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Airmen participate in saving money

By By Maj. Kimberly Grover, 4th Maintenance Operations Squadron / Published January 26, 2012

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SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. - -- Times are tight and it's no secret that financial concerns have begun to creep into the minds of commanders. The budgetary constraints levied on organizations throughout the 4th Fighter Wing have become frequent topics of conversation in daily meetings at every level.

Whether it is about flying, maintenance, tools, support agencies or temporary duty assignments, the question of whether or not we have the resources to support the mission remains.

There is a little known program that has been working behind the scenes to alleviate some of these financial issues at the field level. Master Sgt. Kevin Leukhardt, Tech. Sgt. David Miller and Staff Sgt. Erik Chenault, members of the 4th Maintenance Group Repair Enhancement Program, are working to find a way to generate funds for the 4th FW.

The AFREP is an Air Force-wide program which reclaims expendable and repairable aircraft parts that cannot be repaired on base. Once overhauled, these parts return to the supply system for future use. The funds generated by the recoupment of these assets pass onto the wing. Those funds provide resources for many organizations throughout the base, including quality of life programs and construction projects.

"For years our focus has mainly been to save money within the aircraft maintenance community, but I have been trying to expand our horizons and find new repair initiatives within the wing," said Leukhardt, the AFREP manager. "AFREP is a wing program, so we have to focus on the wing as a whole and find ways to start generating and saving money wherever we can."

The program deals with two aspects of repair; cost avoidance and cost savings. Cost avoidance is the repair of items to avoid replacement cost. The cost saving side saves money by repairing an item and returning it back to the supply system.

"The AFREP program at the 4th FW is currently the highest producing activity Air Force-wide, during the first quarter this year we have already made more than $1 million," said Miller, the AFREP NCO in charge.

With the aging aircraft fleet, a lot of the support equipment used on a daily basis is old and many of the individual parts that fail are no longer procurable. Often times, a little research sheds light on the fact that repairs to a broken item are possible with the replacement of a diode, resistor or capacitor. The repair of two engine borescopes from the 4th Component Maintenance Squadron propulsion back shop validated this process. Despite the replacement parts not being procurable, Chenault troubleshot and repaired both assets, saving the 4th CES more than $34,000.

For 17 years, the AFREP has proven itself at Seymour Johnson, repairing unique items and saving the 4th FW money. The program currently repairs the F-15E Strike Eagle flight control stick grip, which mitigated the need for replacing the entire control stick. This capability alleviated numerous depot backlogs, ultimately enhancing aircraft availability.

The repairs made by AFREP are not limited to just aircraft parts. In the past, they repaired Xboxs and PlayStation 3 consoles for the Solid Rock Café, traffic speed monitoring carts for the 4th Security Forces Squadron, flat screen televisions for the Southern Eagle Dining Facility and laptop computers from various flights throughout the wing. Even the smaller things save money within the wing because the savings are then invested into our Airmen and quality of life programs.

"From the maintenance group to the medical group, you are the eyes and ears that have made this program what it is, and will continue to encourage innovation and resourcefulness throughout the wing," said Miller.

No repair is too small or out of the realm of possibilities. These Airmen have all the tools required to provide wing-level repair capability with zero concessions to safety or quality standards.

"Before you throw that next part away or turn it in as non-repairable, remember to give AFREP a call at 722-2343," Leukhardt said. "There's a very good chance they can save your unit money and provide new, innovative repairs through sharing of ideas."
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