussion in March with a Lockheed Martin facility tour in Marietta, GA. Lockheed executives provided updates on the F-22, C-130J, and C-5 AMP programs and concluded with a tour of the F-22 and C-130J production lines.
We then began April hosting Moody AFB, Shaw AFB, Charleston AFB, Seymour Johnson AFB, and Eglin AFB chapters for a southeast regional visit. LOA members heard briefings on WR-ALC operations from wing leadership followed by tours of the F-15 wing shop, Electronics Maintenance Group, and the C-17, C-130 and F-15 PDM lines. We finished the day in the 116th Air Control Wing (JSTARS) simulators and met afterwards for a dinner social to network and have fun! The following morning we concluded the visit with a Boeing manufacturing tour of the C-17 flight controls, doors, and assemblies in Macon, GA. It was a great opportunity for all and we look forward to future visits.
NORTHERN LIGHTS CHAPTER – ELMENDORF AFB, AK Submitted by: Maj Jeff King After more than two years of relative inactivity, the Northern Lights Chapter leapt back into action with the appointment of a new cadre in Sep 06. During that time, local participation has grown from about 6 to 36 active members, and we have held a variety of developmental activities. Among our first initiatives was to create Community Service and Professional Development Lead positions on the Exec Council in an effort to expand developmental opportunities for our CGOs. In addition, we’re making great strides in expanding our AF Civilian membership, and are working hard to bring local Army, Navy, ANG/AFR, and retired loggies into the chapter. We made surviving CGO Force Shaping the topic of our Sep 06 meeting, where we had a personnel officer brief the 50
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ins and outs of the process to LOA CGOs and leadership. In addition, we were fortunate to have Col James Harrold, 3 MSG/CC, share his insights from serving on last year’s force shaping board. In Nov 06, we combined forces with the local chapter of the National Defense Transportation Association in hosting Gen Duncan McNabb, AMC/CC, for a LOA Lunch. Gen McNabb gave an update on Air Mobility Command and shared his insights on the way ahead for the command, as well as issues loggies should keep on the front burner. In Feb 07, we focused the meeting on force shaping once again. This time the 3 MSS MPF Commander addressed the FGO RIF to help our field graders prepare for the upcoming boards. In Mar 07, the 3 WG hosted Col (ret) Dave Nakayama as the guest speaker for our Annual Maintenance Award Banquet. Col Nakayama is a career maintenance officer, currently serving as the WR-ALC/CC’s Director of Staff. He briefed the Elmendorf community on his experiences as a maintenance member on the Space Shuttle Columbia mishap investigation team, and he gave our chapter membership a WR-ALC “Depot 101” brief. In Apr, we kicked off the first of our developmental tours by visiting 3 LRS’s Aero Delivery section whose unique, joint mission is the airdrop of personnel and cargo in support of combat operations.
Col Mike Arceneaux (left), 3 MXG/CC and Col (ret) Dave Nakayama, WRALC/DS, at the 3 WG’s Annual Maintenance Awards Banquet.
The 3 MXG cleaned up at the 3 WG’s Annual Maintenance Awards Banquet winning 5 of 6 categories at the PACAF level (every one we competed in), and 3 EMS went on to win the AF-level MEA. 3 MXG Sq/CCs being presented with their PACAF Maintenance Effectiveness Awards. You’ll be hearing much more from the Northern Lights Chapter arctic warriors in the months ahead!
JAMES RIVER CHAPTER – RICHMOND, VA
3 MXG SqCCs receive PACAF MX Effectiveness Awards: Pictured from left to right: Brig Gen Hawk Carlisle, 3 WG/CC; Lt Col Michael Novotny, 703 AMXS/CC; Lt Col Shannon Cooper, 3 MOS/CC; Lt Col Curt Hafer, 3 AMXS/CC; Maj Ray Platt, 3 EMS/CC; Maj Jeff King, 3 CMS/CC.
Submitted by Col Carl A. Buhler, Colonel, USAF During the past quarter, the James River Chapter grew by 27 percent, to include members from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, civilians, and contractors. On 6 Feb 07, Col Rick Matthews, LOA National President, spoke with chapter members at a luncheon … we were re-invigorated by his words on LOA, mentoring, and the way ahead. Also, on 6 Apr 07, chapter members toured the Richmond DuPont facility and were treated to demonstrations of Nomex and Kevlar fabrics. Lastly, on 27 Apr 07, fourteen chapter members were hosted by the “Thunderbirds” for a “behind-thescenes” tour, a briefing on “Thunderbird Logistics,” and a practice demonstration. Continued on next page... EXCEPTIONAL RELEASE
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KANALOA CHAPTER – HONOLULU, HI Submitted by: Lt Col Rodney M. Mason, Chapter President As the new Chapter president I want to thank Capt Glen Kaufman, Capt Camika Lopez and Lt Col Ben Alley for there leadership over the past year. Many thanks from our chapter membership and best wishes for continued success as Logistics leaders. The past few months for the Kanaloa Chapter have offered members some great opportunities. Mr. Richard May, our local Lockheed rep, presented an informative briefing on the F-35 Lightening II, the new Joint Strike Fighter. After the briefing, Chapter members received “stick time” in the F-35 flight simulator to test their air-to-air and air-to-ground skills. We’re now all F-35 trained killers.
Mr. May providing F-35 briefing
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Only two weeks later we had the distinct pleasure of hosting MG (ret) Dennis Haines, Col (ret) Thomas Belisle and CMSAF Gerald Murray (ret) from Lockheed, as they briefed us on another “fifth-generation” fighter, the F-22 Raptor. Gen Haines was also a guest speaker for a Professional Development luncheon on the shore of Pearl Harbor. He spoke to us about leadership in the Air Force and how it transfers over to the civilian workforce. The luncheon ended with all three leaders answering questions from Chapter members. The momentum continues with a Professional Development breakfast as we head into May, featuring Mr. Michael Aimone, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support as our guest speaker. Additionally, a Professional Development luncheon is planned with Gen Bruce Carlson, AFMC/CC. We’ll wrap-up the month of June at a joint social with our Navy logistics partners and capitalizing on our multi-service location, the PACFLT/N4 will provide his perspective from a Navy logistics point of view.
Brig Gen Bruno, PACAF/A4, flying the F-35 Simulator
Hawaii’s Kanaloa Chapter has a focus toward growing logisticians in a joint environment, logisticians for tomorrow.
GUARDIANS OF THE NORTH — MINOT AFB, NORTH DAKOTA Submitted by Capt Chris Barushak, 1Lt Sean Bojanowski, 1Lt Jon O’Brien, 1Lt Joe Hyun and 1Lt Tracy Maestas Excitement is in the air here at Minot AFB, and it’s not because it’s finally warm either! Continuing our rich tradition of quality speakers, we received a close-up look at EAGLE FLAG logistics, briefed by our Mission Support Group Commander, Colonel Glenn Lang. We then hosted Colonel Jeff Synder, Air Combat Command’s Chief of Maintenance Management, who offered us timeless guidance regarding officer professional development teams and Force Shaping. We are also hosting another class of PALACE ACQUIRE interns from Tinker AFB in May! In fundraising, we recently held our first Texas Hold’Em Poker Tournament, raising $1,600, our largest in chapter history! We are also hosting our second annual LOA golf tournament as well! Our upcoming activities include a first-rate briefing on LEAN, Six Sigma and AFSO 21, in addition to our USSTRATCOM visit in May. We welcome all LOA members to come see what’s going on up North!! https://afkm.wpafb.af.mil/ASPs/CoP/OpenCoP.asp?Filter=OO-LG-AC-20
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First and Second Place winners of 1st LOA Texas Hold’Em Tournament: MSgt Derick Wilson (2nd Place) and Mr. Harold Davis (1st Place) with our newly designed LOA Plaque
RAINIER CHAPTER – MCCHORD AFB, WA Submitted by: Maj Alesia Quiton The Rainier Chapter has had a busy few months. Members enjoyed a tour of the Boeing Test and Engineering location in Seattle. They learned about the many aspects of fielding new systems, and about the logistics of conducting test flights. Rainier chapter members also enjoyed a briefing by Mr. Rick Hansen of ShipRex Inc on the logistics of underwater salvage operations. Finally, the chapter is two squadrons into our cross-functional squadron tours intended to educate logisticians in all career fields on how other logisticians contribute to the mission. Upcoming events our members can look forward to include more cross-functional squadron tours, a tour to a local naval submarine base, and our upcoming golf tournament which will generate funds for our annual scholarship.
RAZORBACK CHAPTER – LITTLE ROCK AFB, AR The Razorback Chapter has had an extremely productive first half of 2007 and we look to continue our success. The year started off with the election of a new executive council and our first meeting at the 373rd Training Squadron. The Training Squadron proudly boasted their 21st century, state-of-the-art training facility for the Air Force’s C-130 maintenance personnel. The facility included full-size trainers for the landing gear system, on and off wing engine maintenance, and a complete aircraft trainer containing actual size aircraft fuselage, cockpit, wing and tail sections. They have also integrated the most advanced simulators and software systems into the training program to give Airmen the most advanced visual and technical aids available. In addition, our Razorback Chapter traveled to Hurlbert Field and Eglin AFB, FL in April where the local LOA chapters hosted a fantastic three day tour. We were given the opportunity to experience the Air Force’s most advanced climatic and J-PRIMES test facilities. Little Rock was also able to experience the Aerial Extraction System shop at Hurlbert Field, where they palletize cargo, as-well-as fold and pack parachutes in preparation for aerial drops of needed supplies in remote locations. Our Razorback Chapter was also able to gain insight into the hidden world of Special Operations Command where we witnessed the first CV-22 Osprey to be owned by SOC. Finally, we visited Hurlbert’s C-130 ISO inspection facility to benefit from some cross-tell between C130 organizations. Our Razorback Chapter looks to continue our success as next month’s schedule kicks off with a luncheon with Maj Gen Thomas J. Owen, commander, WRALC. K
LOA Razorback Chapter visit’s Eglin AFB.
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Air Force Maintenance Community Announces Award Winners ER: AIR FORCE MAINTENANCE COMMUNITY AWARDS
WASHINGTON – The Air Force maintenance community honored its heroes from past and present on May 3 during its annual awards banquet in Washington D.C. Hosted by Brig. Gen Kathleen D. Close, Director of Maintenance, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, the banquet honored the Air Force Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Outstanding Aircraft/Munitions/Missile Maintenance Award winners and the Air Force Maintenance Effectiveness Award winners. “As the Air Force approaches its 60th Anniversary, aircraft, munitions and missile maintainers can be proud of the critical role they’ve played keeping safe, reliable aircraft in the air and bombs on target,” said General Close. Air Force maintainers trace their heritage back to the first enlisted airman, Corporal Edward Ward, an accomplished aircraft mechanic responsible for maintaining the Wright Brother’s “Wright Flyer” during flight testing at Fort Myer, Va., in 1908. At the heart of the annual gala event were 14 individual Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Outstanding Maintenance Award winners and seven unit Maintenance Effectiveness Award winners from across the Air Force. Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney McKinley provided the key note address and retired Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez, the former Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics and Engineering, Headquarters United States Air Force, was on hand to help present the awards.
T H E 2 0 0 6 L I E U T E N A N T G E N E R A L L E O M A R Q U E Z O U T S TA N D I N G A I R C R A F T M A I N T E N A N C E AWA R D W I N N E R S : FIELD GRADE MANAGER – Lt. Col. Leif C. Johnson, 436th Maintenance Group, Dover AFB, Del., Air Mobility Command COMPANY GRADE MANAGER – Capt. Timothy A. Smith, 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif., Air Mobility Command
SUPERVISOR MANAGER – Master Sgt. Jimmy D. Winn, Jr, 718th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Kadena AB, Japan, Pacific Air Forces TECHNICIAN SUPERVISOR – Tech. Sgt. Andrew C. Jewell, 52d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Spangdahlem AB, Germany, United States Air Forces Europe TECHNICIAN – Senior Airman Michael T. Copenhaver, 43rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Pope AFB, N.C., Air Mobility Command
CIVILIAN MANAGER – Mr. Brent T. Inman, 402nd Maintenance Wing, Robins AFB, Ga., Air Force Materiel Command CIVILIAN TECHNICIAN –Mr. Robert Gentili, 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif., Air Mobility Command 54
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THE 2006 LIEUTENANT GENERAL LEO MARQUEZ OUTSTANDING MUNITIONS/MISSILE MAINTENANCE AWARD WINNERS: FIELD GRADE MANAGER – Lt. Col. Matthew S. Poissot, 36th Munitions Squadron, Andersen AFB, Guam, Pacific Air Forces COMPANY GRADE MANAGER – Capt. Nathan B. Mitchell, 7th Munitions Squadron, Dyess AFB, Texas, Air Combat Command SUPERVISOR MANAGER – Master Sgt. Ramon E. Barajas, 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz., Air Education and Training Command
TECHNICIAN SUPERVISOR – Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Poole, 16th Helicopter Maintenance Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla., Air Force Special Operations Command
TECHNICIAN – Senior Airman James R. Register, 52nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Spangdahlem AB, Germany, United States Air Forces Europe
CIVILIAN MANAGER – Mr. Herbert R. Wilkins, Jr, 62nd Maintenance Squadron, McChord AFB, Wash., Air Mobility Command CIVILIAN TECHNICIAN – Mr. Jeffrey A. Schlinger, 46th Maintenance Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla., Air Force Materiel Command
T H E 2 0 0 6 M A I N T E N A N C E E F F E C T I V E N E S S AWA R D W I N N E R S : CATEGORY 1: MUNITIONS/MISSILE – 48th Munitions Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, United States Air Forces Europe
CATEGORY 2: SMALL MAINTENANCE – 325th Maintenance Operations Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla., Air Education and Training Command
CATEGORY 3: MEDIUM OFF-EQUIP MAINTENANCE – 436th/512th Component Maintenance Squadrons, Dover AFB, Del., Air Mobility Command
CATEGORY 4: LARGE MAINTENANCE – 3rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Pacific Air Forces
CATEGORY 5: MEDIUM ON-EQUIP AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE – 347th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Moody AFB, Ga., Air Combat Command
CATEGORY 6: LARGE ON-EQUIP AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE – 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Langley AFB, Va., Air Combat Command
CATEGORY 7: ORGANIC DEPOT AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE – 402nd Maintenance Wing, Robins AFB, Ga., Air Force Materiel Command Additionally, the following units were selected to compete for the 2006 Secretary Of Defense Phoenix Trophy.
SECDEF SMALL: 6th Maintenance Squadron, MacDill AFB, Fla., Air Mobility Command SECDEF SMALL: 325th Maintenance Operations Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla., Air Education and Training Command SECDEF MEDIUM: 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Langley AFB, Va., Air Combat Command SECDEF MEDIUM: 48th Munitions Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, United States Air Forces Europe
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Milestones MAJ HALL SEBREN
WRITES:
CAPT EDDIE ADAMS
On the move to C Springs to be an AOC at USAFA. LCBP for the first 2 years and 388 FW for the last year here have been outstanding. Great to see the chapter go from no kidding 8 people at the first meeting I attended to more than 100 at the last one. Recommend Hill, AFMC and ACC sides, to anyone and everyone.
CAPT BUDDY ELLIOTT, JR.
WRITES:
I just finished the Logistics Career Broadening Program at Robins ALC and I am heading to Randolph AFB in the great state of TX. I am the new LRO CGO assignments guy. I look forward to working with all the LROs AF wide. See you in DC and “How bout them Cowboys!”
ER: MILESTONES
LT COL (RET) RICHARD BRAUD
WRITES:
I have recently retired from active duty and will be remaining in the San Antonio area. It was a wonderful career and I want to say “Thank You” to any and all who might have helped me along the way.
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WRITES:
My wife and I recently said goodbye to the 27FW at Cannon AFB, New Mexico enroute to bigger and better things at Eglin AFB, FL. I am now currently assigned to 33MXS and look forward to working with the outstanding NOMADS.
LT COL MARK ROSE
WRITES:
We just completed a quick move from Hickam AFB, where I was the HQ PACAF/A4MM Maintenance Policy and Programs branch chief since Jun 05, to Shaw AFB where I just took command of the 20th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. We enjoyed Honolulu and the PACAF folks a great deal, but being back “on the line” is always an E-ticket ride!
MAJ ESPIRITO MELLER
WRITES:
I have joined the Reserves. Commuting to Hill AFB to do my part time duties. Jen and I are moving to Portland, OR this summer. Take care all! 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