CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
In today's Air Force, there are Air Expeditionary Force deployments, manning shortages and budget shortfalls.
Team Charleston's 437th Logistics Readiness Squadron has recognized the need to apply Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century to day-to-day operations. The resulting process improvements allow Charleston AFB to continue to provide world-class logistics support despite the base's heavy operations tempo.
Charleston AFB is the primary supply point for C-17 wheels and tires for all of the east coast. The base also supports Europe and the Area of Responsibility.
"In the past year, we shipped 2,287 wheel assemblies to the AOR," said 2nd Lt. Gary Jaffe, 437 LRS deputy flight commander of material management flight. "From these numbers, you can see exactly why streamlining this process is important. Accelerating the turnaround of wheel and tire processes plays a vital role in supporting C-17s both here and abroad."
Initially, wheel and tire processes consisted of having all retrograde wheels and tires come into the 437 LRS directly or through the 437th Aerial Port Squadron. Wheel and tire assemblies coming through the 437 APS would be transported to the 437 LRS receiving section. Once the LRS processed the receipts, the assets could sit 24 to 48 hours before being delivered to the wheel and tire shop where they are repaired. Another element within the 437 LRS would then process and transport all repaired tires to the travel management office.
To streamline the process, two sections within the 437 LRS dedicated one person to handle all shipments and receipts of wheels and tires. This allowed the retrograde wheel and tire assemblies to be picked up, immediately processed and given to the 437th Maintenance Squadron to break down the wheels and tires. This dedicated team eliminated the involvement of two sections from two different flights within the 437 LRS.
"The payoff from this Rapid Improvement Event has been enormous," said Lieutenant Jaffe.
Prior to the changes, it sometimes took 48 hours or more to begin the repair process on these assemblies due to transportation. Changing the time-consuming transportation process, and eliminating the involvement of Airmen from several different sections has saved man-hours.
"This is another example of how AFSO 21 has enabled the base to efficiently support Team Charleston's demanding global mobility mission," said Lieutenant Jaffe.