IMA conference

Lt. Col. Angela Beavin, left, and Chief Master Sgt. Terrie Munsey visit during a break at the IMA All-Hands Conference held at Tinker April 21-23. Updates on base services and Tinker’s mission filled the agenda for the two-day event. Both IMAs are with the 72nd ABW Plans and Programs. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

IMA conference improves readiness, education for mobilization augmentees

Published April 29, 2010
By Brandice J. Armstrong
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Approximately 60 base individual mobilization augmentees from 39 Tinker organizations attended the IMA All-Hands conference April 21-23.

Held at the Gen. James E. Hill Conference Center, attendees were briefed on the most current readiness requirements and strategic plans and programs.

"There was tremendous value in spending two days intensely focused on improving readiness and educating our IMAs on how they can manage their professional affairs more effectively," said Col. Gregory Steuer, Mobilization Assistant to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center commander. "Since IMAs are embedded in active-duty units, many of them go long periods without the chance to discuss common areas of interest and receive mentoring from their fellow reservists."

Roughly 20 base agencies, including Staff Judge Advocate, Airman and Family Readiness Center, and 72nd Medical Group briefed junior and senior officers and enlisted members about current services and issues available to them.

Colonel Steuer said Col. Paul Waugh, OC-ALC vice commander, set the focus and tone of the event when he spoke about the air logistics center's strategic goals and objectives on day one.

"Continuous process improvement remains the key tool to identifying waste across the center and achieving our strategic goals," Colonel Waugh said. "CPI starts with identifying waste in a process. I know everyone knows of at least one wasteful or inefficient process that makes their job more difficult. We need you to identify the process and attack it with your teammates using the Air Force 8-step problem-solving model."

The 8-step model is the latest Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century initiative. The model is based on the OODA (observe, orient, decide and act) loop.

The last IMA all-hands conference held at Tinker was five years ago.

"Despite the value of these conferences, they are not held often since they take IMAs away from their primary job duties," Colonel Steuer said. "But, I want to hold them more frequently."