82 TRG livin' the C3 life

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jelani Gibson and Dan Hawkins
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  When it comes to the cost conscious culture mentality, the 82nd Training Group is turning over every stone in an effort to help save money and resources.

Money saving ideas involving cellphones and steel-toe boots recently implemented by the group are prime examples of that philosophy, resulting in approximately $50,000 worth of estimated annual savings.

"We've taken the lead in the wing for C3 initiatives," said Lt. Col. Stephen Scherzer, 82nd Training Group deputy commander. "The best part about it is our ideas come from every level of the unit, including our resource advisors. It's a total team effort."

A change in how steel-toe boots are purchased for both military and civilian technical training instructors has resulted in an estimated $38,000 savings per year, while a fresh look at the group's use of Blackberry phones has saved approximately $12,000 annually.

Prior to the procedural change in how instructors' steel-toe boots were purchased, military instructor steel-toe boots were purchased independently via the Government Purchase Card. Civilian instructors were authorized a maximum of $100 to purchase steel-toed boots of their choice.

"We discussed the issue with AETC and came up with the idea to merge the military instructors steel-toe boot purchases into the pre-existing Airmen-in-Training boot contract," said Scott Gilmore, 82nd TRG resource advisor. "This resulted in a savings of $50 per pair of boots for each military instructor."

For the civilian instructors, a request was made by the group to reduce the amount of money civilian instructors are authorized to spend on the steel-toe boots by 25 percent.

"We had to negotiate the civilian steel-toe boots money decrease from $100 per person down to $75 through the union," said Risa Hillard, 82nd TRG training director. "We got the change approved Feb. 14 of this year and are moving forward."

Civilian instructors with disabilities or other issues that may require the purchase of specialty steel-toed boots can still acquire them with coordination, Hillard said.

The idea to move away from the use of Blackberries took hold after Scherzer noticed the high annual cost of the group's cell-phone contract.

"I got here last July and noticed everyone using Blackberries," Scherzer said. "I was at the Pentagon for two years, plus in squadron command for five years, and never used one, so I thought we might be able to cut down our cell phone bill by eliminating Blackberries."

The group had 19 Blackberries at a cost of approximately $16,000 annually. A thorough review brought the number of Blackberries needed down to two for the entire group.

Instead of the Blackberries, the unit made some creative changes to their cell-phone contract and added nine regular cell-phones, in the process cutting the yearly cellphone bill by 75 percent to about $4,000, said Gilmore.

"The commander authorized us to buy Common-Access Card (CAC) readers so government email could be checked at home if needed," Scherzer said. "If something is that important it can't wait until tomorrow, we simply text them to check their email."

Other recent changes made by the group to help save resources has included turning in all eight government-owned vehicles back to the 82nd Logistics Readiness Squadron and working to eliminate all stand-alone printers in offices, said Gilmore.

"Some of our changes involve just a few thousand dollars here and there," Gilmore said. "But every little bit certainly helps the overall bottom line."

Although initially resistant to change old habits, the group has not suffered any noticeable impacts to the mission from any of the changes.

"(The group) has really just pulled together to make it happen," Hillard said.

Thinking about spreading the cost conscious culture comes from the top down.

"It's the environment we live in today," Scherzer said. "From Col. Holt (82nd TRG commander) on down, not to mention our great (resources advisors), there is nothing out there that is not on the table for a review. You have to be fiscally responsible and good stewards of our limited resources."