The wing’s new currency

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J. Paul Croxon
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Airmen spend their time like currency. Some time is spent serving their country in a desert away from family, more is spent training and preparing for that deployment, and yet more time is spent for professional development. Once all the "time" bills are paid, there's precious little left. Time is very valuable.

In response to the demands put on time during two wars and fewer Airmen, the Air Force has taken steps to do its mission as efficiently as possible -- so time isn't wasted. On Oct. 8, a clock was installed in the fitness center here as a visible example of how much time is returned to the wing by doing things smarter and more efficiently.

The clock, known as "Big Sven," has two time fields. The top field shows the current month's time-saving goal for the entire wing; the bottom goal displays the total number of man-hours saved since July 1, 2008.

"It's Col. [John] Michel's [319th Air Refueling Wing commander] intent to save as much time as possible doing our mission and giving that time back to Airmen," said Maj. Michael Goodwin, Chief of Air Force Smart Operations. "By looking closely at the things we do, identifying wasteful processes and eliminating that waste, we're able to save time that can be reinvested in the lives of our Airmen."

According to Major Goodwin, one example of time savings was achieved by a joint effort by the 319th Maintenance Group and 319th Operations Group to eliminate the process of preparing a daily spare aircraft.

"Through analysis, it was determined that a spare wasn't always needed, except to support high priority missions" the major said. "By eliminating that process, when allowable, the group is able to save more than 850 man-hours each month with no negative impact on the mission. That's 850 man-hours that are given back to Airmen."

"'Big Sven' demonstrates the effectiveness of the wing's increased efficiency," said Maj. Goodwin. "Airmen now have more time currency to spend. Instead of volunteering in the community on their own time, the time they save by doing things smarter can be spent in the community, with their families, studying for promotion, exercising and other activities."