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Sheppard takes the lead in C3 King of the Hill competition

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Beth Anschutz
  • Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --  Members of the Air Education and Training Command have only a short time remaining to cast votes for the Cost Conscience Culture, or C3, King of the Hill game.

Voting in the King of the Hill game, which is based on the best C3 idea, has been consistent and leaders have surfaced, but the competition isn't over yet.

"If the team from the loser's bracket defeats their opponent from the winner's bracket in the championship match Aug. 9 then both wings would meet again in a final rematch Aug. 12 to determine the individual and Organizational King of the Hill," said Capt. Kurt Schmidbauer, AETC command financial analyst. "We are still looking for everyone's support each and every day, not just on the days their unit is competing."

The individual with the most winning votes will be named individual King of the Hill and the organization with the highest participation by percentage will be named Organizational King of the Hill.

Competition has been strong, despite participation challenges faced with civilian furlough days. As of July 17, the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base became the first to reach 100 percent participation with the 381 Training Group at Vandenberg AFB in a close second place with 98 percent.

"We have some diehard individual voters out there! As of July 22 there have been six people who have voted all 28 days of the competition and another seven who have only missed one day," Schmidbauer said.

The winners will be announced Aug. 13.

Even after the C3 King of the Hill is named, information gleaned from participation in the game will be used to enhance the C3 program.

"The winning idea, as well as any other idea submitted to the C3 program, will undergo a financial and functional review to ensure the idea is valid and does not violate an established directive before being implemented across the command," Schmidbauer said. "In the short term, Airmen can look forward to taking part in selecting the overall 'best' idea. In the long term, Airmen can look forward to continuing to feed the idea-submission process themselves, submitting ideas that can be validated and duplicated across AETC or the Air Force."

Although the game is ending, the continuation of innovation is what is important to the future of the command and the Air Force.

"This year's fiscal environment is not unique, it's the new norm," Schmidbauer concluded. "The challenges we have experienced this fiscal year will be similar to the challenges we will continue to face in the future. We need everyone's ideas in order to make our limited funds meet mission requirements."

The King of the Hill game can be accessed by visiting https://www-r.aetc.af.mil/sc/c3/wp/main.asp and more information on the AETC C3 program can be found at http://www.aetc.af.mil/library/costconsciousculture.asp