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386th AEW to implement inspection system

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Burke Baker
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  In January 2014, the 386th Expeditionary Operations Group received high marks following a program review and Staff Assistance Visit conducted by U.S. Air Forces Central evaluators in December 2013.

Col. Douglas DeLaMater, 386th EOG Commander, was quoted at the time the results were published.

"Considering the recent release of Air Force Instruction 90-201, the Air Force Inspection System, the results of this particular visit are especially noteworthy," he said following the announcement of the results. "We know that we have a healthy program to build upon as we begin to implement AFIS and the Air Force Chief of Staff's vision for the future."

To begin the process of building on that recent succes, Col. John Klein, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Commander, directed the 386th Inspector General to begin formally implementing AFIS across the wing this month.

"Bringing this system online here will enhance our mission readiness across the board," he said. "We are always looking for ways to lean forward and do things more efficiently.

"AFIS is probably the biggest single change to the Air Force's way of inspecting since 1947," said Lt. Col. Ron Fey, the Inspector General for the 386th AEW.

"Col. Klein has directed us to focus on those parts of AFIS which directly help us accomplish self-inspection," said Fey. "Basically, we had a choice: we could try to nurse-along older, manual self-inspection systems until we are compelled to change, or we could start using some of the AFIS tools today and get a head start."

Fey added that Klein had directed the use of the new system because of the new tools that system adds, tools such as the Management Internal Control Toolset or MICT.

"This will help our replacements out quite a bit," Fey said. "Once run, MICT checklists will auto-populate each subsequent time they are run. Continuity and visibility go up exponentially."

Marauders will have several parts to play in ensuring success of the Commander's Inspection Program, particularly with the MICT start-up.

"Use of MICT across the Air Force has not been consistent." said Fey. "Some wings have been doing it for quite a while, others only recently, and expeditionary units haven't been included at all. About half of the Airmen I talk to are very familiar with MICT; the rest, not so much," he said. "However, among the folks who have worked with MICT, it's the younger Airmen who tend to be more comfortable with it ... it's us older folks that tend to resist the change."

According to Fey, once the program is implemented in the wing, it won't be much different than accomplishing a self-inspection checklist in Microsoft's Excel.

The 386th will begin a phased implementation of AFIS and MICT over the next few months.

"We will have a series of town hall meetings with each of the groups and some of the larger squadrons," said Fey. "We'll provide quick and simple training to get our system administrators, managers, and assessors up and running. We'll teach AFIS basics and philosophy along the way."

Fey asks that Airmen who have experience with AFIS or MICT sound off.

"Previous MICT Administrators would be very helpful," he said. "We're hoping that an experienced cadre of MICT mangers can make the conversion almost transparent to the rank and file. It's a big change and we'll need help from leaders at every level."

Under AFIS, the inspection responsibility is pushed to the wing-level for most inspections.

Those wing-level inspection efforts will be carried out by the newly activated Wing Inspection Team. Sixty-two Marauders received inspector training Mar. 13 and were administered the Inspector's Oath by Klein, a symbol of the special trust and confidence the Air Force is placing on the inspectors.

According to Klein, it is not just the tools that change, but the philosophy behind the way inspections are viewed and conducted.

"Airmen are rewarded for discovering and reporting deficiencies," he said. "Such honesty helps leadership here, and at AFCENT, find and fix problems. If it's broke, we want to know about it; if it needs help, we want to shine a flashlight on it; if it doesn't apply, we want to say so."

Under the new system, prepping just for the sake of being inspected is also gone.

"Mission preparedness is inspection preparedness and Marauders are already excelling," said Klein.

However, Klein acknowledges many may be asking:  Why we are doing this? Why here? Why now?

"We're moving forward with AFIS implementation for one reason and one reason only - to enhance the mission readiness of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing," he said. "It's part of the normalization of operations at our location as we posture the 386th to support future AFCENT requirements."