AFSO 21 concepts help reduce jet cannibalization

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Shane Dunaway
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  A team of twelve 4th Fighter Wing Airmen from five squadrons met with Air Combat Command facilitators May 7-11 to formulate a plan using Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century concepts to streamline their aircraft cannibalization program. 

The program sets aside aircraft specifically to supply parts to other aircraft that aren't readily available through routine supply channels. These set-aside aircraft are known as cann-jets. 

"It's like you having two good cars," said Senior Master Sgt. Brian Rakers, 334th Aircraft Maintenance Unit Superintendent. "If you need an alternator and nobody has one, you go take it off the other car to put on that one. Then you need a battery, so you take that out of the car. Eventually, you have to put all those parts back." 

The standard operation was to have one cann-jet available per AMU for 28 days. Under these conditions, there wasn't an established crew specifically assigned to these jets, which meant Airmen working the flightline also had to maintain the cann-jets, according to Sergeant Rakers. Not having the same people working on the cann-jets caused a lack of continuity. 

In the new plan, the 4th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron will be allotted one cann-jet for every two AMUs, which will be available for 49 days at a time before they are rebuilt and returned to flying operations. 

"The upfront impact is we'll now have two more aircraft available to AMXS," Sergeant Rakers said. "The new process will enable AMUs to focus primarily on sortie generation." 

In addition to the decrease in the number of available cann-jets, the team established a crew of 11 personnel solely dedicated to the cann-jets. This ensures personnel will not be pulled from the flightline to work cann-jet issues and vice versa, improving continuity in the process, said Sergeant Rakers. 

The extended time slots and standardized crews are expected to improve the quality of jets coming out of the cannibalization process. 

"We believe these changes will yield a much better product with less man-hours extended to get there," Sergeant Rakers said. 

It also reduces the number of aircraft subjected to the cannibalization process by 36 annually, said Maj. Chris Melcher, 4th Maintenance Operations Squadron operations officer and the wing's AFSO 21 facilitator for the project. 

With budget constraints and personnel cuts on the horizon, the AFSO 21 initiatives implemented are expected to be a breath of fresh air. 

"I think that's the greatest thing about AFSO 21," Major Melcher said. "It gives you a structured process that brings people together and dedicates time to focus on the task at hand. We were able to put together a sound plan because we found the correct subject-matter experts." 

The processes may not be perfect initially, but Sergeant Rakers said they're headed in the right direction. 

"There will be some speed bumps, we know that," Sergeant Rakers said. "But with this controlled process, they will be minor ones that we can adjust. The main process itself is sound."