Squadron Airmen improve following improvement event

  • Published
  • By Ashley Cisek
  • 9th Reconissiance Wing Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --  Airman from the 9th Munitions Squadron hosted a Rapid Improvement Event March 30 thru April 3 as part of the Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century here.

The event was held to identify key issues with the mobility recovery bin process and to find plausible solutions to help resolve them. By lacking a standardized process, the 9th MUNS was unable to accurately evaluate them.

"We are an Air Force level schoolhouse that teaches combat ammunition planning and production to every ammunition troop," Capt. Matthew Drossner 9th MUNS said. "The focus of this event was to inject the recovery process into our curriculum and develop standard practices tactics, techniques and procedures for redeployment."

The 9th MUNS hosts a one of a kind class where students come to learn the basic skills to be deployment ready. The mobility bins they utilize during their training contain the equipment ammunition troops use in the field during actual deployments. Once the training is over the bins are recovered by the 9th MUNS, however, lacking a standardized recovery process, the bins usually are not serviceable. This causes an unneeded waste in manpower.

The overall goal of the RIE was to assist the 9th MUNS in establishing a standardized process which would lead to 100 percent serviceable kits and trained students. These goals ultimately cut service time from four hours to two. Additionally, the standardized process would teach the students how to better prepare their bins for return on actual deployments which impact the entire Ammunition Systems career field.

The planned process enabled the 9th MUNS to significantly increase productivity and energy efficiency while sustaining safe and reliable operations.

"The solutions were identified during the RIE and are currently being drafted. They will be implemented during the next Air Force Combat Ammunition Center class," Captain Drossner said. "As with any AFSO 21 event, the processes put in place will be evaluated and modified as needed to save time and eliminate waste."

Aside from the solutions the event established, RIE also opened the eyes to some Airmen on how the Air Force is striving to meet their initiatives for the AFSO 21.

"I have a new found respect for the planning and business formula the Air Force is using," Senior Airman Theopolis Austin, 9th MUNS, said.

Air Force Smart Operations for the 21 Century uses RIEs to assist in maximizing value and minimizing waste in many Air Force processes. Similar events have taken place across the board in many different career fields to establish processes for improvements. These events are designed to employ the ideas of all members to support finding solutions to common concerns.

"The [RIE] brought a bunch of people together, all with different ranks and experiences. It allowed everyone's voice to be heard and come up with mutually agreed upon solutions to the problem," Captain Drossner said.

For more information about AFSO 21, visit http://www.af.mil/afso21.asp.

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