AFMC team begins major evaluation, assessment Published Aug. 10, 2009 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The chief of staff of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center has a simple way of explaining a significant event happening at Robins over the next two weeks. "It's game on," Carl Unholz said. The challenge to which he is referring is an inspection by the Logistics Compliance Assessment Team, or LCAT, from Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command. The core team arrived at Robins Aug. 6 and the full team of 64 will conduct its evaluation Aug. 10-21. They will examine aerospace maintenance and munitions, logistics, and supply chain management activities at WR-ALC. Safety and efficiency are among key areas the team will examine. The evaluation is particularly important because the last visit by the team in 2007 produced a rating of "marginal" for the center. That's not something base officials want to see happen again, and Mr. Unholz said he is confident the result will be better this time around. "From my interface with the organizations, you certainly have to feel they are ready for this inspection," Mr. Unholz said. "We certainly have an awful lot to be proud of, and we want to put our best foot forward." In the previous inspection the team was called the Air Force Materiel Command Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Team, or LSET. The marginal rating came from a five tier scale that from highest to lowest was Outstanding, Excellent, Satisfactory, Marginal and Unsatisfactory. The LCAT team is using the same five-tier scale for the current inspection. American Federation of Government Employees Local 987 President Tom Scott also said he is confident that the ALC will get a better rating this time around. "I think overall the employees are more attuned to regulations and the importance of LCAT," he said. "We just need to be on our toes." According to Mr. Scott, any violation that the team detects is a reduction of .5 on a 100-point scale. That can even include visitors. For example, if the team sees a visitor without ear plugs in an area where they are required, it would be a .5 point reduction. Considering the thousands of people in the Center, Mr. Scott noted, it isn't hard to see how deductions can quickly add up. "We are just going all have to be cognizant of helping one another," he said. Mr. Unholz also noted that unlike the previous inspection which had ample advance notice, the base is getting only 11 days notice this time. But he said that doesn't concern him because the base has been preparing for this inspection from the time the last one ended. "From what I've seen, everything appears to be in place and you have to feel we are ready," he said.