Innovating duo at it again: scanners save aircrew time, money

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachel Waller
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  In the military, timeliness is key. Whether it’s being on time to a medical appointment or delivering fuel to receiving aircraft, the mission couldn’t function without it.

Over the past year, several ultra-high-frequency and very-high-frequency scanners and antennas have been installed on buildings here to improve response times for base agencies that support aircrews.

“During an evaluation and planning [meeting] to increase our base efficiency, the overall base supporting agencies situational awareness was noted as a limiting factor,” said Master Sgt. Bartek Bachleda, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Plans and Programs superintendent.

Some of the wing’s leading innovators, Bachleda and Tech. Sgt. Clayton Allen, 22nd ARW XP, were challenged to find a cost-effective solution. After some research, they determined a $500 commercial off-the-shelf radio and scanner was the best option.

“This scanning system is passive in nature, meaning it doesn’t transmit,” said Allen. “Utilizing this scanning system as a situational awareness tool that could streamline operations and drastically reduce aircrew wait times.”

The system includes a radio, antenna/mast, mounting brackets and LMR-400 cable. Since the antenna was installed at the 22nd Logistics Support Squadron’s vehicle dispatch, the dispatchers have been able to hear every transportation request in real-time and are able to respond almost instantly whereas before, it could take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to respond.

“It also reduced the workload on the 22nd ARW Command Post because they no longer have to arrange crew transportation from the flightline,” said Bachleda.

Once the system is installed and quality checked, it’s very hands-off, explained Allen. The user simply turns on the device and listens for the data they need for their part of the mission.

“To my knowledge, our base is the first to implement this as a system,” said Allen. “In fact, the idea went forward to Air Mobility Command and was benchmarked as a best practice.”

Based off the results of the systems implemented here, Bachleda said AMC has funded two systems for every base with a mission similar to McConnell.