News

Wing passes safety inspection

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nick Przybyciel
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
The 446th Airlift Wing stomped the tri-annual Ground, Weapons and Flight Safety Program Evaluation Dec. 12 through 15, receiving satisfactory overall scores across the board. 

The weapons safety program headed by Senior Master Sgt. David Ponce, shined the brightest during the inspection. It received an outstanding rating and was praised highly in the inspection report. 

“The 446th AW Weapons Safety Manager has gone above and beyond simply complying with weapons safety compliance re-quirements,” the report reads. “Sergeant Ponce has utilized his superb talent and management skills to formulate and administer an outstanding wing weapons safety program. This program could very well be benchmarked for use throughout the Air Force Reserve Command.” 

The entire wing performed “right up there with everybody else,” according to Gayla Anderson, a contracted inspector from Science Applications International Corporation. Working in teams, SAIC performs inspections at bases across the country and report findings to the appropriate headquarters. 

Ground and flight safety received only a few minor or negligible discrepancies. Most were fixed in one day, with the two problems being resolved in January, according to Maj. Kevin Welin, chief of safety. 

Based on the findings, the wing safety office has 45 days to submit a corrective plan to its command. Major Welin,will file this year’s plan for the 446th AW.

Getting the 446th AW squared away for safety took a lot of hard work and long hours.
“Sergeant Ponce and myself worked our normal workday dealing with everyday safety issues, then stayed late an average of four hours a day, two days per week for two months (to prepare for the inspection),” Major Welin said. 

All the hard work paid off in the end, and the results didn’t surprise the wing safety team.
“It was what we were expecting,” the major said. “With an outside contractor performing the inspection, we knew it was going to be nit-picky. But in all of the facilities the ground inspector looked, he could not find what he called the usual discrepancies.”