CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
The Air Force Office of Lessons Learned, also known as AF/A9L, was started after a study in 2004 that concluded most lessons learned from the Global War on Terrorism are actually lessons that were learned at least once before.
General John Handy, former United States Transportation Command commander, asked after reviewing the study, "What do we do to make sure these lessons are finally lessons learned?"
The answer, in the words of Paul McVinney, Deputy Director of Air Force Lessons Learned, is to "enhance readiness and improve combat capability by capitalizing on the experiences of Airmen."
This is accomplished by actively soliciting inputs from Airmen who have just completed deployments, exercises, contingencies, or natural disasters on what they learned and how the Air Force can do it better the next time.
This is especially important as the Air Force tries to make operations more efficient under the support of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century. While not directly aligned under AFSO 21, the lessons learned initiative is all about working smarter and eliminating waste by learning from our past experiences.
So how can the lessons learned program actually help Airmen on the job?
"In simple terms, Airmen know how to accomplish the mission," according to Mr. McVinney. "They know how to fix problems and overcome obstacles because most of the information is already in their heads. How does the next guy down the line know what to do? The goal is to take information that is tacit, or in their heads, and make that information explicit, put down on paper."
The process starts when an Airman identifies a lesson learned and fills out a blank submission form, available on Charleston's lessons learned website accessible through Globemaster, 437th Airlift Wing, Wing Plans. Then the Airman submits the submission form to squadron leadership, who then reviews the submission form and forwards it to the group vice commanders.
The group vice commanders meet once per quarter to review submissions, which are vetted and forwarded to Air Mobility Command as appropriate. If the submission form requires action at the base level, an Office of Primary Responsibility is assigned and a target date established for resolution.
Once the lesson learned reaches Air Force headquarters, that's where this program makes a big difference. AF/A9L has created a comprehensive database of past lessons learned, called the Advanced Lesson Management System. The submission is entered into the database and made searchable by title, date, category and event. Now that original Airman's hard-won experience has been preserved for the next Airman in that job, or for anyone else who may want to read it. The ALMS is also accessible from the Charleston lessons learned website.
If it's still not apparent how this can benefit Team Charleston, consider the following example. A quick search on ALMS for "Hurricane Katrina" returned 858 results, including lessons learned on interaction with federal, state and local governments, patient evacuation, coordinating airlift with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and countless other topics. This should be of interest to anyone serving in the Lowcountry.
The Spanish philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
The Air Force Lessons Learned Program ensures that not only do members remember the past, they are now able to learn and benefit from their predecessor's knowledge and experience.