An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

AFSO21 and IDEA programs merge

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Connie L. Bias
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The gap between idea and suggestion just snapped shut at Fairchild. Air Force Smart Operations 21 and the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness Program have merged, creating a forum for any mission-improving suggestion to be heard and answered.

Previously two separate programs, both AFSO 21 and the IDEA program allow Air Force employees to offer suggestions that will result in savings - money, manpower, time, etc. The IDEA program seeks out financial savings specifically, and has clear guidelines for submissions. According to Master Sgt. Bill Bowers, Fairchild IDEA program manager, all submission must include "the current method (of business), your proposed method, and the savings to the Air Force." With this information in hand, a person can make a suggestion and possibly receive a financial reward, based upon the suggestion's final results and savings.

"Basically, the solution must be ready to go into the IDEA program," said Sergeant Bowers.

This is a great program, especially considering the chance of monetary reward, but what about people who have a great suggestion with no background information? What if an idea would save processing time or work time, but there's no definite financial-gain figure? What about the person who needs some help getting from the overall idea to the practical steps?

That's where the IDEA program and AFSO 21 come together. AFSO 21's initiative is to streamline and "smart-line" operations, making all areas of the Air Force run as efficiently as possible. Because the program is so open-ended and inclusive in scope, there are no strict submission guidelines as there are with the IDEA program. Every suggestion is taken into consideration for action, and once approved, solutions are tackled by a group of people.

"AFSO 21 is team driven, so there's a lot of cross-talk," said William Long, AFSO 21 representative. "Different ideas emerge for each subject, and the team members involved provide momentum for each other."

AFSO 21 projects are also customized for each appropriate group. If the Medical Group, for instance, has an AFSO 21 project, the Medical Group AFSO 21 facilitators will decide the project's scheduled completion date, and members from the group will be involved in the process of "smartening" the operation in question.

"For most suggestions, a team is quickly gathered to move forward with the improvement process," said Mr. Long. "If it's a small enough problem, I'll step in, suggest some tools and resources, and we'll run with it."

To ensure the merge between the two programs is as complete and efficient as possible, IDEA program representatives will attend AFSO 21 facilitator training, making them qualified to serve both programs. This dual-training will make it easy for suggestions to go back and forth between AFSO 21 and the IDEA program as appropriate.

So what happens when a person does turn a suggestion into the wrong program? Specifically, what happens if your AFSO 21 submission ends up saving the Air Force thousands of dollars?

"If an AFSO 21 project results in financial savings, we will turn that suggestion over to the IDEA program," said Mr. Long. In the same way, IDEA program submissions can be turned over to AFSO 21, he said. "Of course, people need to realize that not every suggestion will result in monetary award," he added. "The intangible rewards stack up really fast, though. Time saved, recognition, process steps deleted - there are all kinds of ways a great suggestion can improve your work environment."

Now that the programs have merged, the doors of suggestion are wide open to the base, and representatives from both programs are looking for submissions. Sergeant Bowers said he's looking especially to the new Airmen on the base for thoughts.

"The younger Airmen really come into play here," he said. "Many of us have been doing our jobs for years, following the same procedures without even thinking about it. I want to focus on the new Airmen who are looking at the Air Force with a fresh set of eyes. We need their ideas."