Oath presents new inspection team's responsibilities in black and white

Published Oct. 29, 2014
By Tech. Sgt. Joshua Mead
103rd Airlift Wing, Public Affairs

BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE - East Granby, Conn. -- "I want to start by thanking all of you for being here and stepping up," said Col. Frank Detorie, commander of the 103rd Airlift Wing, as he addressed the soon-to-be-appointed members of the wing inspection team on June 10, 2014.

"You all are charged with administering what's called the CCIP, that's the commander's inspection program--that's my program. What that means is while you are out there doing this job, you speak for me," said Detorie.

A new responsibility that is not to be taken lightly. So much so that the approximately 25 Airmen selected from Bradley Air National Guard Base in East Granby, Connecticut, gathered to raise their hands and take an oath of responsibility as members of the office of the inspector general.

This formal act serves as a tangible indicator that the 103rd Airlift Wing is moving forward with the Air Force's inspection system.

The appointed Airmen will be the driving force behind the new AFI 90-201 commander's inspection program as members of the wing inspection team developing and evaluating exercises, tracking compliance and issues and reporting to the commander, said Lt. Col. James Guerrera, wing inspector general.

"The blue hat has been replaced by an onsite resource," said Guerrera, referring to the iconic hat that used to differentiate an evaluator during an exercise.

Adding in-house representatives to the inspection process is just one functional change, but it sets the basis for the change in inspection format.

"The traditional mode of having multiple inspections like the environmental, safety and occupational health compliance assessment and management program; the logistics compliance assessment program inspection; health services inspection, and aircrew standardization and evaluation visits will be a thing of the past," said Guerrera.

It used to be that the Airmen of the 103rd Airlift Wing would run around prepping for a major inspection for six months and then forget everything after the inspection happened, said Guerrera. Instead, the new system evaluates mission effectiveness with continuous inspections at the wing-level performed by WIT members.

The problem with the old system, said Maj. Steven Falusi, wing inspector general, is that the Air Force would only be getting a snap shot of the unit that spent the last year prepping for an inspection.

"This, in turn, left blind spots for functional area managers and higher ups because they had an idea of how prepared a unit was and how well they could prepare, but did not have an up-to-date, accurate representation how well the unit functioned and what shortfalls they may be facing," said Falusi.

Now, we inspect for effectiveness, accuracy, adequacy and relevancy providing the commander with data-driven decisions so they can allocate the appropriate resources to help fix issues, said Guerrera.

"I think this evolution is a good thing, certainly a cost-saving thing and it focuses our resources into a place that they need to be," said Detorie.

The cost savings come from the fact that the Air Force no longer needs to fly teams around to conduct these massive inspections and that each unit doesn't need to bring in extra help to prepare for the inspections.

However, even though the focus is no longer on sending out teams of inspectors, every 48 months there will be a capstone inspection where the Air Force inspector general office will come out to the wing and inspect the wing's inspection program. They may still come out to see individuals and each unit, but the inspection will be directed at whether or not the wing inspector general team is doing their job.

"Self-assessment has to constantly become part of your daily battle rhythm," said Falusi.

The available toolset, MICT, is the crucial reporting element of the wing inspection team and is what they will utilize to conduct their inspections.

The wing inspectors general are still looking to swear in additional members of their wing inspection team. They need about 100 inspectors total to help prepare for the airlift wing's upcoming capstone inspection in the fall of 2015.   Any interested technical or master sergeants looking to join the wing inspection team can inquire about the program by contacting their group commander to seek approval.