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Senior leaders meet on McChord for AFSO 21 course

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kirsten Wicker
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Senior leaders from Air Mobility Command bases throughout the United States convened here Oct. 1 to 2 for a senior leadership course in Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century. The event highlighted the Air Force's newest way of doing business and McChord's successes in this area. 

"McChord has always had a reputation when it comes to continuous process improvement. Our senior leadership strongly believes in the program, our consultant and program manager laid a positive foundation for success and our civilians and Airmen are dedicated to not just executing the mission but searching for new and innovative ways to get the job done ... that is the foundation of our success," said Chief Master Sgt. Cary Hatzinger, 62nd Airlift Wing command chief. "We are at the forefront because we have culture that encourages real innovation and change." 

Headquarters Air Force spearheaded the instruction, as AMC played host to the two-day course for commanders from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.; Fairchild AFB, Wash.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; Charleston AFB, S.C.; Travis AFB, Calif.; Scott AFB, Ill.; McConnell AFB, Kan. and the Oregon Air National Guard. Two command chief master sergeants were also present. 

Col. Michael Smith, Headquarters, United States Air Force director of AFSO programs and Mark McDonald, Bering Point Consulting, instructed the class in a case study which taught participants which tools to use and how to implement them in AFSO 21 procedures. 

"The intent of the course is to give commanders the tools to lead AFSO 21 efforts at their base," said Todd Goldsmith, 62nd Mission Support Group, wing AFSO process manager and community operations officer. "McChord leads the way in AFSO 21 initiatives, so this was a good opportunity for senior leaders to see how the process operates." 

According to officials at Air Force headquarters, AFSO 21 provides a standard Air Force approach to continuously improve all processes that employ our Air Force capabilities to deliver required effects, develops a culture which promotes the elimination of waste, the sharing of best practices and the reduction of cycle times across all products and services, involving all Airmen in the relentless pursuit of excellence. AFSO 21 ensures that all Airmen understand their role, develop the ability to effect change and continuously learn new ways to improve processes in their daily activities in order to save resources and eliminate waste. 

The first half of the course focused on a case study of a fictitious base in a deployed location where problems with cost and efficiency were occurring in different areas such as maintenance, personnel and medical. Class participants had a chance to evaluate the situation and implement AFSO 21 initiatives into their "base" to arrive at solutions for improved mission operations. 

The second half of the course gave leaders an opportunity to witness each scenario in this portion of the class based on a real-world AFSO 21 solution at McChord. 

"The 62nd Logistics Readiness Squadron and the 62nd Maintenance Group are the furthest along in the program at McChord," Goldsmith said. "We were able to demonstrate the solutions to the issues facing the fictitious base in the case study, by demonstrating what we are already accomplishing here in the 62nd LRS and 62nd MXG." 

The course offered leaders the tools and the knowledge to take what they learned back to their respective bases and implement it. 

"We have only started on our AFSO 21 journey and Air Force senior leaders are looking for Airmen's initiatives," said Col. Tracy Smiedendorf, 62nd MXG commander. "Our team has embraced this concept because they've seen that it works and has improved their quality of life on the job. Their ideas and initiatives are taken seriously by senior leaders and they see resources being put towards it and those actions that speak louder than words." 

This is the first year McChord has hosted the event.