NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The 315th Maintenance Group hosted its first maintenance resource workshop involving a dozen bases between units from Air Force Reserve Command and the National Guard, May 12 to 13, at the North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, South Carolina.
The 315 resource workshop brought the units together to formulate partnership, identify issues among the groups requiring resolution and formulate solutions.
More than 40 people attended the workshop, which included members from headquarters AFRC, the National Guard Bureau and the 315th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Charleston.
During the two day workshop, each unit identified their major challenges, their available resources for use by other units, and their capabilities to work with other units to resolve identified maintenance enterprise issues.
According to Lt. Col. Terrell Eikner, 315th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander, there were many benefits of the workshop.
“The benefit of the workshop is that it helps resolve maintenance issues within the ARC through collaboration and teamwork,” said Eikner. “It expanded our maintenance network and allows us to handle problems faster now that needs have been clearly identified as well as aids the implementation of future solutions as needed.”
Chief Mastger Sgt. John Kornuta, 315 MXG superintendent, said the workshop benefited everyone who attended.
“The workshop was an opportunity to bring maintenance professionals from around the country together and benefit from their knowledge and skill sets,” said Kornuta. “We discussed issues and shortfalls, which allowed us to see how we could work together using our vast base of knowledge to continue moving our missions forward with minimal delays. For example, if we know in advance when a unit will have a surge in sortie generation, that unit can reach out for assistance from units with identified and available resources.”
Col. Tom Walter, 315 MXG commander, attended the two-day workshop and according to him the workshop will have lasting and positive effects.
“The relationships formed during the two-day workshop will have positive effects on the ARC for years to come,” said Walter. “It was time well spent and getting together this way only benefits us all and provides us access to skillsets we didn’t know were readily available. Gen. Brown [Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Charles Brown, Jr.] says we must ‘Accelerate Change or Lose’. With the right tools in place, the ARC can work together to ensure needs are met by providing readily available resources in a more-timely manner.”