BSC map to show the way for 82nd TRW

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  A good map is always an important tool to help someone see where they are going and how they are going to get there. That's why the 82nd Training Wing's Balance Scorecard Map was changed during a two-day meeting Feb. 26-27.

"The 82nd Training Wing has a big mission that impacts the entire Air Force," said Brig. Gen. O.G. Mannon, 82nd TRW commander. "The Balanced Scorecard is a tool that will help us make smart decisions about how to use our people and resources in the right ways to give our combatant commanders combat-ready warrior Airmen."

Dave Toms, program manager for Sheppard's Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century and BSC, said all Airmen need to understand how vital their individual tasks are towards meeting the wing's and command's mission objectives. He said everyone should be able to see how their job relates to the base's three operational drivers: plan and develop training; deliver training; and support training.

Once they understand how their role in the mission makes it successful, he said people will be more inclined to see how they can improve their customer service and how work processes are preformed. We are living in challenging times without the benefit of unlimited resources. We have to focus those resources towards value adding mission objectives and do so as economically as possible.

"All processes have inherent waste in them," Mr. Toms said. "We need to look internally at our own processes and ask ourselves, 'How can I improve this to better meet the needs of my customer or customers?'"

February's meeting addressed this, as well as reworking the BSC Map that better supports Sheppard's mission and the way ahead. That included re-aligning the map to coincide with the 2nd Air Force's BSC and re-arrange where some objectives were replaced.

For example, in the previous map, "Champion the Air Force story" was listed under the mission impact, which simply states what the wing's mission is. While telling the Air Force story is important, it is not the primary mission - developing and delivering the world's finest technically skilled & combat-ready warriors is.

The new map lists the following as its top two objectives for the wing: "Develop combat ready warriors" and "Develop highly qualified skilled technicians." These adequately portray Sheppard's mission.

They also point us in the direction of the final prize, Mr. Toms said.

"The ultimate goal is to become the Department of Defense training facility of choice," he said. "Every day we should each ask ourselves, what steps can I take today to help move our wing towards that reality."

The following are Sheppard's BSC Map objectives and a brief description:
· Develop combat-ready warriors: Simply put, we are at war. Sheppard's customers - commanders in the field - need combat-ready, expeditionary Airmen.
· Develop highly-qualified, skilled technicians: Sheppard's job is to produce trained Airmen ready to take an active role in the operational Air Force. Training programs have to agile and flexible enough to meet the demands of a changing Air Force.
· Improve responsiveness to gaining commander's need: Wasted time is lost time. By eliminating unused time, the timeframe of developing trained Airmen will benefit commanders in the field.
· Champion technology into the training environment: Young men and women entering the Air Force now have benefited from growing up with advances in technology. That trend should continue to maximize the learning capabilities of Sheppard Airmen in Training.
· Efficiently/effectively operate training pipeline: AiT sometime arrive at Sheppard, but aren't scheduled to begin training for a week or more. Reducing the amount of time it takes for training to begin will get Airmen into the field quicker, benefiting gaining commanders.
· Deliver operationally relevant and realistic training: Gone are the days when Airmen learned by looking at drawings in a technical order. With advancements in technology, the base will make training as realistic as possible.
· Obtain and optimize utilization of manpower/resources: Training is only as good as the resources provided, including equipment and people. Addressing these issues early will make training run smoothly.
· Establish an environment of continuous process improvement: The "that's how we've always done it" excuse doesn't work anymore. A smaller force and tighter budgets makes doing business harder. A change in mindset is needed to continually look for better ways of doing business. AFSO21 is a tool to use in the process.
· Champion the Air Force story: The Air Force story is about telling the story of those serving: military and civilian. But it's also about empowering Airmen to go out and tell others about what they do, how they serve and how it affects the mission.
· Pursue excellence and innovation: An appreciated worker is a productive worker. Sheppard will continue to push personnel to excel in everything they do and reward them for their service.
· Balance mission and family: Accomplishing the mission is important, but taking care of family members is paramount to mission success. It's our goal to foster and promote the family environment.
· 82nd TRW duty is highly valued and rewarded: Sheppard provides the opportunity for its people to excel in their careers. It needs to be perceived as a highly-valued, mission-essential tour of duty.
· Prepare 82nd TRW Airmen to deploy and fight: Although Sheppard's main mission is to train Airmen, it also participates in deployments throughout the world. Personnel should continue to hone their skills to ensure they are valuable assets in the deployed environment.
· Recruit and develop exceptional, operationally experienced staff: Finding instructors with the right mixture of operational experience, technical skill and academic background is a priority. This helps promote an expeditionary mindset for AiT by having personnel share real-world experiences.
· Provide superior customer service: Money and time are two valued items for customers. By completing tasks effectively and efficiently, Sheppard will provide quality, highly-trained Airmen that meets the needs of customers.

AFSO21 solves problems and to move Team Sheppard toward its strategic objectives.

"The folks doing the work day in and day out see the waste. There's no doubt in my mind about that," Mr. Toms said. "What we need to do is to listen to their ideas and provide them with the resources they need to make those improvements."