Innovation at its finest

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class BrieAnna Stillman
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The Air Force looks to its Airmen to be innovative in order to save time and money.

Staff Sgt. Justin Tankersley, 20th Maintenance Group weapons lead crew chief, created a new tool for F-16 Fighting Falcons.

The new tool, called the LAU-118 Retention Handle Strap and Lanyard Assembly, will save hours of work and money for the Air Force. It is less expensive than the old one, will save man hours and will reduce the possibility of munitions sustaining damage from being dropped.

“The older tool worked, but it was a pain because 80 percent of using the tool was spent trying to get it to just do its job,” said Senior Airman Paul Satala, 20th MXG weapons lead crew member.

“The old tool was just unreliable, so it was time to come up with something new,” said Tankersley.

The new tool enables the 20th MXG to train Airmen to do their jobs faster and more efficiently in order to increase productivity and load more munitions. This will prepare them for potentially larger-scale missions they may support overseas.