Airman earns $10,000 with a simple IDEA

  • Published
  • By David Bedard
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) --  While performing a routine test procedure, a 90th Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons expediter's heart sunk when he heard a sound no maintainer ever wants to hear -- crunch.

He had accidentally damaged an F-22 Raptor configurable rail launcher that mounts the fighter's AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles. The Airman reported the incident to senior 90th AMU weapons expediter, Tech. Sgt. Joshua Lopez. Upon closer inspection, Lopez verified the Airman had followed the technical order data to the letter.

The process Lopez then initiated would quickly earn him $10,000. Lopez said he determined the order of steps outlined in the TOD exposed the launcher detent assembly, which is responsible for weapons release, to damage during testing procedures. The quarterly check ensured the rail would successfully function when the pilot needed it in combat.

Lopez said he spoke to another technical sergeant who recently re-located from another F-22 base to see if the issue was widespread. It was. Though Lopez said he could have told his Airmen to perform a workaround, which contravened the established TOD, he instead decided to follow the official TOD change request procedure to ensure Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and other
installations' weapons expediters were within published guidance.

"(Weapons expediters) knew it wasn't right, and the way they would train the guys was a workaround, and I submitted the change request because workarounds are not how we operate," Lopez explained. "We have to follow our tech order line by line."

Lopez said the TOD steps themselves were accurate, but they were out of order. In his request, he suggested the steps reordered to ensure the $13,980 detent assemblies wouldn't be damaged during testing. The maintainer said TOD changes can be quite common, especially for relatively new equipment like the F-22.

"It's still a new jet, even though it's been here for four years," he said. "There are still things that can be improved."

After an hour's work, Lopez said he submitted the change request through the proper channels, and the change was promptly evaluated and approved by officials at Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center, at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

Once approved, Lopez said he initiated the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness process with help from Lisandra Ortiz, the 673rd Air Base Wing IDEA coordinator .

"An IDEA is the submitter's own thought or a new application of an old principle," Lopez said. "Good ideas are those that are submitted in writing and include the current method, procedure, task, directive or policy affected. The IDEA also includes the proposed method, change or idea, and why the change would be beneficial to the Air Force and (Department of Defense)."

Ortiz said an IDEA must be submitted using the IDEA web link at https://ipds.randolph.af.mil, where a submitter creates a user profile. If the IDEA requires a separate improvement process, like a TOD change request as in Lopez' case, the approved forms must be submitted as confirmatory or after-the-fact SIP IDEAs.

Less than six months after submitting his initial paperwork, Lopez was presented with a check in the amount of $10,000.

"All these guys out there, when they submit a (TOD change request), they can get paid for it," Lopez said. "As long as they include what it's going to save the Air Force."

The Airman said his initial reasoning for submitting the change request was twofold.

"The most important consideration was maintaining the aircraft -- making sure the reliability and safety is there when the pilot needs it," Lopez said. "No. 2 is saving the Air Force money. It's something so simple in the long run that can cost the Air Force a lot of money."

Though he has been working with fighters for years, Lopez said he encourages an innovative mindset for younger Airmen when they encounter a problem or an area that can benefit by greater efficiency.

"We live and die by our tech data," he said. "However, we have to have our guys thinking outside the box -- ways to improve stuff. They have to think for themselves and not get in the mindset of being a robot, because we don't want that."