McConnell assist in Whiteman inspection, gather best practices

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Trevor Rhynes
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Representatives from two offices on McConnell went to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to act as subject-matter experts in their vertical inspections, July 15. 

Vertical inspections are performed to ensure units, offices and the programs they manage are performing to a certain standard.

"We got a message from our Inspector General's Office asking if we could go to Whiteman AFB to assist as inspectors there," said Master Sgt. Brian Jennings, 22nd Air Refueling Wing treaty compliance officer. "I thought it would be a good experience, so I reached out to their office, expressed interest and headed over to participate."

Jennings said he was given the inspecton equipment and went to his counterpart's office to begin the inspection.

"I went over their checklists and talked about their program to see how they did things," Jennings said. "I learned a lot. Over the course of the inspection, I shared some information that they could use to make their programs better, and they did the same for me. They have some very knowledgeable people in the arms control office there.

"The career field only has about 100 people in it," Jennings continued. "I think I was contacted to do the inspection because we're nearby, and I'm in the same field so I'm familiar with how the program works."

Overall, the inspections went smoothly, Michlene Tucker, 22nd ARW Equal Opportunity director said, she enjoyed the opportunity to visit another EO office to help out with the inspection.

"I'm occasionally called upon to assist in the development of EO professionals. This gives me a better insight as to what EO offices are doing well and the challenges that they face" Tucker said. "This opportunity gives me a chance to provide direct feedback when it comes to the [Career Field Education and Training Plan, Career Development Courses,] self-assessment checklists and more."

Experiences like this provide a rare opportunity for these Airmen to work with counterparts at another
location.

"Although there are workshops that we can go to, to discuss our programs, there aren't really many opportunities to have someone come to your office to look at your program first hand," Jennings said.

Now that the two offices have played the role of inspector for another unit, they'd welcome the opportunity to host fellow treaty compliance and EO specialists to take a look at their programs.

"I think it is always beneficial to have another set of eyes looking at how your program is managed," Tucker said. "It's also an opportunity for us to see what another office is doing that we could possibly benchmark here locally. This experience allows us to share information with each other on how to improve on our programs and processes."