58th TRS project officer takes AF-level award nomination

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Austin Carter
  • 58th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  For the second consecutive year, Jeffrey McCampbell, project officer for the 58th Training Squadron, is Air Education and Training Command's nominee for the Air Force Productivity Excellence Award.

Last year he won the Air Force-level award. For 2006, squadron leaders believe he will be making the trip to Washington to receive the award again.

Mr. McCampbell said he was elated when he heard the news Nov. 21, but stated that the award was more a showcase for the Air Force's teamwork and LEAN principles than a personal victory.

Mr. Campbell is cited in the AETC award as being directly responsible for gaining $2 million for training enhancements for a 7 percent efficiency increase in an annual $30 million budget, coupled with an 85 percent plunge in mission critical deficiencies. This benchmark of efficiency came after a year of scrutinizing engineering processes with the simulator training program and finding ways to make them cheaper to operate in the training squadron, responsible for training flight crews with realistic flight simulators.

His co-workers and the contractors reviewed about 30 steps in engineering and other processes that saved money in the training contract. The money saved was plowed right back into finding news ways to further the training of the students, Mr. Campbell said.

As a result of this efficiency binge, C-130 Talon aircraft students can now expect to see a "part task trainer" highlighting the aircraft's computer systems. A part task trainer is not a full simulator, which is more expensive, but a partial model that allows students to train on one particular aspect of the aircraft. This allows students to train in a classroom instead of taking up an entire simulator. Another perk will be uninterrupted power supply systems for the simulators, which will keep the electric juice flowing even during power outages and surges, which can severely damage equipment.

Lastly, about $500,000 of savings were used to "tech refresh" some simulators. Often, new modifications are made in the actual aircraft before they're modified in the simulators. The half million went towards updating the simulators to reflect the current changes in the aircraft.

"It's sometimes a struggle to make the sim resemble the actual aircraft," Mr. McCampbell said. "Let's say a new radio is put into the aircraft. It could be a year until that change is made in the sim. That hurts training. So we spent to replicate the modifications."

Mr. McCampbell's efforts have pushed him into almost-superhero status at the squadron. For fans of the Green Hornet, his nickname of "Kato," the Green Hornet's resourceful, butt-kicking sidekick, needs no further explanation. Comic book antics aside, the squadron commander said Mr. McCampbell can really deliver the goods.

"'Kato continues to prove why he's worth his weight in gold," said Lt. Col. Tom Marocchini, commander of the 58th TRS. "Because of his continuing initiatives, we're seeing upgrades in simulators and training devices without securing major command funding, which can be difficult. Due to him, we're able to produce smarter and better-prepared students."