Consolidated support flight meets AFSO21 challenge

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joel Mease
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  While many shops in the Air Force are finding that they are having to do "less with less," one maintenance shop here is instead asking how can they do more with less. 

The newly consolidated support flight in the 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron is an example of how Airmen in the 7th Maintenance Group are answering Air Force Smart Operations 21 charge of finding a better way of doing things, said Capt. Bryan Wong, 7th AMXS support flight commander. 

Not very long ago, the 7th MXG had two aircraft maintenance units in two separate buildings. The old way of doing things involved double of everything, but with one AMU they were able to cut down on the number of additional duties by almost half, the captain said. 

Consolidating the AMUs also meant combining the two support flights as well.
"This created a one-stop shop for our maintainers," Captain Wong said. "Before, our maintainers would often have to make one stop at the 9th's support flight and then another at the 28th's support flight if one didn't have the parts needed to fix the aircraft." 

The overall savings in time can average close to 45 minutes, which many maintainers are very appreciative of, Captain Wong said. 

Besides making the maintainer on the flightline happy, by getting maintenance on the flightline faster the 7th AMXS is actually increasing combat capability, the captain said. 

Getting the maintainers out the door faster also has benefits for the Airmen, as well. 

"It has allowed us more time to organize, train, look at training orders, and work on improving our programs," said Staff Sgt. Johnathan Kovar, 7th AMXS support flight specialist. 

Looking for better ways to do things for the 7th AMXS didn't stop at consolidation. 

"We are always looking to find a better way of doing operations. Our No. 1 goal is to push support as close to the flightline as possible," Captain Wong said. "An example of how we are doing this is holding a Lean conference at least two to three times a month, with everyone from the crew chief turning the wrenches to the senior enlisted." 

As with any change, it's human nature to want to resist it, especially with the transformation of consolidating units, Captain Wong said. 

"We couldn't have completed this without everyone on board," Sergeant Kovar said. "It simply would never have happened. It's never been a one man job, and it never will be."
Captain Wong agrees with Sergeant Kovar's assessment. 

"It really does take everyone to buy in. Anytime change is involved, there are road blocks; but they came through to meet the challenge," said the captain. "We simply now have better control over our resources."