Schedulers key to Grissom's success Published April 16, 2008 By Senior Airman Chris Bolen 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind., -- Refueling at 23,000 feet above the earth doesn't happen by chance. Refuelings begin in one of the little known but very important offices at the 434 Air Refueling Wing at Grissom. Located in the Operations Support Squadron, the wing scheduling office is tasked with putting together a daily "game plan" for flight operations. This game plan however actually takes weeks to develop. Ensuring that Grissom aircraft and personnel are at the right place at the right time, cover all training requirements, while meeting the needs of the customers requires a Herculean effort. That effort is carried out by four individuals under direction of Lt. Colonel Larry Shaw the chief of current operations. "This office is the focal point for airplanes to go out to fly," explains the colonel. "The heartbeat of the (scheduling) office however is Maj. John Pannell," the colonel said. Major Pannell, the chief of scheduling, handles all local refueling missions a process dubbed 'horseblanket' and directs three short-range schedulers responsible for the development, coordination and management of the wing's weekly flying schedule. Additionally, the major develops the monthly flying contract for all local refueling training and off-station airlift and refueling missions. "Our main objective is to build product to train reservists," said the major. This point is seconded by Capt. Todd Hutchinson, one of the three short-range schedulers. "The biggest thing we do is training; training to bring fuel to a certain point," the captain emphasized. The "horseblanket" is more or less the start of the process which ends with air refueling activities. "This process kills two birds with one stone," Major Pannell explained. "We have our training requirements, and the receivers have theirs." By grouping all the various air refueling needs, the planning process is much more streamlined. The process supports long-range tanker allocation and scheduling on a quarterly basis. Starting 90 days from a required date, the tanker and receiver organizations finalize their requirements. At roughly 60 days out, the requirements are input into the air refueling management system, an internet based tool where the refueling needs become visible to the tanker airlift control center. The TACC, located within headquarters, air mobility command, then prioritizes and publishes the requirements. Major Pannell downloads the requirements into the scheduling system used here at Grissom. The local schedulers then use the requirements in the system to build the wing flying schedule. The schedulers can "buy" and "sell" missions, something like "horse-trading" to fill in last minute needs or changes. Major Pannell then evaluates and inputs additions and off- station activities. "In addition to refueling, this includes pax (passengers), cargo, and aero med (aeronautical medical) flights," he explained. The two remaining schedulers, Master Sergeants Michael Morgan and James "Dusty" Baker, coordinate manage and fine tune the weekly flying schedule. This requires coordination not just with Air Force units but also Navy, Air Guard, the TACC, Grissom flying squadrons, and multiple units within Grissom. The schedulers operate day to day on a three-step, rotating, staggered schedule, noted Major Pannell. This three-step process is designed as: planning for week one, building for week two, and execution for week three. "By having the process staggered, we keep flexibility," Major Pannell continued. The process is somewhat like coaching a football game. The coach preps the team for its opponent, selects the opening line up, and then plays the game. Changes are a daily, sometimes frequent occurrence. He added "the changes come in so frequently that it keeps us constantly busy." "The biggest challenge is handling changes," notes Captain Hutchinson. "Every unit on base is geared to keep aircraft going every day." "Every change potentially affects the entire base," Major Pannell explained. "There can easily be ripple effects off base as well." Major Pannell gives the real credit to the weekly schedulers who call the "audibles" every day and the 434th Maintenance Group for showing incredible flexibility in providing reliable, well-maintained aircraft in support of the mission. So every time the boom on a tanker makes contact to refuel a receiver, it is the final step in a process that has taken time, thought, and the efforts of many people coordinated by the flight scheduling office at Grissom and not by chance.
