Program saving base money with repairs Published April 14, 2006 By A1C First Class James Dickens 16 SOW Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Chances are you’ve used something on base that was purchased by the Air Force Repair Enhancement Program – a program that has saved more than $500,000 this fiscal year alone. Repairing mission capable parts is the biggest priority of the AFREP. It’s not uncommon for this program to keep our planes in the air, and the mission moving forward. The program makes money by taking items that would normally be thrown away and repairing them. These parts could cost thousands of dollars to replace. The idea for the program came from the Navy, which was flying broken parts from ships to other locations get them repaired. The Navy trained a team of Sailors who could actually repair the parts on board. Gold Flag was the name of the first Air Force in house repair program, which was later changed to AFREP. Hurlburt Field’s group is a five-person hand-selected maintenance team trained to fix just about anything that can break – from televisions to circuit boards on weapon’s systems. The group’s motto is, “It ain’t broke unless we can’t fix it!” “Our objective here is to repair the part and get it back into supply,” said Staff Sgt. Tommy Moorehead. The program receives approximately 40-50 items a month, and is able to repair around 60 percent of them. They have repaired 127 items this fiscal year alone. “Generally we can get a repair done in weeks, compared to months it takes to get some parts,” said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Howard. To encourage unit participation in the program, a new incentive program has been created. “Any squadron that submits something to us to be repaired will get back 10 percent of the funds that are generated,” said Sergeant Howard. “These funds are for the squadron and can be used for anything as long as it goes along with (Air Force Instruction).” AFREP also gives maintainers a chance to learn new things and expand their skills. “I used to turn wrenches on generators, now I get a chance to see all kinds of stuff,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Turines. “It has really broadened my horizons.” For more information or to send an item to the shop, call the AFREP shop at 884-3800.