Changes to inspection model improve readiness

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kimberly Hickey
  • 934th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL AIR RESERVE STATION --  Feb. 13, the Secretary of the Air Force Inspector General's office released a new Air Force Guidance Memorandum to AFI 90-201, The Air Force Inspection System, that changes the way the Air Force conducts and oversees its inspection processes.

Lt. Col. Michael Auel, 934th AW readiness officer, theorized the changes introduced were driven by the need to cut costs.

"It's definitely budget-driven," he said. "If we do a Readiness Assistance Visit, an Operational Readiness Exercise and an Operational Readiness Inspection, the wing will spend close to three million dollars. We spend almost a million dollars per event, including man days. That's a lot of money ramping-up."

The traditional preparation or 'ramp-ups' to ORIs in the past have a cyclical pattern that will now be obsolete.

"The traditional way of doing these was as soon as the ORI was done, we'd dump everything and move on," said Master Sgt. Danielle Romero, 934th AW Readiness Office. "Now, they're pushing for a constant state of readiness."

What changes were introduced that will keep the 934th AW in a mandatory state of operational readiness and will also cut costs? Virtual inspections are the wave of the future.

"There is a much heavier emphasis on the Management Internal Controls Toolset now," said Auel. "It's a virtual set of checklists."

The checklists within MICT give Air Force Reserve Command inspectors specific snapshots of the wing's program management to determine if wing personnel are continually addressing their identified discrepancies within reasonable suspense dates, he said.

"Under the old system, there were discrepancies out there that were 500 to 600 days old or more, " said Auel. "That can't fly any longer because the inspectors are going to be watching them. There is more oversight into things."

And, there are consequences for units that do not report progress on their discrepancies or 'green up' on their checklists, meaning they report no discrepancies nor report how compliance was achieved.

"They can perform surprise inspections," said Romero. "They actually encourage those. But, it's going to be about what is setting off those bells."

On-site inspections are currently set at every 24 months, with a possibility of every 30 months in the future, but nothing prevents them from stopping in with no notice, she said.

Reserve wings may be given some notice inspectors will be arriving, but it may be short.

"For a reserve wing, it's kind of hard to show up no-notice," said Auel. "But, they may give us limited notice."

Although the June ORI has been cancelled, the wing must still practice their operational skills and satisfy their annual checklist requirements.

The wing will still have an ORE in June, said Romero.

"We have to do an ORE every year," she said. "It's an annual requirement."

The nature of operational readiness is evolving with a de-emphasis on Ability to Survive and Operation activities involving 'MOPP-ing up' or practice using chemical warfare gear. However, it's still a skill the wing has to practice, said Auel.

"It will be more operational and more like downrange," said Romero, referring to the evolution of training.

The Inspector General's guidelines still require wings to practice ATSO skills, but not with as much emphasis as past years, she said.

"That's why we will still do an ATSO Rodeo," said Romero. "The rest of the exercise will include scenarios like Improvised Explosive Devices, exploding cars, and other explosives, more like downrange."

Training can also simulate mortar attacks, but without chemical gear, she said. A mass casualty scenario exercise is a possibility, too.

In order to assist the 934th AW Logistics Readiness Squadron and the wing's medical squadrons prepare for their specific MICT checklists, the wing may host three to four PDF lines per year. The exercises will assist LRS in achieving their requirement to process fifty percent of Unit Training Code's every two years, said Romero.

Romero expressed confidence that although the new inspection model will require some adjustment, the changes will be beneficial to the wing in preparing for future deployments.

"It's a lot of information that just came out. It's brand new right now, and AFRC has put together a Tiger Team to figure out how they're going to do this."

Romero emphasized the flexibility and freedom June's ORE will offer supervisors to include their younger Airmen, including those not slated to be players in the cancelled ORI.

"To me, this exercise in June is a time to take out the ones we always put into these exercises and give our younger ones a chance to get in and learn," she said. "Get the younger troops trained, and pass on that knowledge base. It's not an inspection, we should use it to train."