Wing leaders trained in AFSO21 philosophy

  • Published
  • By Maj. Beth Kelley Horine
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  As part of a U.S. Air Forces in Europe-wide tour, Maj. Gen. Marc "Buck" Rogers traveled to RAFs Lakenheath and Mildenhall April 18 to educate wing leadership about instilling a top-down "lean" culture through Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century.

"The reason I'm here is to train our leaders and place AFSO21 concepts in context for you," General Rogers said during a luncheon at RAF Lakenheath's Liberty club. "AFSO 21 is all about getting the chain of command to hear new ideas and break down the brick wall of leadership saying, 'The AFI [Air Force Instruction] says we can't.'"

By definition, AFSO21 is a project-based, standard concept and method to accomplish long-term improvements via proven industry processes, the general said. He sited examples, like LEAN, Six Sigma and other operational management concepts that have been proven successful in the business industry.

A key to applying AFSO 21 effectively is understanding the Air Force transformation culture and leveraging technology to change ways of thinking--especially in senior Air Force leadership, the general added.

"We need to change our way of thinking to use technology to not just do the same job better or faster, but to exploit it to do a completely new task or process," he said.

General Rogers discussed the difference between the previous Quality Air Force-era of the 1990s and AFSO 21--citing the reason QAF didn't succeed is that leadership wasn't integrated into the movement. Instead, mindsets at the top stayed the same and even pushed back against new processes and ideas.

"LEAN today is different because all senior leaders have been to school and are learning to implement and foster an Air Force environment that welcomes, not hinders, new ideas and ways of thinking," General Rogers said.

Traveling with General Rogers was USAFE's AFSO21 Master Process Officer, Stephen Jewett, who advocated the importance of the general taking the time to visit each USAFE wing. 

"General Rogers has a passion for LEAN and LEAN thinking. His talks are designed to impart that passion to wing leadership across the command," said Mr. Jewett.

According to the general's briefing, the benefits to lean thinking, through AFSO 21, will help Air Force leadership deal with declining resources by eliminating waste, enhancing the ability to do the mission, and creating an environment with greater agility to respond to changing demands.

"It will also help our people become more conscious of their value to the Air Force, increasing their desire to improve everyday," General Rogers said.

According to Lt. Col. Larry Gudgel, 48th Fighter Wing AFSO21 Program Director, AFSO21/LEAN is about a new way to manage and analyze processes by the people that work them daily, then arrive at solutions.

"The same process should be looked at periodically over time to find further areas that contain wasted steps that can be eliminated," Colonel Gudgel said. "LEAN and flow are tools that are used to eliminate steps that are of no value to the customer and in effect shorten the number of steps to get to the final product/outcome. By removing unnecessary steps, time and money are saved along with removing much of the frustration for the people working the process," he added.

To learn more about AFSO 21 programs, or to get help with planning and initiating a LEAN event, contact Colonel Gudgel or Senior Master Sgt. David Marchant in the 48th FW AFSO21 office at 226-3630. Look for AFSO 21 success stories and resources coming online soon to the 48FW.com intranet site.