Commentary: Moving forward Published Oct. 31, 2011 By Col. Eric S. Overturf 442nd Fighter Wing Commander WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- Fall is in the air, and snowflakes are not far behind for those of us at Whiteman AFB where we've already had our first freezing temperatures. With the change of seasons, the 442nd Fighter Wing is also going through a slight change in priorities to increase emphasis on our upcoming process inspections now that our operational readiness inspection is successfully behind us. Our top priority will always be to Support Combat Deployments, and the 476th Fighter Group at Moody AFB, Ga. has once again proven its combat capability with the return of their latest group of AEF volunteers - welcome home! AEF preparations are also well under way for Whiteman and Barksdale with dozens of people and several jets already downrange. For those who are going to combat, that's exactly what you should be concentrating on. For those of us who aren't lucky enough to deploy this time, we need to help those deploying, and then look out on the horizon toward next year's compliance inspections, or CIs. These CIs are scheduled for October 2012, and include a unit compliance inspection, health services inspection (HSI), and logistics compliance assessment program (LCAP) inspection. I know most of you would rather get your teeth drilled than go through another inspection, but we will all benefit from these inspections because they will validate and help us improve on our priority to Care for Airmen and Families. We'll prepare for these inspections in much the same way as we prepared for the ORI. Maj. Cathy Roberts, 442nd Operations Group executive officer, will be the wing CI team chief. She recently went to Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla. to observe an inspection, and she will lead a steering group comprised of members across the wing to build and oversee our plan to win this inspection. We'll continue to send observers to CIs at other wings so we can benchmark their good ideas, and we will host staff assistance visits from higher headquarters to check our progress along the way. Although the CI steering group will play a crucial role in this inspection, our success will depend on each individual person having his or her affairs in order. In the next few months you'll see more detailed lists of the items that we are all responsible for complying with, but here are a few for starters: 1. Current, passing fitness tests 2. Skills training completed on time and properly documented 3. Current physical health assessments, dental exams and medical readiness requirements 4. Current enlisted and officer performance reports and decorations 5. Properly conducted and documented feedback sessions 6. Current and accurate self inspections 7. Properly reconciled government travel cards, orders and travel vouchers 8. Current and accurate continuity books 9. Properly documented timecards (for air reserve technicians and civilians) 10. Family care plans should be current and accurate 11. Good general housekeeping- clean up, organize and get rid of stuff if we don't need it I know that cleaning up this kind of stuff is not as exciting as dodging rockets in theater, but a good "spring cleaning" of our processes and programs will pay big dividends in improving of our people's records, careers and workspaces. The good news is that this is not a difficult inspection IF we start now and work together. On the other hand, waiting until the last minute to try to build and document programs is a sure recipe for disaster, so thanks for your help in attacking this inspection now. Have a great Thanksgiving!