Operating in excellence

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Terrica Jones
  • 916th Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  "Excellence in all we do directs us to develop a sustained passion for continuous improvement and innovation that will propel the Air Force into a long-term, upward spiral of accomplishment and performance." - About the Air Force: Our Values (U.S. Air Force website)

The Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do were demonstrated by the 916th Aerospace Medical Squadron when they conducted an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century (AFSO21) event in January.

"It's a process to show you how to identify problems, come up with solutions to fix the problems, and to help you define ways to get to the root cause of the problems," said Master Sgt. James L. Thomas, AMDS training manager.  "The goal is to narrow it down and ultimately fix problems by applying corrective actions."

"In the Air Force, we monitor and measure a lot of things," said Maj. Jarius L. Wallace, 916th Air Refueling Wing process manager. "If organizations notice weakness or deficient areas, then someone comes in to take a look and make things better."

AFSO21 is a problem-solving process that includes observing, orienting, decisions and actions. It consists of a team of various members in an organization ranging from Airmen to senior leadership. An AFSO21 event can take several days to plan the process, but can take up to six months to complete with follow-up dates to check on process progression and accomplishments.

"It's a requirement to have AFSO21 in the wing because every organization has some process that could be more efficient. That is why AFSO21 exists, to make it more efficient," said Wallace. "In our physically constrained environment we need to take out our waste. The goal is to eliminate waste in our daily process for any organization."

"It [AFSO21] gives you a tool to help solve problems once the problem is identified," said Thomas. "It can help all units in the wing because the solution or the tools virtually eliminate any problems of that nature once it gets to the root cause in any unit."

"We have a lot of redundancies in the Air Force, in our processes and in some of our systems," said Wallace. "By removing the waste from some of these systems and redundancies, we give time back to the member and the unit so they can concentrate on what really matters to them - like training - so they can be a war fighter."