Air Force moving towards AFSO-21

  • Published
  • By Col. Steve Arquiette
  • 60th AMW commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are embarking on a journey to collectively change the way we do business. As we make this challenging journey, we will carry the wounded and shoot the stragglers."
This quote, made by a CEO of a large US corporation, kicked off their drive to change in order to survive in the fiercely competitive world reshaped by globalization.

This company, and thousands like it, is adopting a new culture of LEAN thinking and doing things smarter, not harder. Doing things smarter, not harder, is entering the way we at Travis do our mobility business as well.

Our "CEO," Air Mobility Command commander Gen. Duncan McNabb, recently stated "The old way of doing business won't work anymore; we must dissect our processes from end-to-end and eliminate waste."

As we begin our journey to improve our processes, expect to be hearing a great deal about Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century and LEAN.

AFSO-21 is a dedicated effort to maximize value and minimize waste in our operations.

AFSO-21 is a leadership program for commanders, supervisors and Airmen at all levels, looking at each process we do from beginning to end. It doesn't just look at how we can do each task better, but asks the tougher and more important question: Why are we doing it this way? Is each of the tasks relevant, productive, value added and truly necessary?

With AFSO-21, we will march unnecessary work out the door - forever.

We are now beginning full-scale implementation of the Air Force's vision of smarter, not harder here at Team Travis. Some units have already moved forward and looked at their processes and have identified and eliminated wasted time and effort.

Our AFSO-21 Steering Committee is diligently working on ways to synergistically implement this concept to the base populace with clear goals and vision. We want this valuable program to be used at its maximum capability. In order to do that, our first step must be to train our Airmen about the program and how to leverage its benefits in everything we do.

We're close to creating a wing-level AFSO 21 office in order to have a clear focal point for guidance.

Air Mobility Command has set three Break-through Objectives for their wings:
Within five years, increase system velocity and precision to deliver the right effect to the right place at the right time...every time!

This year our goal is to reduce the time our aircraft spend on the ground during missions by 30 percent; our 5 year goal is a 50 percent reduction. Also this year, we will improve the accuracy of our deployment process by 20 percent, and shoot for a 35 percent improvement in five years.

Within three years, transform the enterprise to slash waste in our processes to meet our mission. This year we will reduce resource cost to operate and maintain the Air Mobility Enterprise by 10 percent, and shoot for a goal of cutting 30 percent of our costs over the next three years.

Within five years, create a self-sustaining continuous improvement culture throughout AMC. This year, we will create a self-sustaining Facilitation Capability and train 50 percent of Team Travis in AFSO-21 Tools and Methodologies.

Our task is to tailor our goals to meet their objectives, which is what the AFSO-21 Steering Committee is currently developing.

Once our first goal, training our Airmen, is complete, we will begin to hold more LEAN events.

You'll learn steps to identify and eliminate wasted time and energy from all of our processes. Streamlining our operations is essential. We will require the buy-in of all Airmen; rest assured that your leadership will be working hard to provide you the tools that you'll need to succeed personally and professionally. I ask for your flexibility and cooperation as we head down this new path.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are embarking on a journey...

BE PROUD! BE SAFE!