KC-10 team wins Chief of Staff Team Excellence awards

  • Published
  • By Maj. Christopher MacAulay
  • 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Travis' KC-10 Thrust Reverser Improvement Design Team was recognized with the 2007 Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25.

In addition, the team was the recipient of the Air Force Best Practice award and won the prestigious Boeing Atlas award for the baset aviation support function.

The total force team, comprised of members from the 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the 749th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and contractors from General Electric and Boeing, were recognized for their use of unique and improved ideas to combat the constant discrepancies associated with the KC-10 thrust reverser.

"This was a total team force effort," said Jeff Hammett, team member and GE field service engineer. "Without one piece, the team would not have been successful."

Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, Air Force vice chief of staff, recognized Travis' KC-10 team, along with the other five winners selected out of the 22-team field, for their use of a systematic approach to enhance mission capability, improve operational performance and create sustained results.

"Our people working together to improve processes makes the Air Force a more effective organization," General McNabb said during the ceremony at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington. "The CSTEA teams exhibit pride of ownership and have made the Air Force better. The excellence you have exhibited and the $282 million you have saved in first-year savings alone are helping us position ourselves to win any war in the future. You are the bedrock of the Air Force."

"It feels great to win," said Tech. Sgt. Randy Miller, 660th AMXS. "It took a lot of hard work and extra hours to make this team successful and we are very proud to bring home another trophy for the wing."

The extra hours and teamwork paid off as the team rewrote technical data to be simple and more effective by bringing it into the 21st century, incorporating digital photographs and easy-to-follow fault isolation manuals.

Next, they reduced the number of technicians required for the task from four to two by incorporating an interactive debrief sheet and creating thrust reverser test equipment where none existed prior.

Finally, with only $1,200, they designed and built test equipment that vastly improves the troubleshooting effectiveness and safety of the entire process.

Their efforts resulted in an 87 percent reduction in non-mission capable time, an 88 percent reduction in repeat discrepancies and saved the Air Force more than $400,000 in parts replacement and manpower costs in the first year.

"This team exemplifies what's best about our Travis maintenance team," said Maj. Tyler Knack, 660th AMXS. "They are active duty, Reserve and contractors melded into a seamless unit and they got the job done."

Major Knack added that the team use of AFSO 21 principles to attack a problem produce real results.

"The bottom line, they made maintenance easier and more straightforward for our maintenance warriors on the flightline," he said. "That is our primary job as leaders. They definitely deserved to win."

Richard Salomon, Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs, contributed to this story.