Grissom makes cultural shift with new inspection program Published Aug. 26, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- A product of the 1960s, Grissom's director of inspections is no stranger to cultural changes, but is now tasked with leading one of his own. Lt. Col. Charles Good, 434th Air Refueling Wing director of inspections, is at the tip of the spear as the Hoosier Wing implements the new Air Force Inspection System, or AFIS, here. Under the new system, Air Force units are responsible for inspecting themselves, which is a dynamic shift from the past. "The major command inspector general offices can no longer financially support the big footprint of 100 to 200 people coming in and combing through every little nitnoid aspect like they used to do," explained Good. "That whole concept is gone." Like most cultural shifts, they begin gradually, and evolve over time. The AFIS was no different. "Initially, when they downsized the number air force and headquarters staffs, they put more responsibility on the wings through what were originally the CVZ offices," said Good. "The people that were assigned to the CVZ offices would actually become [Air Force Reserve Command] IG inspectors who went to other bases to inspect. "Well, that didn't meet the requirement of downsizing and being fiscally responsible, so they created the new inspection system along with a new position of the director of inspections," he continued. "And, with that change, the former exercise evaluation team, which had always been helping evaluate, became the wing inspection team that inspects instead of evaluates." While inspect and evaluate may seem synonymous to some, in the Air Force inspection world they're not. "The EET was there to help the wings, through evaluation, get ready for an outside inspection," said Good. "Now the WIT is the group conducting inspection - essentially, we're inspecting ourselves, which is a novel concept." Part of what makes that concept so novel is that it's based around absolute honesty and the first Air Force Core Value of integrity. "It's a double-edge sword, where you have to figure out how to inspect yourself and be effective; that's the hardest hurdle to get across while inspecting ourselves," explained Good. "We want to be honest, but we also don't want to look bad, so we have all these things in conflict. "It's a cultural shift because before it was, 'if we can't fix it before the IG gets here, let's hide it and maybe they won't see it,'" he added. "Now, we want you to be honest; we know you're going to find faults, and we want you to find faults." To get over that hurdle, the Air Force is putting a stronger emphasis on training for the WIT members as well as aiming to educate units with the knowledge that identifying deficiencies is a good thing. "It's a big deal; all the WIT members are given authority from the Department of Defense IG through the Air Force IG and on down," said Good. "It's such an important responsibility, they even take an oath in front of the wing commander." Senior Master Sgt. Tim O'Brien, 434th Logistics Readiness Squadron plans and integration superintendent, has directed the execution of hundreds of exercises at Grissom and said he thinks the new system will be an easier transition than some may expect as 434th ARW Airmen have always displayed high integrity. "We've always been honest on the deployment side of things, and that honesty is why we're as good as we are now," he elaborated. Still, Good reiterated the need to be truthful while explaining people should have faith in the new system to respect such honesty. "Nobody is perfect, and we're not helping ourselves by lying to ourselves," he added. "The big message is that there isn't going to be repercussions for raising your hand and saying, 'yes, we have some items that are broken, they need fixed, and here's how we're going to fix them." According to Good, the key is not just in identifying, but also coming up with a sound plan within a reasonable time to correct any errors or deficiencies. "The biggest key here is do we have a reasonable plan to fix the issues," he added. "There's only been four [unit effectiveness inspection] capstone events in AFRC since the new system was put in place, and out of those four, I've not heard of anyone being slammed for saying they have a few programs that are broken and need to be fixed." While the emphasis under the new program is on self-inspection, AFRC is still sending inspection teams for UEI capstone events. However, this team will be more focused on how units inspect themselves rather than looking at the unit's processes and procedures. "The higher headquarters footprint will only be 20 to 30 people, and they're mainly looking at the commander's inspection program and how the IGI runs that program," explained Good. "They will still look at a few programs directly, but 85 to 90 percent is an inspection of our inspection program." Another change in the new system will have very little impact on Grissom at all. "In the old program, there were several [Air Force instructions] that were very specific on how many and what type of exercise and inspections needed to be done, but under the new one, it's the IGI office and the wing commander who determine what needs to be inspected and how often," explained O'Brien. "Looking ahead, we're going to stay about the same as we did before, because we believe the numbers gave us pretty good feedback, and more often than not we went above and beyond to make sure the wing was ready at all times." Good echoed that confidence in the wing to perform its missions around the globe. "We're in a very good position," he said. "We do have a few programs that need looked at and have identified a few trends even in the short time of this program, but as far as our mission, we do our mission well." As for the future, the next year will be a busy one for the 434th ARW as the Hoosier Wing will undergo another self-assessment through MICT in October as well as a nuclear operational readiness inspection and UEI capstone event in the coming months. "It's definitely a serious cultural shift, but it's something we've been asking for for years," O'Brien concluded. "It's our responsibility to make this thing work - the ball is in our court at this point." The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the AFRC. Airmen and aircraft from the 434th ARW routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission and U.S. strategic objectives. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
