Civilians score big with IDEAs, save AF money

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angela Shepherd
  • 1st SOW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Anyone who works on a military base knows success would be much harder to come by if it weren't for the civilians working right beside them.

Four of Hurlburt's civilian employees recently reemphasized how important they are to military operations when they received all of this year's first quarter awards from the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness program.

Previous quarters' recipients were either all military or a mix of military and civilians.

"The IDEA program has always been active here, but there's never been so much civilian involvement," said Brenda Smith, the base's IDEA program analyst. "In the past, active-duty military made the majority of the suggestions and won the majority of the awards, so it's nice to finally see the civilians getting involved on such a large scale."

The first quarter's recipients were:

- Donald Savidge and Hans Christian, both of the 1st Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron Fire and Emergency Services Flight.

In the past, the Air Force bought rechargeable fire extinguishers that had to be serviced every six and 12 years, costing the Air Force unnecessary money for maintenance. Mr. Savidge and Mr. Christian recommended that the Air Force buy only non-rechargeable extinguishers, which are good for 12 years and require no maintenance. Their suggestion has saved the Air Force $73,237 so far. They both received $1,098.

- Brian Hanson, 1st Special Operations Com-ponent Maintenance Squa-dron.

His suggestion to eliminate unnecessary polarizing rings from the AC-130U radar system configuration has saved the Air Force $5,534 so far and earned him a check for $830.

- Clayton Solberg, 1st Special Operations Maintenance Operations Squadron.

He noticed that when moisture drain holes were added to aircraft bleed air tubes, the new part numbers were engraved directly on the tube, weakening the tube or making it unserviceable altogether.

He suggested that the part numbers be chemically etched instead. This new procedure has saved the Air Force $1,172 so far. He received $200.