Page 1 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, Aug 3 2018
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“We train the world’s greatest fighter pilots and combat ready Airmen†August 2018
Vol. 18, No. 8
INSIDE
StorIES
ï® Reinventing F-35 MX, 3
ï® Cyber security, 5
ï® Transfer of GI Bill, 6
ï® Krav Maga, 8
ï® Water report, 12
FEAtUrE
Airman 1st Class Aspen Reid Tech. Sgt. Derek Cook, 56th Component Maintenance Squadron lead standardization crew member, grabs tools to load weapons
onto an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Luke Air Force Base. Using continuous process improvement principles members from the 56th
LOAD COMPETITION Maintenance Group have implemented changes to speed up the process in which they conduct initial weapons loading training
on aircraft.
See Page 10
MXG streamlines initial weapons load process
Continue to get Luke’s latest Story and photo by Staff Sgt. Removing unnecessary tasks from initial certification training
news and information from FRANKLIN RAMOS allows the team to focus on more essential steps to weapons loading.
these sources: http://www. Since doing so, they have seen better passing rates for some quali-
aerotechnews.com/lukeafb/ 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs fications. Around 99 percent of the weapons they’ve loaded onto
aircraft have properly fired or dropped without malfunctioning.
http://www.luke.af.mil Members from the 56th Maintenance Group recently implement-
and social media ed changes to speed up initial weapons load training on aircraft. “It’s really benefited the maintainers here in the load barnâ€
Havel said. “Our [aircraft] gun fire rates and bomb drop rates have
Luke56thFW @LukeAFB Master Sgt. David Havel, 56th MXG wing weapons superinten- increased roughly 1.5 percent, which isn’t a huge number, but if you
dent, is leading the way on the new changes using tools from a look at our standard of 98 to 99 percent, there’s not a huge margin
Date of publication Continuous Process Improvement course he is attending. for error. We’re really knocking those standards out of the park.
Our semiannual evaluation rate has gone up by almost 14 percent.â€
First Friday “The CPI class has been eye opening about time-saving events
that could be applied to daily life in weapons standardization,†Another benefit of this streamlined process is that the weapons
of the month Havel said. “A few months ago it was highlighted that there were teams can get aircraft used for training back out to the flightline
some redundancies within our training, time was wasted and we in a shorter time period.
Submission deadline were not using it to the best of our ability. The programs I learned
in class, we brought here and implemented it to save time.†“In the past, initial certification was blocked for an entire week,
15th day of the month five duty days for both aircraft,†said Havel. “With the processes
The maintainers diligently communicated to prioritize and solve that we’ve changed, the F-16 Fighting Falcon is now done in four
prior to date of publication problems within their processes. They reviewed their initial weap- duty days and the F-35 Lightning II is done in three duty days.â€
ons load training procedures and removed unnecessary processes
Veterans such as functional checks, integrated munition loads and paper Since February 2018, the weapons teams has saved around 1,080
technical orders. man-hours in aircraft maintenance training which allows their
Tell us Your Story troops to assists in other maintenance areas.
Active-duty, Reserve, Retirees “It’s helped us out a lot here in the weapons community,†said
All military branches are included Tech. Sgt. Josh Roberts, 56th Component Maintenance Squadron “We saved a total of 45 days of training, and given back 1,080
loading standardization crew chief. “We are the largest weapons hours to the flightline Airmen out there launching jets, loading
Email name, phone number and a community in Air Education and Training Command. Anytime we bombs, and fixing aircraft,†Havel said. “I hope that our young men
brief description of your service to can save time and make our job more efficient it is going to make and women are getting the great skills and knowledge they need to
our customers, which is everybody out there on the flightline, be good at their jobs in a way that translates to the flightline and
56fwpathunderbolt@us.af.mil more efficient.†keeps pilots training at the most efficient pace possible.â€
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