92nd Civil Engineer Squadron leads the charge in asset management beta testing Published June 12, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Joshua Chapman 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- There's no secret to it: the U.S. Air Force is strapped for cash. But while the Air Force's budget continues to slump, costs for operating, maintaining and producing in these challenging times remain stubbornly high. It's time for a new approach, and Fairchild's 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron is the first to take that challenge. The 92nd CES was one of two engineering squadrons throughout the Air Force to be involved with -- and the only to volunteer for -- a new beta testing program centered on asset management business strategies. Shops throughout the squadron chose their most knowledgeable leaders to represent 11 core civil engineering activities, such as integrated solid waste management and water management. Later, small focus groups were constructed of those selected Fairchild Airmen and civilians, known as champions, as well as contracted asset management experts. The groups systematically determined their unit tasks and necessary resources, both natural and built, which are prudential in sustainment, restoration and modernization activities for the base. Champions assigned to the unit were excited to get the hard work underway. "It's an opportunity for our Airman to really dig into their work spaces and deliver information to both Air Force leadership and the Civil Engineer Squadron here at Fairchild," said Ronald Daniels, 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron deputy commander, about the focus group's meetings. "This is hard data that we can use at the base level to improve how we do business now." Fairchild members gathering information structured those activities in terms of mission priority. The most important activities were to be "racked and stacked," and delivered to major commands. From there, Air Force top leaders will make near/long-term decisions, sufficiently weighing the risks, costs and benefits of Civil Engineer business practices. "Right now we evenly spread out the money -- that's not a smart way to do business," said Col. Liesel Golden, Asset Management and Operations Division chief, Pentagon, Washington D.C. "This new method is more centralized, and that's the direction that we're seeing the Air Force leaning toward. It allows Air Force leaders to really look at requirements holistically, from the larger picture." Pentagon officials involved in the asset management process agree that the program will save money for the Air Force as a whole. But it will likely also save space and manpower by ridding the service of unused resources and unessential tasks. "We have to do better with our resources," said Colonel Golden. "Airmen at Fairchild are helping us to develop a playbook that will standardize business practices, while maintaining the levels of service that have become benchmark in the civil engineer community." Currently, Air Mobility Command is operating on about 210 different databases. Asset Management will result in one consolidated database, harboring the information of all those loose databases into one focal point, where information can be viewed in real time by anyone who needs it. It's no surprise that leaders in the 92nd CES are on board. "One of the obvious advantages of the asset management program is its instrumental utility in communicating our needs to our funders," said Mr. Daniels. "Because of its promise and success that have already made a major difference in both the public and private sectors, it's very likely that we'll see asset management become standard across the entire Air Force," concluded Col. Golden. "For now, we're focused on locking it into the CE mechanism."