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AFSO 21 Streamlines Munitions

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Matthew Davis
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  A team of Airmen from the 20th Maintenance Group here recently conducted a Rapid Improvement Event to improve the munitions reconciliation process as a part of Air Force Smart Operations of the 21st Century initiatives going on across the Air Force. 

The RIE shortened and standardized munitions and weapons crews' reconciliation process on the flightline and in the munitions storage area. 

The team of Airmen, comprised of different career fields throughout the maintenance community, each had a goal of providing inputs to "lean" the process and produce a beneficial outcome. 

The team analyzed the current process by breaking it down into individual steps. As a result, they discovered wasted time and effort and developed an action plan to eliminate the inefficiencies. 

"I didn't realize the amount of time and manpower going into a task until it was broken down step by step," said Airman 1st Class Aimee Melvin,20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron precision guided munitions crew member. 

By the end of the week, the Airmen had operations running smarter, faster and cheaper. 

Part of the solution utilizes newly purchased munitions carts that cut down the number of trips munitions personnel make to and from the flightline, saving 5,940 gallons of fuel per year -- about $19,000 in savings. In addition, the use of the carts and process improvements implemented by the team will save an additional $131,000 in man hours. 

Finally, to ensure success, understanding and implementation of the solution, an operating instruction has been drafted to standardize the process between the flightline and munitions storage area. 

"It's a more efficient way of doing business and definitely saves man hours and fuel" said Master Sgt. Thomas Childress, 20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron conventional maintenance assistant NCO in charge.