Without Support...Mission Abort

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Michael Jones
  • 17th Logistics Readiness Squadron Commander
Part of the Mission Support Group's chant is without support ... mission abort. While that is certainly true across the group, the Logistics Readiness Squadron provides the wing with a vital portion of that support. As my tenure for command comes to a close, I reflect back on the pride and professionalism displayed by the 61 civilians and 7 military in the LRS.

Every new Airman, Soldier, Marine, Sailor and Coastguardsmen travels through the doors of our Traffic Management office on their way in and out from Goodfellow Air Force Base. Over the course of nearly two years, we've seen almost 10,000 customers and navigated two of the most congested permanent-change-of-station summer cycles on record as the commercial industry struggled to meet demand in a slowing economy. The Travel Management Office improved performance and customer service by creating an Internet Cafe with 34 online computers to provide on the spot counseling to both students and permanent party. We kept customer service a vital part of our business by continuing one-on-one counseling to our permanent party members--not required by regulations. Our travel agents recognized redundancies in the out-processing program among numerous agencies on base and led an AFSO21 event to streamline times for students. We cut processing times and student trips both by 50 percent and improved our overall scheduling to 98 percent.

We take those student trips seriously and provide safe transportation across 100,000 square miles of Southwest Texas. We moved 20,000 students to medical, out-processing, and general appointments covering 200,000 miles. When the Cressman Dining Facility closed, the Vehicle Operations crew established a bus route for our firefighters and has transported 120,000 students to and from the dining facility. Our vehicle operations supported the wing and recorded 100 percent safe and accident free transportation.

Goodfellow AFB hosts the largest firefighting vehicle fleet in the Air Force with 46 trucks. Your vehicle mechanics have achieved an 88 percent mission capable rate with just four highly dedicated and professional mechanics. Our fire truck maintenance mechanics partnered with the general purpose mechanics and designed a new quick action mobile maintenance service team. They provided on-site service to our seven largest units and crafted once-a-week checkpoints. Due to their innovative maintenance, we provided the wing with an overall 94 percent mission capable rate on 167 vehicles--four percent more than the MAJCOM goal.

We continued that innovative spirit in our Deployments and Individual Protective Equipment section. We streamlined issuing deployment gear and equipment; redesigned the individual protective equipment warehouse to improve accountability of property; and upgraded your equipment to the new battle field style kits. These improvements cut service times by 20 minutes and provided necessary support to our 277 deploying service members.

The Logistics Readiness Squadron has embraced the mission support mantra through professionalism, dedication and innovative solutions to improve support to the wing. As a key component of the MSG, I am proud to stand with your Logistics Readiness professionals to ensure the mission does not abort!