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Show 2 COMMENTARY December 31, 2014 Maintenance versus repair ... of our Airmen ; Hil top , TIME /eddy Since 1948 Hilltop Times Managerial Staff: Andrea Mason Director, Team Hill Public Affairs 801-777-2286 Rich Essary Team Hill Public Affairs 801-777-2284 Barbara Fisher Team Hill Public Affairs 801-775-3652 Micah Garbarino ... Team Hill Public Affairs 801-777-1902 Deadlines: Editorial and news items are due by noon on the Friday prior to the Thursday print date. To submit news items, email75abw.pa@us.af.mil or call the numbers above. For Classified Advertising, call 801-625-4300. For Retail Advertising, call 801-625-4388. The Hilltop Times is published by Ogden Publishing Corp., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under, and in compliance with, a Memorandum of Understanding with Hill Air Force Base. 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Call 801-777-1902 with story ideas or comments, or email 75abw.pa@us.af.mil . Call 801-625-4300 for Classified Advertising or 801-6254388 for Retail Advertising. HAWC Nest Fitness Tip from the Health and Wellness Center Did you know smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have support such as medication therapy, counseling, guidebooks, friends and family member encouragement? QUIT TODAY. For assistance call the HAWC at 801-7771215 BY MAJ. CAMERON RICHARDSON 19th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron TITLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. This commentary is not about aircraft, vehicles, or even any mechanical components. It's about our Airmen and how we manage their care and development throughout their careers. The maintenance versus repair concept is borrowed from the maintenance community and speaks to how maintenance managers plan, coordinate and execute scheduled maintenance events. The goal is to maximize the amount of time we can utilize the aircraft for missions and minimize the down time due to repairs. Do we treat our Airmen the same way? I submit to you how to take care of our Airmen directly and indirectly. Maintenance of our personnel is just as important as maintenance of aircraft. Most people are saying maintenance and repair mean the same thing, but they truly don't. Maintenance actions are the planned events to ensure the reliability, longevity and airworthiness of our aircraft. Maintenance is normally done under the guise of pre-use, post-use and scheduled depot (major) inspections. Repair in some cases is a part of maintenance, but in most cases repair actions normally come at the most inopportune time. When something breaks, the mission is delayed, hindered or stopped, which are all things the Air Force tries to mitigate. Repairs are unscheduled or unplanned events to get an item or component back to an operating condition. Since it is an unplanned event, we throw a great deal of time and resources at it. To innovate, we BY COL. ROBERT NOVOTNY Commander, 48th Fighter Wing "Throughout history, people with new ideas — who think differently and try to change things — have always been called troublemakers." — RICHELLE MEAD author R OYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England — The Air Force is pushing hard for us to innovate. You hear it when our senior leaders give speeches or post articles imploring us to improve. Examples include the AFSO21 process or the new Airmen Powered by Innovation program launched in April. All of that is great, except for the fact that over the last 30 years, we've created an organization that is resistant to failure. When was the last time you heard someone say, "It's okay to not spend all of your money at the end of the fiscal year," or, "Getting a three on your enlisted performance report is awesome!" Never, right? Clearly we have a problem. Innovation and fear of failure are incompatible. Like oil and water, a culture afraid to take risk is inherently unable to explore the sometimes-ugly world Now how does that relate to our Airmen? Well, maintenance of our Airmen consists of scheduling training events to take care of their careers and professional growth. It also entails implementing proper shift schedules for work and rest cycles, along with planned regular days off. Managing quality of life issues such as leave schedules as well as scheduling health exams, dental exams, and gym time encapsulates maintenance of personnel. Now on the flip side, the need for the repair of Airmen normally comes in the form of personnel who have over-extended themselves mentally, socially, physically and financially; and personnel who are experiencing family hardships due to normal life demands. In many cases these demands can be compounded by military service. Airmen in need of some repair may chronically miss appointments, have difficulty passing the fitness test or have issues coping with life. I call this burnout syndrome, when our Airmen start to have multiple issues in various areas. Can burnout syndrome be avoided? Yes, with a good maintenance action plan. Some proactive methods include complementary shift schedules for family life, when possible, and establishing a culture of practicing resilience tactics, techniques and procedures. The resilience modules and suicide alertness and awareness training seminars provided by the Air Force truly can make a difference in the maintenance of our Airmen. When you're lacking a solid maintenance action plan, personnel are taken out of the normal mission rotation for extensive repair. In extreme cases, some personnel will need all of the resources pro- vided through our medical community, and outside organizations such as Military One Source, the Airman & Family Readiness Center, and Military & Family Life Counseling before they are ready to resume normal operations. When burnout syndrome happens, a great deal of time is required to repair, and it is costly, but our Airmen are worth it. I want to reiterate that seeking help is the right thing to do, and we need to continue to encourage our personnel to get help prior to feeling "broken" or in disrepair. We have a host of resources that will maintain and repair our people for future use. The bottom line is to maintain your Airmen with good scheduled events, and pay the little costs upfront. Or you will pay for the major repairs during the most inopportune time. Our mission hinges on our most valuable resource — our Airmen. can't be afraid to fail of innovation. Here's some good news. Since the birth of the airplane, Airmen have always been innovative. Innovation is resident in our DNA, just maybe a bit dormant right now A pair of brave, "troublemaker" bicycle mechanics took flight at Kitty Hawk, Doolittle's courageous "troublemakers" launched B-25 bombers off of the USS Hornet, and a fearless "troublemaker" named Chuck Yeager are all legacy examples showcasing the rich history of risk-taking Airmen. If you've ever been to Edwards Air Force Base in California, you know that nearly every street is named for an innovative Airman who gave his or her life pushing the envelope — failing while innovating. Given that innovation is part of our culture, how can we create an environment where our Airmen are willing to innovate without fear of failure? First, I think we need to agree that we have to be better than we are — with our precious time, our tremendous Airmen and our finite resources. In the past several months, the Air Force released more Airmen in an attempt to meet congressionally-mandated end strengths. This reduction in manpower is stressing the team more than ever. Furthermore, our team is now in a period of mission-growth that I can't remember in recent history. We all thought that the drawdown in Afghanistan would bring relief, but the new fight in Iraq and Syria, a pandemic virus coupled with declining security in Africa, and other resurgent threats, demand improvements in the way we accomplish our mission. It is only appropriate that an old English proverb stated, "Necessity is the mother of invention." I think that applies to us right now. Second, and most important, we have to foster a culture that is willing to experiment and fail during discovery. I have a big role in this culture, but I am convinced our first and second-level supervisors will make or break this effort. Every time I meet with the first-term Airmen, I am reminded that we recruit and retain brilliant Americans, and they have great ideas. They are also a fresh set of eyes in the organization with a long list of questions about how we're doing business. If you're a young supervisor, listen to your folks. Engage with them about how to improve the organization. Our Airmen, regardless of rank or experience, are the key to our future. You have to empower them to take action on their ideas, and reward them when they succeed — and fail. As soon as we admonish an Airman for trying and failing, we can be certain they won't try again. Without a doubt, we know there are areas where failure brings a high price, like flight and weapons safety, and our healthcare. But there are countless areas around this installation, to include bureaucratic processes, communication, staffing, mission accomplishment and finances, where we can make improvements. If in doubt, start small and build some momentum. Every improvement, no matter how small, will make our team better. I know this is easier said than done, and we can't change it overnight. I also know that some folks won't trust me when I say it's okay to fail. Fair enough. I can tell you we are listening to your ideas and making improvements. Because of your ideas at RAF Lakenheath, we've See INNOVATE I Page 6 THINK SAFETY Hill's Total 2014 DUIs: 14 Hill's Last DUI: Vez. Unit Involved: 75e4 Seca/tete/ %Iced, S Report suspicious activity via the AFOSI EAGLE EYES program Dial: 777-3056 / 3057/ 3058. watch 4 Report 4 Protect Force Protection is Our Business — Everyone is a Sensor oceetee404 Airmen Against Drinking and Driving provide rides when designated drivers are unavailable. Call 777-1111 to request a ride anytime. Hours of operation: Fridays-Saturdays 10 p.m.- 6 a.m. Sundays 9 p.m.-midnight. Security Forces 24-hr. 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