JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --
A 12th Flying Training Wing Continuous Process Improvement
team recently brainstormed ways to address inefficiencies in a program that
requires the use of a federal government credit card to purchase jet fuel at
off-station locations.
The CPI team, which met March 15-18 and March 23, identified
11 possible solutions, or countermeasures, in response to an Air Force Audit
Agency analysis of the Aviation Into-plane Reimbursement Card program that
revealed problems such as inaccurate and duplicate transactions as well as purchases
that exceed an aircraft’s fuel capacity.
CPI event facilitator David Bernacki, 12th Operations
Support Squadron lead Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals weapons system
civilian simulator instructor, said some of the countermeasures incorporate automation
and new technologies for efficiency to ensure savings.
“The process will ensure stewardship of Air Force resources
by validating the accuracy of transactions worth millions of dollars,” he said.
CPI team member Angi Werley, 12th FTW Maintenance Directorate
resource adviser at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., said she believed the
best countermeasure “would be appointing a wing refueling document control
officer who can devote time and energy to the program and ensure that the wing
is properly billed for its aircraft fuel usage.”
Among the other countermeasures identified were using
electronic processes to expedite the forwarding of fuel receipts to the WRDCO,
appointing a squadron-level RDCO to collect receipts, acquiring a software
program that reduces receipt verification time by 95 percent, ensuring all fuel
receipts are maintained in accordance with Department of Defense and Air Force
directives and restricting the AIR Card limit to not exceed the maximum fuel
capacity of each aircraft, Bernacki said.
Another CPI team member, Rachel DeMone, 12th FTW Maintenance
Directorate resource adviser at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, said a key to
improving efficiencies with using the AIR Card is “standardization of squadron
practices in regard to receipt control.”
“The team felt it was imperative to assign RDCOs at the
squadron level to ensure a sound flow of receipts for validation,” she said.
“Formal assignment of the 12th FTW WRDCO is pending, but the team created an
interim process to guarantee billing systems and receipts are reconciled prior
to acceptance of payment. The appointed WRDCO will champion wing guidance in
the form of an operating instruction to fill procedural gaps in the existing
Air Force Instruction 11-253, which governs off-station purchases of aviation
fuel and ground services.”
DeMone said the audit, which covered the period Oct. 1,
2014, to Aug. 31, 2015, revealed deficiencies such as 116 duplicate
transactions valued at $120,000, 10 transactions valued at $13,000 that
exceeded the aircraft fuel capacity, 682 fuel charges against unassigned tail
numbers valued at $28,000 and missing receipts valued at $92,000.
In addition, the lack of designation of a WRDCO equated to
no validations of 39,792 transactions.
“Based on the number of missing receipts, it was projected
that 26,529 of 39,792 transactions, valued at $19.5 million, were not validated
for accuracy,” DeMone said.
Bernacki said the audit covered 12th FTW flying operations
at JBSA-Randolph, NAS Pensacola and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs,
Colo.
The CPI event featured Col. Michael Snell, 12th FTW vice
commander, as champion and Col. Matthew Isler, 12th FTW commander, as process
owner. Champions dedicate resources, assets and people to an initiative, while
process owners lead an organization or group, a team lead and other members.
CPI team member Lt. Col. Keith Eveland, 99th Flying Training
Squadron assistant director of operations, said the event resulted in “some new
processes that will close the gaps found in our current process.”
“The team worked well together to solve a complex problem
that affects accountability for a large portion of the wing’s mission and
resources,” he said.
DeMone said she foresees action plans stemming from the CPI
event “that will positively change the way we are doing business while saving
the government thousands, if not millions, of taxpayer dollars.”