58th Airlift Squadron trains smarter, saves bucks

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Dillon Davis
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --   Members of the 58th Airlift Squadron operations flight were named Altus AFB's Innovative Airmen of the Week, July 22.

Their consolidation and rescheduling of flights and maintenance resulted in a projected savings of $28 million in fuel and maintenance costs each fiscal year.

"We save money by using closer air tracks for the majority of our missions," said Capt. Austin Street, 58th AS operations flight commander.

The use of closer tracks on each mission saves a combined 60 minutes of flight time and conserves a total of 6,100 pounds of fuel between C-17 Globemaster III and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft.

"Over the past quarter, we saved 319 flying hours, which equates to about $7.7 million that we can give back to Air Education and Training Command," said Capt. Grant Behning, 58th AS operations assistant flight commander.

Today's Air Force is financially restrained and the reductions in funding are forcing units to find innovative ways to fulfill the mission while reducing costs.

"Historically, our average mission training flights were four and a half hours and we were able to reduce them to 3.9 hours," Street said.

The new flight schedule required a large amount of coordinating from multiple squadrons within the 97th Operations Group and once finalized, allowed the units to fulfill training and mission requirements.

"We had to come up with a way to more efficiently complete the training mission due to the decrease in flying hours. The process took a bit of de-conflicting, some coordination with the 54th Air Refueling Squadron and scheduling with the control tower to ensure that the air space is available," Behning said.

The 58th AS worked with the 54th ARS to find a solution to cut flying hours while still obtaining all the required training that helps maintain a credible Air Force power.

"We changed the way we schedule flights and our operations maintenance process to save more time and money," Street said. "We are actively doing new things to embrace the Air Force's cost conscious culture."

With recent Department of Defense budget cuts affecting all branches of military service there is a responsibility for everyone to make necessary changes to support the constantly changing environment.

"Being fiscally responsible means that we have a more efficient Air Force that benefits both the tax payers and America as a whole," Street said.