tig brief - Air Force Inspection Agency

IN FOCUS
Nuclear Inspection
Analysis - Refocusing the
Nuclear Enterprise
Lt. Col. T. Michael Fitzgerald
AFIA/PI
Kirtland AFB
Those members of any
Inspector General
team who have not
read ‘Reinvigorating the Air
Force Nuclear Enterprise’
prepared by the Air Force
Nuclear Task Force, read it.
For those who have, read it
again. The publication, referred
to as a “road map” identifies
actions to overcome deficiencies
and sets the conditions for
excellence across the nuclear
enterprise. The Nuclear Task
Force developed the road map
through a disciplined root
cause analysis process that
resulted in approximately
100 action plans. From the
beginning, the road map
emphasizes the loss of focus
on the nuclear mission and
identifies enhancement of
nuclear inspection processes
as a major key action. In fact,
an entire chapter is devoted to
the nuclear inspection process
and directs the implementation
of independent oversight, a
centrally managed core team
and inspector training. Those
actions are done; however,
the document also states,
“inspection is not the end
state—it is a means to provide
the feedback necessary to
continuously improve processes
and performance.” This is not
a groundbreaking thought, but
makes a tremendous point that
emphasizes a capability that
is often overlooked—analysis.
Analysis is the feedback
that informs leadership
about where to focus efforts
to improve processes and
performance.
For the past two years,
the Air Force Inspection
Agency (AFIA) has collected
and analyzed Nuclear Surety
Inspection (NSI) data and
reported the results to the
Secretary, Chief of Staff, and
other senior Air Force leaders.
Since Mar ‘09, AFIA has been
providing analysis through
the Nuclear Oversight Board,
Nuclear Issues Resolution
and Integration (NIRI) Board,
and other nuclear leadership
forums. In addition, AFIA
provides inspection results and
deficiency trend analysis on
the recently developed Senior
Leader Dashboard used by
SECAF, CSAF, and other
Air Force senior leaders. This
information has highlighted
negative trends that focus
efforts on the most critical
areas for improvement. For
example, deficiency analyses
12 Summer 2011
of fourteen NSI Major Graded
Areas were provided to
senior leaders at the Oct ‘09
NIRI Board resulting in the
formation of Security and
Technical Operations Tiger
Teams. These teams identified
thirty-eight root causes and
seventy-eight countermeasures
for implementation throughout
the nuclear community.
Critical issues such as outdated
technical orders and mental
fatigue were identified as root
causes and assigned to specific
organizations for corrective
action. AFIA is now analyzing
all deficiency and root cause
data for senior leaders and
will soon significantly revise
AFI 90-201, Inspector General
Activities, deficiency codes
to further improve unit root
cause analysis and trending
efforts. Additional process
improvement efforts are
scheduled to improve reporting
of higher headquarters
deficiencies and track root
cause analysis.
Even with these results,
the inspection analysis
capability within the Air Force
still remains underdeveloped.
Currently, AFIA is working
to provide inspectors with
tools that will give them
the capability to streamline
and standardize inspections
and provide analysis tools
to be used at the base and
MAJCOM levels. The
Inspector General Evaluation
Management System (IGEMS)
is currently funded and used
by five MAJCOMs for nonnuclear
inspections. Once a