Press Kit VII: Unit Effectiveness Inspection (UEI) Lessons Learned

1. Press Kit VII:Unit Effectiveness Inspection (UEI) Lessons Learned • OVERALL BRIEFING CLASSIFICATION: • UNCLASSIFIED SAF/IGI Office of The Inspector General 24 June 2013

2. UEI History in USAFE • USAFE/IG conducted 7 UEIs in CY12 • Building block, incremental approach • 2 small-scale on small units • 1 moderate-scale on large unit • 4 large-scale on large units • Scheduled to conduct 5 full-scale UEIs in CY13 • UEI processes are maturing to ensure leadership is provided most comprehensive inspection

3. UEI Preparation Mission Readiness Inspection Readiness • How does a unit prepare for a UEI? • YOU DON’T! • Working to effectively execute the mission and strengthen Airmen, teams and processes on a daily basis is the only way to demonstrate effectiveness over a 2-year evaluation period and is the surest way to avoid wasteful inspection prep • A unit’s goal under the new AFIS is to change focus and work systems away from inspection-readiness and towards mission readiness • A natural consequence of mission readiness is inspection readiness

4. UEI Lessons Learned • Most wings promoted and provided accurate answers in MICT • Accurate checklist items were tracked cradle-to-grave • Allowed MAJCOM IG to more quickly and accurately assess the status of compliance and was a key indicator of the unit’s “culture of compliance” • Although accurate MICT answers did help the IG, the real value was to squadron, wing, NAF, MAJCOM and Air Force leaders – they are starting to use MICT to make near real time decisions on policy and resourcing based on accurate MICT inputs • All wings worked with the IG and the new process • Promoted open dialog with IG inspectors and mitigated unknown angst with the new AFIS • Led to a more accurate assessment and provided CCs an honest, actionable assessment

5. UEI Lessons Learned • Some wings wasted Airmen and mission time by conducting extensive squadron, group and/or wing inspection prep activities • Spent resources on wasteful inspection-only products and unnecessarily painted facilities • Resulted in write-ups from MAJCOM IG • Some squadrons unnecessarily created local MICT checklists when AF level checklists existed already • 1 squadron wasted 240 man-hours in 1 week creating duplicate checklists • Some wings did not integrate all squadrons into exercise scenarios – base events were not synced up or realistic • Some WIT members did not keep IG hat on during entire inspection and reverted back to unit member status

6. Bottom Line for new AFIS Stop this. Reward this. In the new AF Inspection System, Commanders will inspect their units’ ability to execute the mission, manage resources, lead people and improve performance. Functional experts on staffs will focus on enabling, as commanders focus on ensuring. In the new AF Inspection System, “inspection prep” will be unnecessary and ineffective. Most inspections will be done by the Wing Commander’s team on a continual basis…just part of the way the wing works as Airmen focus on mission readiness every day.