33d Fighter Wing scores "excellent" in compliance inspection

  • Published
  • By Major Karen Roganov
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Since August 2011, the 33rd Fighter Wing had been preparing for its unit compliance inspection in 31 major areas. On July 23, the wing gathered with anticipation to hear the results from their commander.

The wing was rated Excellent overall with commander's items and the 33d Operations Group both exceeding standards, according to an Air Education and Training Center announcement to senior leadership regarding the wing's Excellent rating,

"The wing was manned at less than 500 people when preparations began and about 40-percent manpower so to get an excellent under those constraints says a lot about the dedication of the men and women of the 33d Fighter Wing," said Lt. Col. David McClanahan, the 33rd FW plans and programs chief who led inspection preparation efforts. "The 33rd Maintenance Group and squadrons would have done just as well as the rest of the wing because they were equally as prepared."

The compliance inspection excluded maintenance since contracted logistics support is still taking the lead role for those tasks. Some of the areas covered included safety, information operations, 58th Fighter Squadron, aircrew flight equipment and records management.

"The IG team came here not only to inspect how we comply with Air Force Instructions, perform our mission, eliminate waste, and increase readiness, but they were here also to teach and mentor," said Col. Andrew Toth, 33rd FW commander. "We appreciate that."

Knowledge of UCI in advance prompted the 33d FW to look at how well it accomplishes its mission and responsibilities. One area in particular that cut across all areas inspected was the self inspection program, spearheaded by McClanahan, which received an "outstanding."

While the wing received help from other units contributing to the inspection success, the IG team also contributed to the F-35's future success as the aircraft and its systems mature.

A theme that surfaced in contributing to the success of the F-35 team was networking with units around the Air Force.

For example, a 58th Fighter Squadron pilot shared a web-based method to consolidate and provide complete and current information to the supervisor of flying he learned while flying at of Seymour Johnson AFB, S.C.. This supervisor is a pilot in the air traffic control tower who manages in-flight emergencies, weather diversions, access to pilot currencies and many more requirements.

"Now that system is in use here and was submitted as a best practice to the Inspector General," said Maj. Jay Spohn, Chief of Standards and Evaluation, 33rd Operations Group. "We also keep that multitude of information current on a DVD copy with laptop support so it goes wherever the supervisor of flying needs to go...we may be the only ones in the Air Force doing that."

Master Sgt. Leslie Desnoyer, 58 Fighter Squadron, aviation resource management, was noted as executing the idea a step further by helping the Marine VMFAT-501 F-35B and Navy VFA-101 F-35C squadrons here set up their web-based critical information systems. She used her former experience and relationships at another wing on Eglin using the system to gain access to their server to host the 33rd FW data.

That assistance among service members from other units was true also for those in Aircrew Flight Equipment who knew people at Laughlin AFB, Texas. When equipment in certain sizes was on backorder Air Force-wide, it was the other base that provided G-suits, helmets and harnesses for flying the F-16, which is used as chase during F-35 operations.

So the AFE team was supplied, stood up from scratch and fared well with the highest "outstanding" rating received during the inspection of 356 checklist items and 12 programs according to Staff Sgt. Kevin Grayer, an AFE technician at the 58th FS.

As an Operational Utility Evaluation approaches in the near future, the help from across the DoD will be used again as the areas inspected expands to the pilot and maintainer training at the Academic Training Center and F-35 maintenance duties amidst increased sortie generation rates.

But for now, the team is still reflecting upon the hard work accomplished since last year.

"I am proud of the team...we came together under difficult circumstances with limited manning, and while standing up a brand new program," said Toth. "So to pull off and excellent rating is unprecedented."


Professional performers
33rd FW:
Capt. Scott Hollingsworth
Tech. Sgt. David Roach
Staff Sgt. Eric Duguay
Tom Walker

33rd OG:
Maj. Scott Charlton
Maj. Jay Spohn

33rd Operations Support Squadron:
Maj. Stephen Graham
Capt. Ryan Seymour

From the 58th FS
Maj. Matthew Johnston
Master Sgt. Leslie Desnoyer

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Outstanding Contributors
Lt. Col. David McClanahan
Staff Sgt. Christopher Cole
Staff Sgt. Michael Nolan
Senior Airman Vanessa Alfaro
Airman 1st Class Brian Erikson
Airman 1st Class Jordan Hawkins