ACC MEDIA CONTEST -- Air Combat Command published a revised B-2 Minimum Essential Subsystem List last month that provides Team Whiteman with a better "shorthand" for communicating the true mission capability of the weapons system.
This change reflects the equipment status as determined by maintenance in conjunction with an operational assessment of that equipment status.
"From the combatant commanders' perspective this new classification of the aircraft gives a truer picture of what capability is available to the warfighter," said Col. Bob Wheeler, 509th Operations Group commander. "With the limited number of B-2s, every aircraft is critical to the fight. This new system gives our senior leaders a onepage snap-shot of what is available today for any contingencies anywhere in the world."
Before the revision to the MESL was made, the mission capable rate was defined by Air Force Instruction 21-103 as the equipment's status without any coordination with operations concerning acceptability for mission success.
The revised MESL puts an 509th OG and 509th Maintenance Group team approach into the process.
Now, an aircraft can be determined to be fully mission capable, partially mission capable, or not mission capable based on mission parameters.
A PMC aircraft is capable of conducting at least one of the wing's assigned missions. An NMC aircraft cannot conduct any of the wing's wartime missions; however, the aircraft can be used to conduct aircrew training sorties.
This revised MESL allows a more precise definition of an aircraft's true status.
"It's a refinement of what was there," said Col. Bob Dulong, 509th MXG commander. "The weapons system has been in the field since 1993; and as it matures and the maintenance community matures with it, we are now able to join with our Air Combat Command brethren and the Air Force with being more accurate in our portrayal."
Since Whiteman has been using the revised MESL, the B-2's mission capable rate has improved. The B-2's readiness rate for fiscal year 2005 was 30.5 percent.
"While technically accurate under the old status rules, this was a misleading measure of the B-2's capability--the aircraft succeeded at every turn in fiscal 2005," said Brig. Gen. Chris Miller, 509th Bomb Wing commander.
For example, during all our recent inspections and local exercises, Whiteman met the aircraft tasking 'with flying colors,'" General Miller said.
The MESL measures aircraft at Whiteman and in forward operating locations in the same way, using the same standards. Whether the sortie is a combat or training mission, a partially mission-capable aircraft would not be sidelined as it had been under the old standard.
"The MESL increases the crossflow of communication between maintainers and operators," Colonel Dulong said. "We have seen an increase, but I would want to caution that the mission capable rate is a single-dimensional statistic. We don't lead our people by a statistic. We lead our people by providing them the resources to succeed at their jobs."
Fiscal 2005 is a perfect example Colonel Dulong added. "While the single dimensional MC statistic was 30.5 percent, we flew our 6,000 hour flying hour program--all aircrews were trained, we succeeded at the longest sustained deployment the B-2 weapons system has ever had, and we demonstrated our capabilities in an operational readiness inspection. I applaud Team Whiteman for their phenomenal successes," Colonel Dulong said.
USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)