News

446th Airlift Wing takes on new inspection system

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Madelyn McCullough
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. --  Gone are the days of operational readiness inspections, unit compliance inspections, and all other Air Force inspections from a long list. Well, except for one. Now, the 446th Airlift Wing is taking on a whole new system.

In August 2013, all inspection systems were replaced with a new system called the Air Force Inspection System. This program has brought a lot of changes to the way Air Mobility Command and Air Force Reserve Command measure wing's readiness.

"The purpose of the new inspection program is to be able to identify undetected, noncompliance," said Lt. Col. David Jeske, 446th AW Chief of Compliance and Readiness.

What that means is that the command inspectors need to identify what the commander did not know was failing, he said.

To do this, a team of Reservists called the Wing Inspection Team will be put together by the wing's Inspector General Inspections office. This team will go over Management Internal Control Toolset checklists and examine each of the wing's unit's quality of work. The WIT will send these results to AMC and AFRC. Headquarters will arrive in September to validate the wing's inspection team's results.

"The theory is, if our inspection team is well-trained, well-equipped, and well-organized, then we have the ability to inspect year round," said Jeske."But if we're not prepared, then it really calls to question all of our inspection efforts across the wing."

Reservists, in addition to completing MICT checklists and participating in demonstrations for the WIT to inspect, will complete an online survey. This survey will give the wing's Reservists, civilians, contractors and spouses the opportunity to voice concerns and recommendations about any number of topics. Headquarters will also conduct in-person group discussions.

A combination of all of these approaches will allow AMC and AFRC to dig into any underlying problems, if results from the different systems don't match up.

"If you have a completely sparkling, clear MICT where everything is going great, but the survey results from everybody in the office show its horrible, they can come out and really look to see why those two programs don't match up," said Capt. Eric Hodges, operations and plans officer for the 446th Operations Group.

Since this cycle continues throughout each year, the wing will be mission ready at all times. This is a big change from how things were before.

"We used to ramp up for an ORI, then we'd come down, then we'd ramp up for a UCI, then we'd come down," said Jeske. "So now really what the Air Force has asked us to do is to ramp up and stay there. When the inspection comes should be irrelevant."

Reservists just need to do their jobs and be good wingmen, he said.

"It's not enough for me to know how to do my job if no one else in my office does," Jeske said. "We need to inspire a team atmosphere and we need to help each other. We need to make sure that we succeed as teams, as units, and as a wing. The world and the Air Force are too complicated and we don't have enough time or resources that any of us can be successful on our own anymore. We're either going to succeed together or we're going to perish alone. That's what each Airman needs to think about."