Idea earns maintainer big money

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  A simple suggestion earned one Misawa maintainer $10,000 and saved the Air Force thousands more. 

Staff Sgt. Jerome Latham, an engine craftsman with the 35th Maintenance Squadron, suggested a technical order change to the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness program. His idea resulted in validated tangible savings and was approved for implementation Air Force wide. 

The IDEA program is the Air Force's incentive program that recognizes individuals with great ideas that streamline processes or increase productivity and efficiency, according to Toshiyuki Takanashi, the Misawa IDEA program manager. The Air Force is constantly seeking new and better ways of doing business. 

"The last time Misawa had a tangible savings IDEA was in 2006," said Mr. Takanashi. "The individual was awarded $784 -- not quite as significant as Sergeant Latham. "
Sergeant Latham's idea was to extend the divergent flap wear limit on the F110-GE-129 engine exhaust nozzle of the aircraft engine. 

"We do regular inspections and these parts were supposed to be replaced," he said. "The wear limits were minimal and we were throwing them away all the time." 

At first, just looking to obtain a local waiver, Sergeant Latham contacted the engine manufacturer. He was given permission to increase the wear limit for Misawa and implemented the new practice in December of 2008. Looking at past data, Sergeant Latham discovered the local change will save Misawa more than $256,000 annually. Believing the rest of the Air Force could implement the same change, Sergeant Latham submitted his suggestion to the IDEA program. 

"There was a lot of paperwork that needed to be submitted, but I knew I had the evidence," said Sergeant Latham. "It was a long process but it paid off in the end." 

Sergeant Latham was notified last week that his idea was approved and his suggestion would be added to the new technical order. On April 27, Col. Robert Craig, 35th Fighter Wing vice commander, presented Sergeant Latham with the $10,000 check in his work center. 

"A lot of people see the same things I did, but don't want to take the time to fix it," he said. "It was just a simple change. Lesson learned - keep your eyes open, save the Air Force money and improve your job by doing it more efficiently." 

Individuals or groups can submit their ideas via the IDEA program data system at https://ipds.csd.disa.mil.