Salt Lake City --
How many of you remember putting in countless extra hours of comprehensive preparation in the months leading up to an operational readiness inspection and/or a unit compliance inspection from your major command (MAJCOM) inspection team? Although the advent of the consolidated unit inspection generally reduced the frequency of inspections, we still held firm to the mindset of extensive ramp up and seemingly endless rehearsals.
No one can be faulted for the desire to ensure our installation is well prepared for inspections; however, one might argue that sometimes the preparation came at the expense of time and energy that otherwise could have been utilized on our core duties. In a sense, we sacrificed mission readiness for inspection readiness. The new Air Force Inspection System will help us shift focus from MAJCOM inspections to our respective missions.
The wing-level portion of AFIS is the Commander's Inspection Program. The intent of CCIP is to refocus our efforts on both our mission and compliance. It accomplishes these goals through a two-part process: self-assessment checklist inspections and inspections from the wing-level inspector general, with assistance from subject matter experts. The checklist portion of the CCIP is completed with the Management Internal Control Toolset.
The second half of CCIP, the local inspection, is not radically different from our current processes. We will still have inspectors on site to validate our performance. Local inspections can occur one of three ways: scheduled in advance, on short notice, or without any notice, thus ensuring we are always ready for an independent assessment of our programs and processes.
The new inspection system is structured to inspect and measure four major graded areas.
· Managing Resources
· Leading People
· Improving the Unit
· Executing the Mission
Each area is worth 25% of your overall grade.
The AFIS will improve our overall mission capabilities and put the responsibility for training, readiness and compliance on wing-level leadership and, by succession, on squadron commanders. With the old methodology, units were assessed based on a one-week snapshot and evaluated on how well they could prepare for an inspection. Under CCIP, inspectors will have a minimum two-year "photo album," providing a detailed historical view of the UTANG's day-to-day mission readiness and compliance.
AFIS is expected to fully integrate in October 2014, and the Utah Air National Guard is scheduled to undergo a Unit Effectiveness Inspection (UEI) under the CCIP program in July 2015. We are encouraged by the notion of eliminating the need to ramp up for an inspection and, instead, are able to put our focus back on training and our core capabilities.