624RSG reservists first to use AFIS

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Phyllis Keith
  • 624th Regional Support Group Public Affairs
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii --  

The 624th Regional Support Group became the first Air Force Reserve unit to use the new Air Force Inspection System (AFIS) as the foundation for their strategic plan when they used it during planning ssions here, Nov. 21-22, 2013.

 

"We actually killed two birds with one stone by using AFIS to do our strategic planning session. This will help us to prepare for our Unit Effectiveness Inspection (UEI) in 2015," said Col. Maynard "Max" Mendoza, commander of the 624th RSG.

 

To expedite the process, Mendoza reached out to planning experts Lt. Col. C.J. Bentley, Numbered Air Force (NAF) process manager with the 4th Air Force, March Air Force Base, Calif. and Maj. Chris Clark, wing process manager with the 301st Fighter Wing, Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas, who flew out to Hickam Field here to facilitate the sessions.

 

"Strategic planning has never been done this way before," said Bentley. "Every unit must go through the Commander's Inspection Program (CCIP) using the AFIS structure anyway, so this is a nice overlap and a great way to lead into preparing for a UEI," said Bentley.

 

Under AFIS, "inspection prep" will be a thing of the past. Mendoza and his staff will do inspections on a continual basis as part of everyday business.

 

Mendoza said AFIS will allow him to focus on mission readiness instead of inspection readiness.

 

Under the old system, Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) would send their Inspector General (IG) and functional-area teams to inspect how compliant the 624th RSG was.

 

Using AFIS, Mendoza himself will inspect the 624th RSG. Functional-area experts on his staff will focus on enabling, while Mendoza focuses on ensuring.

 

Over the two-year UEI cycle, the AFRC IG will verify Mendoza's inspection process, validate and verify the unit's reports, and help the unit become more effective by fixing the root cause of any areas that are inadequate.

 

After two days of strategic planning here using AFIS with the help of Bentley and Clark, Mendoza and his staff produced action plans, corrective action plans, and milestones for personnel to meet.

 

"I'm very pleased that Col. Mendoza is being proactive," said Clark. "You guys are tip of the spear in getting things done. It's impressive to see."

 

Bentley said they covered more than 56 elements and 180 line items from AFIS' four Major Graded Areas (MGAs)--managing resources, improving the unit, leading people, and executing the mission. "I think you guys did a tremendous job--stayed focused, put in extra time, worked late, through lunch, and knocked it out of the park," she said.

 

"We took a three-day process and hammered it out in two days," said Mendoza.

 

"We will come back at some point to do a vector check and see how they have progressed," said Bentley.

 

The Air Force officially launched this approach to inspections June 2013. All Air Force units must be in compliance with AFI 90-201, The Air Force Inspection Program by October 2013.