LINCOLN, Neb. -- LINCOLN, Neb. – The 155th Air Refueling Wing hosted a group of 15 field-level-experts from the Air National Guard Production Assessment Team Oct. 18-21, to take a holistic look on how to improve a refueling unit.
The PAT helps with that goal by giving overall assessments of fleet health. This includes looking at maintenance, facets of operation, logistics readiness squadron and mission support group.
“We have teams of specialist built from all over the guard to come to other units and try help with other practices, or see if there are better ones to pick up,” said Master Sgt. Virgil Gibson, Kentucky ANG, maintenance analysis. “Personally I learned a lot from the 155th ARW’s analysis person and I will be taking it with me to other units.”
There’s always room for improvement both ways and it was a valuable experience for the 155th ARW as the PAT’s first tanker unit visit said Lt. Col. John Loken, 155th Maintenance Group commander.
“We’re always looking for a way to increase effectiveness and production capabilities. We knew going in that we didn’t have any quality issues with our planes or processes,” Loken said. “One of the key takeaways from their analysis was implementing a longer range scheduling.”
After hearing the PAT teams analysis from the week visit, Loken said how the 155th ARW will go forward with the feedback.
“Every unit is different with their own strengths and weaknesses. We’ll see what we can implement right away where as some things might take longer,” Loken said. “The goal in the end is to improve the overall aircraft availability across the fleet.”
The PAT gave their assessment, but it doesn’t end there because this helps the 155th ARW contribute to overall air power.
“This just isn’t focused to the 155th ARW at the end of the day. It’s the whole fleet to include fighters, bombers, transports and KC-135’s,” Loken said. “If we can use the results of this visit to our benefit to increase aircraft readiness across the board, then that goal will have been met.”