944th FW major earns historic distinction

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andre Bowser
  • 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The 944th Fighter Wing has wedged itself into the history books on the merits of one of its innovative senior members.

As the first recipient of the Tenth Air Force Process Manager of the Year Award, and later the 2009 Air Force Reserve Process Manager of the Year Award, Major Hayley J. Wihongi of the 944th FW set the bar high throughout AFRC.

Her work with the Air Force Standard Operations for the 21st Century initiative has set the 944th FW apart with the lofty and historic distinction.

Major Wihongi described key aspects of the AFSO 21 initiative as the "lean production, lean management, and the identification of ways to eliminate waste," in the business and manufacturing processes of a large organization. "My goal is to identify and eliminate waste in our business and manufacturing processes--to save man hours or create cost avoidance opportunities," she said.

Major Wihongi said one important aspect of her newly created position is "changing cultural mindsets" in the workplace by "identifying helpful tools" and saving the Air Force "millions and billions of dollars" in the process.

To that end, she has spent more than 180 hours of academic training, on the job training and even an internship in the civilian world with aviation manufacturing company Boeing.
While working at Boeing, Major Wihongi was tasked with helping the company define ways to save money. At the same time as her internship, Boeing was planning to build a new facility to house a new model of the Apache helicopter, which has two foot longer blades. She proposed a cost-saving plan of simply elevating every other helicopter to double the storage capacity of the existing building. The company agreed that her plan was the best solution. "I'm sure that saved them millions of dollars because they were looking at building new facilities for the new model of the helicopter," she said.

One tool in AFSO 21 is the eight-step problem solving model. It breaks a problems and its resolution into small easy to understand, easy to deal with steps such as "Clarify the problem, break down the problem/identify performance gaps; set improvement target; determine root causes; develop countermeasures; see countermeasures through; confirm results and process; standardize successful processes. This approach gets to solutions methodically and results every time it's used.

Major Wihongi said one of her main goals is to identify and strive to rid the Air Force of defects, over-production, waiting, non-standard work, excessive transportation, reluctance toward new ideas, excess movement and excessive inventory.

"The Air Force needs to listen to each Airman's ideas to get processes right," Major Wihongi said.

The very complicated matter of streamlining the Air Force's efforts and eliminating organizational waste came simple to Major Wihongi, as she detailed her long history in the Air Force civil engineering community, as well as civilian work in the hazardous waste management profession--the literal and physical application of her current work in process management.

Major Wihongi earned the distinguished award first on the regional level, within 10 NAF and its 17 wings to receive the top honor for the Tenth Air Force. From there, she competed with approximately 40 other wings.

Top Air Force officials recognized Major Wihongi's major achievement as the direction AFRC is primed to head in.

"Major Wihongi distinguished herself and her unit through her tireless efforts in facilitating improvement," wrote the commander of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr. "Her talents are frequently called upon by outside organizations as well, bringing great distinction to not only herself, but her Wing and the Air Force Reserve Command."

Former commander of 10th Air Force, Maj. Gen. Thomas Coon said, "Your leadership within and initiatives toward continuous process improvement and mission success are a credit to your wing, Tenth Air Force and the Air Force Reserve."

When asked what it's like to start out a new job and in the first year of that job's creation to win the very first award of its kind, Major Wihongi seemed somewhat surprised by it all herself.

"When you start out any new job, you find out what your bosses expectations are," Major Wihongi said.

To that end, and at her request, the Wing Executive Steering Group created an Enterprise Value Stream Map. This tool is a road map for addressing areas a Wing can make improvements in.

Improvement areas included: OPR/EPR; awards and decorations; LOD process; medical and dental check-up process; PEP & Quarterly Awards; Ancillary Training; mobilization/deployment process; orders creation; and fitness program.

"Teams in the wing were innovative in making the processes better - saving time, money, and stress," she said.

In addition to these wing initiatives, Major Wihongi, has facilitated four AFRC level initiatives, one 10 NAF initiative, one ARPC, and one Air National Guard initiative.

Major Wihongi, has 19 years of military service, has been married for 21 years and has three children, ages 19, 17 and 7.

"This is the most fulfilling job that I have had although I loved being in civil engineering," Major Wihongi said. "I feel like my efforts are really adding value to the way we do business."