New inspection program transforms process, saves time, money

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jaimi L. Upthegrove
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  The Air Force is implementing a new inspection program, which will impact Homestead Air Reserve Base. The new Air Force Inspection System process began here in August 2013 and will culminate in a Capstone Event this summer.

"This new process puts more responsibility in the wing's hands and lets us inspect ourselves as we train and perform our mission, instead of training for one big inspection carried out by a large group of inspectors sent from headquarters," said Senior Master Sgt. Tony Romero, 482nd Fighter Wing Inspector General acting superintendent. "The intent is for continuous assessment, both internally and by AFRC."

The idea of preparing for a week-long command inspection or exercise is gone.

"The new Commander's Inspection Program gives the wing commander an immediate snapshot of base programs," said Chief Master Sgt. Katdo Robinson, 482nd FW interim command chief master sgt. "With the IG office driving the inspection intervals for the wing; the commander no longer has to request inspections from AFRC which is a huge cost savings."

In the past, some units would prepare for more than a year for one large scale readiness inspection. Now, when units hold their annual training and deploy, Wing Inspection Team members, who are hand-selected based on their subject matter expertise and integrity, will evaluate and assess units while they're training, making the process more efficient.

"Before, bases would spend a significant amount of money and time preparing for these inspections, not to mention the cost of sending out 100-150 inspectors," said Romero. "Now, the process will utilize anywhere from a handful, to no more than 50 designated inspectors to perform the assessment while the unit's event, or `muscle movement', is happening."

This change will save money and time. The units will be inspected as they train and maintain readiness instead of conducting that training in addition to preparing for large-scale inspections. Internal Staff Assistance Visits will also be established to assess unit administrative compliance.

"This new program allows individuals to focus on training for real world missions and not wasting time preparing for inspections," said Robinson. "Before, units would spend months preparing facilities and programs to impress higher headquarters. The new program is designed to evaluate the Wing's ability to effectively and safely execute its mission in real time."

Responsibility for the 482nd FW and the installation's operational readiness and compliance now lies with the Commander's Inspection Program. The wing commander executes this program through the IG and the Wing Inspection Team, versus a large group of inspectors.

The assessment process can be broken down into three parts.

Part one:

The wing commander will receive and send out a survey to the wing. It is designed for AFRC/IG to sense and measure four major graded areas in addition to the general climate of base personnel and certain programs.

Part two:

The wing will be evaluated on how it evaluates itself. Periodically, AFRC/IG directs Functional Area Managers to assess how units are performing and to document the assessments electronically.

Recently, the 482nd Operations Group and the 482nd FW Command Post were assessed remotely by AFRC. Feedback was provided for those agencies to make necessary changes or implement corrective actions to their processes.

Part three:

A small team of inspectors will visit for the Capstone Event which will conclude the two year Unit Effectiveness Inspection period.

When they visit, the AFRC/IG team will conduct Airman-to-IG Sessions. These are facilitated, structured discussions of small groups or an individual. The IG then sits down with the commander and reviews all of their findings.

During their visit, they could request small scope, part-task exercise evaluations of programs or processes based on the previous two years' worth of assessments and evaluations of our exercise program if they have not been completed.

"We have been handed responsibility for ourselves, but the only way it's going to work is through open, honest disclosure," said Romero. "We can't fix what we don't identify; success lies in our attitudes and capabilities."

The Commander's Inspection Program ultimately gives each unit the opportunity to take responsibility for their own readiness and compliance in completing their mission.