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Plans and programs leads the way

  • Published
  • By Maj. James Beyer
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The 22nd Air Refueling Wing Plans and Programs office recently conducted an office-wide Six-S project that overhauled the look, feel and content of the office.

The Six-S program provides a process for Airmen to follow that can assist in identifying certain areas of an office, policy or procedure that can be improved. This process is focused on maintaining safer work areas for Team McConnell.

"We made a kind of competition out of the event and had fun with it," said Maj. Mike Rambo, 22nd plans and programs wing inspections chief, referring to a contest to find the oldest paper document buried within the "plethora of unnecessary binders" throughout the office.

"Before the Six-S event, the office had a feeling of disarray," said Major Rambo. "The desks did not flow well, were disjointed and did not facilitate collaboration among the office team. After the reorganization, the whole office opened up and, now, portrays an aura of synergy."

Normally, disposing of furniture involves filling out a form on-line and physically hauling items to the base defense reutilization management office. However, this time was different. Master Sgt. Darrell Baker, non-commissioned officer in charge of wing programs utilized a recently created SharePoint Web site, which is an internal information sharing Web site, developed by the Air Force Smart Operations 21 point of contact team where anyone on base can advertise office items, which are "Free to a good home."

"We simply posted the excess items on SharePoint, and within hours, we were getting telephone calls," said Sergeant Baker. "With this new program, it gives us the chance to allow equipment to be used efficiently and help other organizations save money."

This Six-S event generated boxes and boxes of wasteful outdated paper, but also continued into the electronic archiving realm. The vast majority of paper determined to be necessary was not just put on a shelf again, rather it was electronically archived to the office's official file plan server, further reducing the file cabinet footprint.

"It's great; each unit enters its information into the database and our wing-wide report is consolidated with the click of the mouse," said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Vogt, wing anti-terrorism office NCOIC, during a walk-through of the office with Col. James C. Vechery, 22nd Air Refueling Wing commander, and Col. Michael Krueger, 22nd Air Refueling Wing vice commander.

Colonel Krueger applauded the team for its efforts in the "sort", "straighten" and "shine" phases of the Six-S effort.

Colonel Vechery stressed the importance of the office continuing with the next phase of Six-S.

"Building your processes and building a culture to sustain and standardize what you've accomplished here is the next challenge," said Colonel Vechery. "Wing plans is a model for the rest of the wing. Tell all of your friends about what you've done here; it really is good work. This goodness needs to be replicated throughout the base."

For more information, or to stop by and see the office, contact Tech. Sergeant Herschel Brown, NCOIC of wing plans at 759-6720.