CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Change has been a constant in our Air Force for many years. Capabilities are constantly being adjusted or developed in anticipation of the next threat.
To maintain a high level of flexibility, Air Force leaders decided that recapitalizing an aging fleet would become a top priority. Several force-shaping initiatives helped us find the necessary dollars to pay for new aircraft and equipment. Unfortunately, that left many Team Charleston organizations with fewer people to carry out critical administrative tasks. As a result, we've placed an even greater demand on our Airmen -- Airmen who already deploy under a high operations tempo while generating enough sorties and pushing enough cargo to be known as the best and busiest wing in the U.S. Air Force.
To help all of us stay ahead of operational demands, your communications squadron is driving an Air Force-wide initiative to leverage technology to streamline and automate administrative processes. The Air Mobility Command Enterprise Information Management team will arrive toward the end of October to train and deploy a new system based on commercial off-the-shelf software. EIM is comprised of a suite of Web-based tools that will help in seven key areas: records management, electronic forms, content management, knowledge management, collaboration, workflow and document management.
What does all this mean for the rest of us? There will be a centralized, easy-to-use Web site that will allow us to electronically generate, store and retrieve evaluations, decorations, weekly activity reports, calendars, announcements, directories, rosters, meeting minutes, award packages and projects. After some time, it will also offer desktop collaboration between any two Air Force computers in the .mil domain and a workflow capability that can automatically generate, track and route suspenses. In sum, most administrative processes we find ourselves doing every day can be automated to some degree with EIM. That means more time will be focused on the mission and less time grinding through paperwork.
The EIM deployment schedule is broken out into phases. Phase I, currently underway, will provide each base a basic level of capability. Subsequent phases, scheduled in the out-years, will provide even more robust tools and more automation. For Charleston, the AMC team will arrive Oct. 20 to help deploy Phase I and conduct on-site training to Charleston site owners. Site owners are handpicked members of Team Charleston who have a vested interest in the administrative processes of their respective squadrons. For anyone else who is not able to attend on-site training later this month, the 437th Communications Squadron will be conducting auxiliary training in the coming months.
The intent of EIM is not to burden our customers with another "system." Rather, EIM, if leveraged correctly, can help reduce the administrative work we all share. It is a simple system that only requires its users to know how to use a mouse and keyboard and possess sufficient skill to navigate a Web page. Even more important is the understanding that EIM is not a "Comm" thing or a system devoted only to site owners. It is a tool for everyone. Once deployed and fully configured, we encourage everyone to take maximum advantage of its benefits.
The 437 CS will work hard to help you get the most out of EIM. If there are any questions, please call us at 963-5070. On behalf of the 437 CS, thank you for leading the way in all you do!