Transformation: now is the time

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Michael Holmes
  • 60th Aerial Port Squadron commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  I can’t predict the future. Never could, never will. [Maybe I have a defective crystal ball, but more likely, it probably is just a really cool marble.] But as I listen to our senior leaders in the Air Force, two things in the near future appear easy to predict. First, our Air Force will have fewer Airmen of all ranks, including civilians. The second prediction is the Air Force mission will continue to be heavily tasked, with increasing “in lieu of” forces requirements, to support and defend our great country. 

How are we going to manage these seemingly opposing forces? We’re already asking our troops to work hard, long hours. Telling them to work harder and even longer hours isn’t the answer; they’ll vote with their feet and head for the exit. There’s only one way to meet future mission requirements, transform the way we do business! 

I bet you’ve already heard about transformation. 

It’s happening across commercial industries and the government sector, including the Department of Defense and the Air Force. You have probably also heard some of the new buzzwords to describe this effort: Lean, Six Sigma, Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century. Whatever word we use, transformation means change. 

While change is difficult for some to accept, change is not always bad. In fact, change has always been a part of Air Force heritage and the good news is that transformation will create incredible opportunities. Transforming involves re-looking at how we do our mission and evaluating what exactly we do and how we can do it better. 

AFSO21 is the name of the Air Force transformation program. This program uses proven tools, such as Lean and Six Sigma, which provide a methodology for changing how we do business. Fundamentally, these tools provide us with a way to identify and eliminate waste in our processes. That is, to stop doing processes which do not provide value to our customers. Remember, we’re not going to have the same resources to continue to do the same things the same way we’re currently doing them. As a result, we need to eliminate unnecessary tasks. 

In the 60th Aerial Port Squadron, we have been participating with Air Mobility Command as a lead unit in transformation, known as Terminal 2010. We have learned a lot about change and how it will affect us in the coming months and years. 

We have learned that through transformation we really can make meaningful changes to our processes that make us faster, more reliable, and yes, cheaper to operate. 

The changes we are making will enable us to provide more manpower to the warfighter and provide a better service to our customers at the same time. 

Best of all, using the Lean tools, members of our team determined the best changes to make. We have been fortunate to be able to showcase our efforts to the AMC commander and AMC/A-4. And I would encourage you to visit the Port as you begin your transformation efforts. 

AFSO21 will provide all of us the opportunity to make constructive, effective changes in our units. Get some Lean and Six Sigma training and get involved. We will be a smaller force in the future and now is the best time to make positive changes. 

Start identifying wasted effort and then be alert for the opportunities that come from making creative change. We can’t afford to stand still in this effort: we owe it to our customers and we certainly owe it to our Airmen!