78th ABW commander gives guidance, praise Published Jan. 15, 2009 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- If history is any indication, Robins can probably expect a unit compliance inspection some time this year, but unlike the past, there could be as little as three days advance notice. Col. Warren Berry, commander of the 78th Air Base Wing, spent much of his commander's call Monday discussing new Air Force policy that requires notice of as little as three days and no more than two weeks for a unit compliance and other inspections. In the past, he said, the base has gotten notice months in advance of an inspection, which allowed time to ramp up to come into compliance. Colonel Berry said compliance would typically fall off after the inspection. Under the new policy, the base will have to be ready for an inspection at any time, which means it will have to get in compliance and stay in compliance. "We can't climb that mountain in three to 14 days," he said. "We are going to stair step our way up to that line so that we will always be in compliance, and once we get there we will put a process in place that will keep us there." He also noted the Air Force on average inspects bases every three years, and the last compliance inspection at Robins was in 2006. "If I'm doing the math, I'm thinking we are going to get inspected in 2009, and I'm thinking we are going to get no more than two weeks notice," he said. To help achieve the goal of no-notice compliance, Colonel Berry said checklists will be regularly performed by ground-level personnel who actually do the related work to make sure that all aspects of base operations are in compliance. He summed up by saying he is asking three things of base leaders on all levels: find the problems, fix problems and accurately report problems that can't be fixed. He said traditionally many supervisors are reluctant to go to base leadership when they encounter a problem they can't fix themselves. He encouraged that mindset to change. "Tell us what we need to hear, not what you think we want to hear," he said. He began the event, held at the base theater for all military and civilian personnel in the wing, by discussing the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award that the wing won last year. "These outstanding unit awards don't come around very often," he said. He also discussed an initiative that began last March to reduce energy consumption at the base, which has a $26 million annual energy bill. Those efforts have resulted in a 7-percent reduction in energy use compared to the previous year. But, he noted the long-range goal is to achieve a 30-percent reduction of the projected cost by 2013. If the energy reduction stays on its current path, it would mean that within the next year, rather than scrambling for funds to meet the growing energy bill, he can put funds designated for energy into programs to support operations around the base or to invest in more energy programs. The achieve that, he said, it's important for base personnel to continue the energy saving practices and not be satisfied with the progress of the past year. "It's not just turning lights off when there's nobody there, but changing how we do business," he said.