Travis moving in the right AFSO 21 direction

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Candy Knight
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  "Very impressed"

These were the words Dr. Ron Ritter, the Special Assistant for Air Force Smart Operations to the Secretary of the Air Force, and Deputy Director of the Air Force Smart Operations Office, Washington, D.C., used to describe Travis' current AFSO 21 initiatives during his visit Jan. 11 and 12.

"I was impressed with the entire Travis Team, from the command section down to the Airmen," he said.

As the Special Assistant for Air Force Smart Operations to the Secretary of the Air Force, and Deputy Director of the Air Force Smart Operations Office, Washington, D.C., Dr. Ritter is responsible for developing and coordinating the Air Force's AFSO 21 transformational efforts, which include program design, management of the AFSO 21 central team, training material, knowledge and performance tracking.

During his visit, Dr. Ritter briefed senior leadership about how they can get the AFSO 21 message to the Airmen in a way Airmen would be able to understand it.

He also toured portions of the David Grant USAF Medical Center and 60th Aerial Port Squadron, who recently earned the 2006 Air Mobility Command Large Terminal Unit award for developing some of the first innovative practices within AMC.

"I was extremely impressed with the APS and how they made AFSO 21 part of the operation," he said.

According to Staff Sgt. Brandon Durbin, 60th APS, by using Lean methodology and AFSO 21 concepts, the Passenger Terminal has been able to reduce the average passenger wait time from three hours to two, which will soon be the AMC standard.

Another aspect of AFSO 21 use is the APS' C-5 Aerial Port Expeditor program, which is one of the seven spirals of the Velocity Initiative.

"What the APEX program does is take the loadmasters' ground operating duties and gives them to the aerial porters," said Mr. John Buchanan, 60th APS. "By doing this, we are able to give the aircrew more crew rest, which enables crews to fly longer and reducing the amount of time it takes to load the aircraft."

According to Dr. Ritter, programs such as these should be used to help other Air Force members understand how AFSO 21 helps the Air Force.
"In order for AFSO 21 to work and be a mainstay in the Air Force, every Air Force member from officer to civilian to contractor needs to understand four things about AFSO 21: to know their operations and understand them; find ways to improve their operations on all levels; execute the change and measure the change to see if it has the desire effects," he said.

"The main objective we are trying to achieve right now is 'Awareness Training' to every squadron on base," said 1st Lt. Lucas Choate, 60th Air Mobility Wing AFSO 21 office. "It is essential that we get the word out to every Airman so they understand what AFSO 21 is all about. This type of training will take place at commander's calls. Any squadron commander seeking us to conduct this training for his or her squadron should contact our office to set up a time and place for it."

According to Lieutenant Choate, anyone who would like to visit some of the areas that have done AFSO 21 events and would like to hear about their results should contact the AFSO 21 office at 424-3680 to coordinate a visit.