Page 3 - Nellis AFB Bullseye 10-30-15

BULLSEYE
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AF leaders testify on F-35 progress
By Senior Airman Hailey Haux
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs Headquarters Air Force, assured them
Command Information
WASHINGTON — Leaders in the
F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Of-
fice and the Air Force F-35 Integration
Office testified on the fifth-generation
aircraft’s development before a House
Armed Services subcommittee Oct. 21
on Capitol Hill.
Fielding a number of questions from
Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcom-
mittee representatives, Lt. Gen. Christo- than 42,000 hours, to include the inter-
pher Bogdan, the F-35 program executive
CLOSEOUT, from page 1________
that created many missed opportuni-
ties. DEAMS challenges forced CPTS to
manage funding manually in order to
execute funding requirements and miti-
gate risks outside our span of control.”
Even though the new system caused
challenges for the 99th CPTS and 99th
CONS throughout the fiscal year, Nel-
lis AFB executed an annual $295.2
million baseline budget, a $70.9 mil-
lion overseas contingency operation
INSPECTION, from page 1 ______
MAJCOM IG validates and verifies
the wing commander’s inspection
program. The Air Force cannot af-
ford to staff the MAJCOM IG with the
personnel it needs to do a thorough
top-to-bottom scrub, so their snap-
shots will include looking at the wing’s
inspection program and sampling
behavior all the way down to the Air-
man level. They will see if wing CCIP
results match their own UEI results.
Figure 1. 57th Wing CCIP Inspection Results
More remarkable than the inspection
results are the self-assessment results.
AFI 90-201 states that self-assessment
is the cornerstone of the wing CCIP.
Further, it states that the CCIP should
“give the Wing Commander, subordi-
News
officer, and Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian,
the F-35 Integration Office director,
the program is making progress.
“The F-35 program today is executing
well across the entire spectrum of acquisi-
tion, to include development and design,
flight test, production … and building a
global sustainment enterprise,” Bogdan
said. “The program is at a pivot point to-
day, where we are moving from slow and
steady progress to what I call a rapidly
growing and accelerating program.”
Overall, the program has flown more
budget, and $41.3 million Facilities
Sustainment Restoration and Mod-
ernization budget. During the month
of September, the 99th CPTS executed
$52.5 million in requirements.
“Lt. Col. Bill Sullivan, the 99th
CPTS commander, and Lt. Col. Chris
Kay, the 99th CONS commander,
planned and executed the fiscal year-
end plan well,” said Salton. ”The team
funded and awarded 1,141 contracts
valued at nearly $148.1 million, and
funded and managed $23.5 million
So what does the 57th Wing photo
album look like?
In 13 months every unit has been in-
spected — four groups, three direct report-
ing units, 34 squadrons, including 13 GSUs.
We used 180 wing Inspectors and borrowed
66 from 16 other wings. They found 208
strengths, 278 areas of improvement, and
433 deficiencies. Here in the 57th Wing IG
shop we are extremely proud of the relation- of 103 days. Further, recognizing
ships we’ve built with 17 other Wing IG
shops. It has definitely been a team effort. cesses aren’t captured in MICT, we
This is what inspectors have found:
nate commanders and wing Airmen
the right information at the right time
to assess risk, identify areas of im-
provement, determine root cause and
precisely focus limited resources — all
aligned with the commander’s priorities
national jets and the U.S. service-specific
variations.
The F-35 is a complex program made
more challenging by the fact that it’s still reduces the opening shock of the para-
in development, even as we are flying it in
the field. Recent tests on the safe-escape
system revealed a problem that would re-
sult in lighter-weight pilots possibly suf-
fering major neck injury upon ejection.
“The program is working with our
industry partners on three specific im-
provements that will provide lightweight
pilots that same level of protection and
safety as all other F-35 pilots,” Bogdan
said in his written testimony. “These
in 30,000 government purchase card
transactions providing both Nellis
and Creech AFBs with foundational
support services, RPA testing and
training support, Red Flag and U.S.
Air Force Weapons School tools to
strengthen air combat training and
critical tactics development, as well as
upgraded roads for safe and efficient
travel, and new and improved facilities
protecting property and improving
working environments for Nellis and
Creech AFB professionals.”
and on the commander’s timeline.”
The heart of the 57th Wing CCIP
is the self-assessment program.
In the last two years, 57th Wing
Airmen have self-assessed 1,464
“observations” of non-compliance,
developed corrective action plans,
and closed out 315 significant and
critical observations for a fix rate
that many of the 57th Wing pro-
have made “Non-MICT” self-assess-
ments an institutional part of the
Figure 2. 57th Wing Non-MICT Self-Assessment Results
Whether derived from self-assess-
ments or inspections, 57th Wing senior
leaders are armed perpetually with a
“to-do list.” We literally have hundreds
of things to fix.
One of the most significant reasons for
these shortfalls is our operations tempo
and workload.
Identifying all these issues further
absorbs Airmen’s capacity, which begs
3October 30, 2015
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three improvements are: one, a reduced
weight helmet that weighs 6 ounces less
than the current helmet … two, a pilot
‘weight switch’ on the ejection seat that
chute by slightly delaying the parachute’s
opening for lightweight pilots; and three,
a head support that will be sewn into
the parachute risers that will reduce the
rearward head movement of the pilot
when the main chute of the ejection seat
opens, reducing the pilot’s neck loads.”
Comparing the F-35 with the F-16 Fight-
____________ See F-35, on page 9
According to Rakes, the sheer size
and scope of the budget and the orga-
nization CPTS supports in addition
to managing two accounting systems
created challenges that were unique
unlikely any other fiscal year closeout.
“The end of year fiscal year close-
out process creates additional duty
to strategically investing resources
in infrastructure and commodity
requirements that enable Airmen to
complete the mission today, tomor-
row, and years to come,” said Rakes.
wing’s key communication mechanisms.
Group and Direct Reporting Unit
Commanders brief their units’ status
biweekly utilizing the lens of the four
UEI “Major Graded Areas” — Execut-
ing the Mission, Managing Resources,
Leading People, and Improving the
Unit. This accounts for an additional
30 percent of self-assessed obser-
vations, with issues ranging from
successfully supporting F-35 Initial
Operating Capability to how the wing
develops the world’s most tactically
proficient Airmen.
the question, “Did we really identify
everything?” This is why ACC/IG’s UEI
Capstone next week is crucial. They will let
us know if we have blind spots. The more
blind spots we have, the more we can learn
and tweak our CCIP. The less we have, the
more time they can spend validating our
assessments and campaigning to get the
resources we need to resolve our top issues.
Either way, it’s a win-win.