ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard, hosted five members from the National Guard Bureau who are part of a production assessment team (PAT) Jan. 22-25, 2024 at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base. The team has been on a tour of multiple flying wings within the Air National Guard, in an effort to better understand and assess the needs of units with aircraft.
"It's essentially focused on more aircraft availability…to bring to the fight,” said Maj. Jason Hickox, a PAT member who focuses on tactics and optimization. “It’s not compliance-based, it is more for optimizing what is currently being done in the units."
Comprising a scheduling and plans analyst, a quality assurance representative, and a tactics and optimization consultant, the team’s objective is to provide data-driven decisions, ultimately resulting in improved aircraft availability for any mission.
The team is keen on identifying key areas that will lead to increased aircraft availability, concentrating on factors influencing maintenance and production.
"We're looking at anything that influences maintenance and maintenance production. So we've gone through the headquarters…operations group…LRS [logistics readiness squadron]…anything that interfaces with maintenance," he said.
Hickox noted that the 139th is very quality-focused with a high level of motivation among its personnel.
There are "A lot of very motivated people to get aircraft on the schedule, and incredibly loyal to the mission here," he remarked.
The collaboration between the PAT and the 139th signifies a commitment to optimizing operations and ensuring that the base is well-prepared for its essential mission requirements. The assessment is expected to yield valuable insights and recommendations for enhancing aircraft availability and operational efficiency.