New system aligns mission, inspection readiness Published Oct. 23, 2013 By Senior Airman Jarrod Grammel 23d Wing Public Affairs MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The under secretary of the Air Force signed a directive to implement the new Air Force Inspection System in June 2013. The new system aims to eliminate a wing's significant spike in preparation prior to an inspection. Instead of the traditional week-long visits by major commands, wing commanders will head their own commander's inspection programs, CCIPs, with repeated internal assessments and periodic inspections, culminating in a capstone visit by the major command. "The new Air Force Inspection System has changed drastically from what most of us love, or if you will, love to hate," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Bryan France, 23d Wing director of inspections. "The first thing is that it's intended to align inspection readiness with mission readiness. "In the past, we've all been very used to going through a hyper ramp-up to get ready for an inspection, whether it be an ORE [operation readiness exercise] or an ORI [operational readiness inspection]," he added. "Now, with the new system, we're looking at the larger picture of how we get ready on a daily basis to do our mission and make sure we're doing that mission appropriately." MAJCOM Inspector General staff will primarily perform inspections to validate the wing commander's program during the capstone visit. "Within his CCIP, the wing commander directs our shop, as inspectors, to conduct task evaluations, and small- and large-scale exercises in order to test our mission capabilities," said France. "It's his responsibility, ultimately, to ensure that the wing is combat effective, taking care of its people, managing its resources appropriately and always improving," he added. France added that the Air Combat Command IG will focus on our commanders' and base inspectors' processes for inspecting the wing, rather than simply going down a checklist and making sure every compliance item is in the green. "This new Air Force Inspection System that we are in the process of implementing is a good thing for the 23d Wing and our Air Force," said Col. Chad Franks, 23d WG commander. "It will allow every Airman to be a sensor in their area of expertise and allow them to identify those critical deficiencies in the mission that we can then fix. This will allow us to ensure that we continue to do the ordinary things better than anyone else." By carrying out continual assessments, commanders and base inspectors will build a photo album culminating years of work and improvement, rather than take a snapshot, symbolizing the week or two MAJCOM inspectors had historically seen. "The unit effectiveness inspection is actually the process of evaluating this photo album," said France. "Our self evaluations are constantly building a picture of what's going on in the wing from a compliance, efficiency and effectiveness standpoint." France stressed the importance of honest feedback from all levels. Determining unidentified areas of noncompliance is a major goal. He said although there are big changes in the inspection system, there will not be big changes in day-to-day operations. "It's very important for every Airman, every individual, to recognize that the number one thing they can do to prepare themselves for this change is to keep doing the great things they're already doing," said France. "There's very little that's going to change relative to daily operations because of the new inspection system. That's the intent. We want to align inspection readiness with mission readiness." Every wing will have two years to fully implement the new system. ACC inspectors will visit Moody for its initial UEI capstone event in April 2014.