LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -- Four submissions from Air Combat Command were selected to compete at the higest level of the Air Force's Spark Tank competition.
Spark Tank was designed to encourage innovative approaches to everyday tasks and for Airmen to rethink the status quo. A cash prize and implementation of the Airmen’s idea will be awarded for thinking outside of the box.
The ideas that took the top ACC spots included changes to a maintenance tag that saved several thousands of man hours, an innovative approach to cleaning up hydrazine spills, a brand new mobile pod maintenance system, and a new app to expand intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection.
Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson explained that the purpose of this competition was to “…increase the lethality of the force, and to reduce the cost of bringing power to the fight,” when the competition was announced in September.
These new approaches were selected for advancement to the next level because they freed up endless man hours, saved money, and allowed Airmen to focus on more mission essential tasks and help bring Air Force processes into the 21st century.
Tech. Sgt. Everett Horn of the 552 Maintenance Group at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, won for his innovative idea to simplify a standard maintenance tag.
The old process was “antiquated, inefficient and redundant,” according to Horn, and hadn’t been revamped since 1991. The new process reduces the process from 30 minutes to six minutes.
Master Sgt. Terri Adams, 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, won for her submission to change the way hydrazine spills are cleaned up, eliminating the need for a full HazMat team and additional wait times for clean-up.
“This is an excellent way for our U.S Air Force to cost effectively modernize and restore readiness in regards to a hydrazine response,” Adams said. Hydrazine is used in certain weapons systems, and spills take large teams, expensive dilution solutions and many man hours. Adams’ solution neutralizes the spill and is far more environmentally friendly and cost effective.
Senior Airman Christopher Caruso who was assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing in Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2017, developed a mobile pod test stand that lets maintainers perform maintenance checks within 20 minutes, as opposed to up to two hours.
“Once the mobile pod test stand gets approved, the overall versatility of it will be the most valuable part,” said Caruso. “I am very excited to have been able to come up with something that has a potential to assist maintainers throughout the Air Force better perform their duties.”
Finally, two Airmen at Beale Air Force Base, California, came up with the last Air Combat Command Spark Tank winning submission. Master Sgt. Mike Green and Senior Airman Vince Williams, 9th Intelligence Squadron, devised an app that would increase ISR capabilities by expanding them to fighter jets that are on standby for other missions.
“The U.S. Air Force darkens the skies with airpower, and this app brings to bear our service’s full collection capability against enemies or near-peer rivals,” said Green.
These ACC winning submissions will compete at the Air Force level, and the top contenders will be announced at the Air Force Association Symposium Feb. 21 to 23 in Orlando, Florida. Spark Tank will be an annual competition, as the Air Force continues to modernize and bring the future faster.