CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Charleston transformed the way Air Mobility Command did business May 1.
One of Charleston's charter initiatives was to scrutinize our primary mission -- launching C-17s. During the initial implementation of the Sequence of Events initiative, the team's objective was to reduce the time required by aircrew members to prepare for C-17 missions by improving the focus of mission supporting functions.
Team Charleston's Airmen made great strides to improving legacy processes. By developing a mission-focused approach, Charleston now supports the AMC mission better than ever before. Charleston's Airmen fine-tuned mission-supporting processes. The improvements in mission support eliminated waste and minimized redundancies in legacy processes.
The 437th Aerial Port Squadron Expeditor program exemplifies one of the great success stories made by mission supporting agencies. A newly- developed training program allows the 437 APS to improve mission effectiveness. Cargo loading processes that once relied on aircrew members now can be accomplished without aircrew members present. The upgraded service provided by the Aerial Port made it possible to shorten the time required for aircrew members to be present at the aircraft.
Additional support came from an AMC velocity initiative. The improved procedures enable maintenance Airmen to service fuel before aircrews are even alerted to fly. Traditionally, the final fuel load for C-17s was not uploaded until it was requested by the aircrew. This improvement dovetails with other initiatives to enable crews to show later and fly longer days when necessary to support the mission.
The 437th Operations Group is also working to make creative improvements. Charleston AFB now has a pilot in command post to monitor every C-17 mission. Additionally, until other improvements can be made, the flying squadrons are providing crewmembers to prepare equipment and information prior to aircrew arrival.
Charleston's efforts have gained the attention AMC and Air Force leadership. Since May, every C-17 leaving Charleston AFB on an AMC-tasked airland mission has employed a streamlined version of the SOE.
The new mission-centric approach reduced preparation time for aircrew members by and hour and half. The transition to a mission-centric launch sequence also produced the potential to reduce the entire SOE by 30 percent. Finally, the initiative produced an option for AMC to capitalize on the one-and-a-half hour gain. Now AMC has greater flexibility during mission execution to realize the full potential of the aircrews' flight duty period.
Greater flexibility to move the mission is effectively buying more aircraft at no taxpayer cost. By blazing a trail to AMC's #1 Break Though Objective, Team Charleston is postured to save lives better than ever before.
"Within five years, we will increase system velocity and precision to deliver the right effect to the right place at the right time ... every time," said AMC's Break Through Objective.
Because of the initiative, aircrew members no longer show up two hours and 45 minutes prior to take-off to fulfill preflight duties. Now aircrews have just one hour and 15 minutes from the time they arrive on base to the time they are rolling down the runway in a C-17.
Despite a major shift in traditional aircrew roles, the program has proven its success with the results speaking for themselves: during May, Charleston AFB's efforts reduced the required launch time for each mission by an average of 36 percent.
During the initial phase, Charleston AFB is able to support the reduced SOE missions by providing "out-of-hide" manpower to review flight crew information products while providing additional required support. Charleston is continuing to identify smarter ways to execute the mission. In fact, Charleston is just getting started. Currently, Charleston is partnering with AMC to ensure the future success of the initiative. The goal is to make the SOE initiative transportable to AMC at large.
When Charleston presented the SOE initiative to Maj. Gen. Ron Ladnier, Tanker Airlift Control Center commander, he said, "Think bolder, that's what we're doing ... that's a challenge the Airmen at Charleston AFB live out every day. Team Charleston is absolutely committed to increasing the effectiveness of our most valued asset -- our Airmen."