412th TW, 95th ABW undergo AFMC logisitics standardization inspection

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 412th Maintenance Group and the 95th Air Base Wing will undergo an inspection by the Air Force Materiel Command's Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Team Monday through April 20. 

The purpose of this inspection is to look at four fundamental maintenance processes -- maintenance management, technical data, tools and equipment and qualification training. 

The team will evaluate Edwards' aircraft and equipment maintenance program focusing on areas requiring improvement, said Joe Ramirez, 412th MXG quality assurance division chief. The evaluation team will also evaluate the base's ability to comply with applicable directives and instructions. 

"The inspection is the most important evaluation given to maintenance and logistics functions on base," said Col. Michael Pelletier, 412th MXG commander. "It is the equivalent of an operational readiness inspection for the maintenance and mission support groups." 

The importance of the team coming in is to give the maintenance group and the associated logistics functions an overview of where the organizations stand in regards to compliance with the Air Force Instruction 21-101, also called the Air Force Aircraft and Equipment Maintenance Management, they need to perform, Mr. Ramirez said. 

The evaluation team is composed of specialists in different fields such as supply, fuels, transportation, logistics plans, support agreements and maintenance. They will perform over-the-shoulder evaluations of technicians performing work as well as inspect the training records to see if they are in compliance with the Air Force instruction. 

The LSET will evaluate the associated logistics functions that include transportation, supply, material management, logistics, and readiness and fuels departments of the 95th Air Base Wing. 

"They will inspect how the contractor is complying with the contract since supply and fuels are a contracted operation here," said Col. Michael Woolley, 95th MSG commander. "This is a center inspection that shows the teamwork and compliance of maintenance and logistics support. The (95th ABW) logistics' mission is to support the flightline and our customer is the 412th Maintenance Group."  

Preparations for the logistics standardization and evaluation have been on going long before the notification in January. 

The maintenance group prepares for the inspection on a continual basis, Mr. Ramirez said. They perform self-inspection on a regular basis using the same checklists that the evaluation team uses. 

"The inspection process is to make sure that each organization understands which checklists they are responsible for," he said. "We have to make sure that we meet all the requirements and we are doing everything in the checklist." 

The 95th ABW side has more than 1,400 self-inspection checklist items, Colonel Woolley said. 

What is unique about this upcoming evaluation is this will be the first time the maintenance group is being inspected after Edwards became a high-performance organization. 

"This is an opportunity for us to show the Air Force that we need to get rid the antiquated ways of thinking, redesign how we look and operate and present them with the cost savings we have," said Tye Lockard, Continuous Process Improvement team chief. 

One of the cost-savings measures that the 412th MXG took was transforming more than 900 military positions into 453 civilian positions. 

The evaluation team will have a first look at the high-performance organization that is required to become more efficient, more effective aircraft maintenance and a significant milestone for the HPO as a whole, Mr. Lockard said. 

As a high-performance organization working outside the confines of the AFI 21-101, the evaluation team will evaluate whether or not the HPO program is effective and within the guidelines established, Mr. Ramirez said. 

They will check if the maintenance group are performing what they need to do, and then will revise the checklist to meet the needs of a high-performance organization. 

"Both groups have put in numerous hours ensuring programs and people are ready for the LSET," Colonel Pelletier said. "Team Edwards looks forward to hosting the evaluation team and showing them the quality of our maintenance and logistics operations here."