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AFSO 21 initiative leads to one-man FOD walk

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Larry Carpenter
  • 92nd ARW Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  As the Air Force continues to look for smarter and more efficient ways to accomplish the mission, the 92nd Maintenance Group continues to lead the way. 

Maj. Tom Campbell, 92nd Maintenance Squadron AFSO 21 representative, and Capt. Rich Mutter, 92nd Maintenance Squadron operations officer, facilitated a rapid improvement event to find a more effective way to remove foreign object debris from designated areas. 

The current process for performing mass FOD walks is a nine-step process which involves 80 people and consumes more than 161 man-hours a week. 

One reason for the amount of resources required to accomplish the FOD walks is the size of the covered area. There are currently more than 10-million square feet to be kept FOD free. 

"The area of responsibility to is too large to be covered adequately with the current methods," said Tech. Sgt. Cade Peterson, 92nd Maintenance Operations Squadron senior weapons system controller. 

The proposed changes involve attaching a new piece of equipment to the back of a vehicle and driving around the area to be cleaned. The device is designed to pick up the FOD as it drives over it, storing the FOD until it can be emptied out. 

"The process developed during the RIE would reduce the personnel required to one and cut the man-hours to about nine per week, both 99 percent reductions," said Sergeant Peterson. 

The maintenance squadron has implemented the new process to a degree, but the squadron still accomplishes FOD walks to comply with AFI 21-101, said Sergeant Peterson. 

With the current process, FOD walks are normally done in the morning, which is usually the busiest time of day, said Sergeant Peterson. This pulls qualified technicians away from the mission at hand - performing maintenance. 

The new process will allow both nighttime and daytime FOD operations, said Captain Mutter. It will also allow for the completion of FOD clearing during rainfall, when puddles and wet ground disguise the debris. 

But many people might ask if the new process will work better in theory than it does in functionality. 

Sergeant Peterson and his team scientifically proved the new process by completing a manual FOD walk, then completing a FOD walk using the new process and comparing the results, said Captain Mutter. During an additional test sweep of the operational areas on the flightline, the new process picked up more than 180 pounds of foreign objects. 

"We are still analyzing the results of the rapid improvement event to modify it as necessary through practical application," said Sergeant Peterson. 

The new process provides benefits that the mass FOD walk just doesn't deliver. For instance, since the new piece of equipment is attached to a vehicle for FOD clearing, this will open up opportunities to personnel on waivers or limited duty so they can still have an impact on the mission. 

"Even a second lieutenant can do it," said Sgt. Peterson with a grin.

(Editor's note: This story is part two of a three part series on Air Force Smart Operations 21 events at Fairchild.)