Vance IT specialist captures participation award in 'King of the Hill' game

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Beth Anschutz
  • Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --  The "King of the Hill" game has ended, and Vance Air Force Base, Okla., is one of three Air Education and Training Command bases spotlighted for best idea, individual participation, and wing participation.

Tom Wade, an information technology specialist with the 71st Force Support Squadron at Vance AFB, was named the individual participation winner because he correctly predicted the winner 29 times out of 43 matches.

Wade credits common sense for his accomplishment. "I looked at the two choices and voted for the one that made sense," he said.

His office celebrated the good news by giving Wade a customized "King of the Hill" crown.

Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., won best idea with "C3 Multi-Functional Device Initiatives," which involved renegotiating print, copy, scan and fax lease agreements. In the final match they defeated Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. Columbus' idea was titled "Bldg. 406 Corrosion Control."

The 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard AFB, Texas, was named the wing participation champion. The wing's 100 percent participation rate was unmatched by any other organization in AETC.

Capt. Kurt Schmidbauer, AETC command financial analyst, said the contest played out in a very exciting final match on Aug. 12.

"As Columbus cruised to the final round without a single loss, Keesler had to win three days in a row in the 'loser's bracket' just to make it to the final match," Schmidbauer said. "From that point Keesler defeated Columbus twice in a row to claim the championship."

According to Schmidbauer, over the course of Keesler's five straight wins the base averaged nearly 1,000 base personnel voting per day, a testament to their ability to organize and spread the message on the Cost Conscience Culture initiative.

More than 15,500 individuals from across AETC voted at least once during the contest.

"In the end, we met the goal of spreading the C3 message," said Schmidbauer. "We received 106 ideas through the game link, compared to 14 during the entire quarter prior to the game, and received 210 comments on existing ideas."

All the information gathered during the "King of the Hill" game will add to the idea validation process, which will include a financial and functional review to ensure the idea is valid and does not violate any established directive.

Although the "King of the Hill" game has ended, the continuation of innovation is what is important to the future of AETC and the Air Force.