AFIS encourages year-round readiness, Vance capstone UEI underway May 11-18

  • Published
  • By David Poe
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  "If you've ever heard the term 'painting grass,'... six months prior to [an inspection], it was 'alright, we have to fix everything,'" said Col. Clark Quinn, the 71st Flying Training Wing commander, during an all-call here, April 29.

The commander said that with the new Air Force Inspection System in place, old habits have long since died prior to the arrival of 65 Air Education and Training Command inspectors to the base, May 11-18. The team will be here to conduct a Unit Effectiveness Inspection of the 71st FTW and its partners.

The weeklong visit will be a capstone of the current UEI cycle that has included constant self-evaluation via the Wing Commander's Inspection Program (which includes a Wing Inspector General office staff, a Wing Inspection Team and unit Self-Assessment Programs), normal reporting and virtual inspections conducted by elements of the AETC staff.

During the capstone event, AETC inspectors will validate and verify the adequacy, accuracy and relevance of the wing's inspection program as well as look for areas of undetected non-compliance or other blind spots that impact unit effectiveness. 

"What you have to realize is that we've been under inspection for the last year-and-a-half to two years," Quinn said.

Also, according to Air Force Instruction 90-201, the UEI will not evaluate local operations on a "compliant" versus "non-compliant" scale, but instead offers five-levels of grading to better reflect strengths or deficiencies. In addition, the UEI will tailor evaluation parameters to local mission requirements, rather than focusing on more Air Force-wide general standards. 

The UEI will include evaluation of local leadership and management skills through diverse applications to include surveys, individual and group interviews, and general observations.

AFIS is designed to be a single coherent, integrated, and synchronized system of inspections conducted on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and commanders at all levels. It takes advantage of the commanders' inherent duty to inspect their operations to gain efficiencies and reduce the size of external inspection teams like the one that will visit Vance May 11.

"We do this mission here every single day," Quinn said. "We want normal mission readiness to equal inspection readiness."

The AFIS' rightsizing is also intended to save man-hours previously used for outside inspection preparation, as well as streamline practices that will be shared between MAJCOMs in a continuous dialogue -- not just during inspection time. 

Capstone UEIs will happen approximately every two years, while internal evaluation tools, like those used in unit Self-Assessment or IG programs, will complement daily operations. Those results will be available to higher commands in real time, and sharing results will allow for a quicker dissemination of best practices across commands.

"I believe the return on a manpower investment to help the wing commander identify, report, analyze and fix problems is at least 10 to 1," Lt. Gen. Stephen Mueller, the former Secretary of the Air Force Inspector General, told Air Force News in a 2013 news story. "I'm convinced the efforts we're making together to strengthen command, reduce and prioritize our guidance, and reduce wasteful preparation for external inspections will be a catalyst for mission capability and cultural changes that will benefit every Airman, our Air Force and our nation. I don't say that lightly."

Because the new AFIS and corresponding UEI is about daily readiness, and not prior-culture inspection readiness, Quinn told his troops and support staff to conduct business as usual during the upcoming UEI.

"Do your mission," he said. "I want you to be aware that (the inspectors) are here, but do your mission just like you do it every single day. Whatever you do on 11 May, make sure it's the same thing you did on 8 May. Be professional with them, be proud of what you do, and be open with them."