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Self-inspection program: take an honest, thorough look

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Agneta Murnan
  • 71st Flying Training Wing
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Just as Airmen take a look in the mirror to make sure they are wearing their uniforms correctly, the 71st Flying Training Wing Self Inspection Program is all about taking a look at the wing's many programs for compliance with a host of instructions and directives guiding mission execution.

Earlier this year, the Air Education and Training Command changed inspection philosophies when it directed the Office of the Inspector General to move from the operational readiness inspection to the unit compliance inspection format.

While the main focus of an ORI is mission accomplishment, the UCI goes several steps further. It focuses on how a unit accomplishes its mission and how it maintained compliance with Air Force, major command and local directives since the last inspection period. In addition, the AETC IG added a no-notice program to supplement its inspection schedules which specifically targets any areas that received less than a satisfactory grade during a UCI. So instead of having months to get ready for an inspection visit, a wing could only have a matter of days under the new program.

"If we're not looking at our own programs honestly," said Lt. Col. Shawn Haring, 71st FTW Plans and Exercise Office assistant chief, "we fail the responsibility of self-inspection. We found great room for improvement on our SIP during the February UCI. The IG is going to look at this program again."

While a visual top-to-bottom scan will help an Airman catch most uniform regulation infractions, the wing has its own reflection tool to help catch compliance issues in advance: the Quality Management Information System.

"QMIS is an awesome time-saving tool that tracks progress, stores results, builds reports and sends e-mail alerts. It brings the SIP into the 21st century by taking advantage of information technology. Rob Hammons has done an outstanding job building and maintaining this system for Vance," Colonel Haring said. "Links to QMIS can be found on the Vance Portal page or on the plans and programs SharePoint page where SIP tutorials, IG links and other important information can be found."

To aid Team Vance with the process, a new instruction, Vance AFB Instruction 90-106, Self-Inspection Program, was signed into effect Sept. 1 by Col. Chris Nowland, 71st Flying Training Wing commander. In the instruction, responsibilities are outlined, time tables are established, and guidance on self-inspection continuity books is provided.

"Integrity is just as important as an organized, methodic approach," Colonel Nowland said. "We need to look at ourselves honestly and make a committed effort to our programs to achieve excellence."

Several e-mail messages have been sent to base organizations from the plans office, specifying the steps needed to accomplish the SIP, including loading Vance-specific and non-IG checklists into QMIS, which are not accomplished through other systems, and creating hard-copy continuity books. The new Vance instruction and book label formats are loaded in SharePoint.

Formal Wing-wide self-inspection is currently underway here at Vance, with Oct. 31 set as the fall deadline for checklist completion and commander review. Inspections will be conducted twice a year in accordance with VAFBI 90-106.

"We're sure the IG team is coming back," Colonel Haring said. "We want to leave no doubt in their minds that our program has the detail and integrity of a benchmark program."