TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --
Roberto Guerrero, deputy assistant secretary
of the Air Force for Operational Energy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of
the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Energy, visited Tinker Air
Force Base Sept. 13.
The Deputy Assistant Secretary was
accompanied by two members of his staff, Col. Charles Bulger, director, Energy
Analysis Task Force, and Gregory Roberts, chief of Aviation Operations Policy.
The first stop on the tour was the 552nd Air
Control Wing to recognize their outstanding support and participation in a Line
Oriented Energy Analysis conducted by the Energy Analysis Task Force from April
2015 to March 2016.
“We appreciate the 552nd Air Control Wing’s
cooperation and support during our Line Oriented Energy Analysis effort,” said
Mr. Guerrero. “Without the support provided by the men and women of the 552nd
ACW, who professionally assisted in providing data and background information,
the Energy Analysis Task Force could not accomplish its mission of identifying
and evaluating energy initiatives across the Air Force to meet Department of
Defense and Air Force Strategic Energy goals.”
According to Mr. Guerrero, energy costs
consume nearly 8 percent ($8.48 billion) of the Air Force’s annual operating
budget. 86 percent of this energy is consumed by aviation (Operational
Energy)—a $7.19 billion bill.
“To support the Air Force’s “Optimize
Demand” energy priority, we work to enhance operational/combat capabilities
while reducing overall demand for aviation fuel by focusing on four Operational
Energy Pillars - People, Process, Policy, and Platforms,” said Mr. Guerrero.
The deputy assistant secretary said that the
EATF accomplished five scheduled flights, spent one session in the E-3
simulator, and had unrestricted access to Wing leadership, crewmembers, and
maintenance personnel during the analysis.
“The EATF identified five operational and
sustainment best practices: training range utilization, reduced thrust
takeoffs, cruise speed selection, reduced engine taxi-in, and engine compressor
wash,” Mr. Guerrero said.
Also identified were seven implementable
primary recommendations that show opportunity for improvements in mission
effectiveness as well as costs savings.
These included reducing auxiliary power unit usage, adding a long range
cruise data table to the pilot’s aircrew aid, reducing landing fuel weights,
refining engine start time procedures, optimizing cruise altitude selection,
adding fuel efficiency discussions to the debrief and instituting an efficiency
data collection program.
“Our LOEA identified $9.5 million in
potential savings due to efficiencies including $4.5 million associated with
identified best practices and an additional $5 million from the
recommendations,” said Mr. Guerrero. “Although we identified monetary savings,
our emphasis rests squarely on the enhanced mission effectiveness associated
with operational energy efficiency. The 552nd ACW’s efforts are in line with
the Secretary of the Air Force’s “Make Every Dollar Count” campaign. The robust
synthetic or distributed mission operations capability sets a high bar for
other combat units. Our visit to the Distributed Mission Operations facility
further demonstrated the importance of this capability. We applaud the wing’s
efforts,” Mr. Guerrero said.
The next stop on the tour was to the
Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex’s 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group and the
Life Cycle Management Center to learn more of how engine upgrades affect
performance.
“We’ve been working with various engine
system program offices in understanding the impacts of engine upgrades as well
as engine overhaul methods on our aircraft. Our hope is to better understand
that process and better understand what initiatives they’ve done and look to
spread them around the Air Force as well,” said Mr. Guerrero.
“Continuous Process Improvement is vital to
the Air Force’s ability to improve operational efficiency,” said Mr. Guerrero.
“Improvements in the sustainability, reliability, and capability of our
aircraft can have positive OE implications. “My visit to the 76th PMXG was very
informative. Their sustainment efforts, across the Air Force’s engine
portfolio, not only improves the reliability and capability of the engines but
also reduces the fuel consumption of the engines,” Mr. Guerrero said.
To illustrate his point, Mr. Guerrero said
that compared to fiscal year 2010, the Air Force has flown six percent fewer
flying hours, with 17 percent less fuel, for an improvement of 12 percent fewer
gals/hour.
“The
Air Force Sustainment Center is a key player in identifying and advancing a
wide variety of sustainment initiatives which have positive operational and
operational energy impacts,” said Mr. Guerrero. “Small changes in the behavior
of our people, the processes they employ, the policies which govern their
actions and the performance of the platforms they operate, can generate
significant savings to the Air Force.”