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AFSO21 Green Belt training provides tools to lead

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alexander Martinez
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  With the idea of a slimmer, more efficient Air Force becoming more of a reality every day, the need for continuous process improvement is growing. In order to adjust to changes, work centers must utilize the most effective ways to fix problems or find more efficient ways to do things, and the Air Force Smart Operations of the 21st Century is the program designed to ensure these goals are met.

According to the program's website, AFSO21 tools and principles enable Airmen to change day-to-day operations by integrating continuous improvement into the full spectrum of Air Force operations.

When a work center conducts an AFSO21 event, it is planned, organized and overseen by a facilitator who must go through a certification process in order to do so.

"[AFSO21] is the methodology of choice for process improvement in the Air Force because it is a very effective tool," said Lt. Col. Matt Keihl, Pacific Air Forces chief of Continuous Process Improvement Division.

Keihl is one-of-three individuals at JBPHH able to teach the principles of AFSO21 to program facilitators. The team plans to conduct quarterly training of the AFSO21 Green Belt Academics Course, which is the initial training in the certification process. In the course, facilitators are introduced to the program, and trained on numerous tools and resources that help them facilitate an AFSO21 event successfully.

Master Sgt. Dina Maldonado, 15th Operations Support Squadron, attended a recent Green Belt Course and said the training was helpful and has a lot of great organizing techniques.

"I was interested in learning about ways we can improve our [work center] processes," Maldonado said. "I think it gave me an overview of all the possible avenues we can take in problem solving."

After attending the Green Belt course, prospective facilitators must attend an actual AFSO21 event, co-facilitate an event, and lead-facilitate an event under the supervision of a more experienced subject matter expert.

Keihl said the importance of AFSO21 ties in with an Air Force core value: Excellence in all we do.

"I usually ask my classes rhetorically, 'If you are not trying to improve your work center processes, how can you say you are pursuing excellence?,'" Keihl explained.

There are many resources for those interested in the AFSO21 program, including http://www.af.mil/library/smartops.asp, or an area on the Community of Practice (COP) via Air Force Knowledge Now at http://afkn.wpafb.af.mil.