Check your checklists: TCI to evaluate compliance of offices across base

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Lisa Spilinek
  • 66 Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Hanscom AFB --  Editor's Note: This is the first article in a series addressing important topics for Hanscom's upcoming Targeted Compliance Inspection. 

Are your unit's checklists in order? If not, the time to address discrepancies is now. 

While Team Hanscom has been diligently preparing for the Operational Readiness Inspection in June, many personnel may be unaware that the Air Force Materiel Command Inspector General's team will also conduct a Targeted Compliance Inspection in concert with the ORI. 

Last year, Air Force Materiel Command announced that they would begin to conduct a limited Unit Compliance Inspection, or a TCI, during a full ORI, said Col. Joyce Sohotra, Electronic Systems Center Inspector General. 

All ESC offices located on Hanscom may be affected by the TCI. A common misconception is that the TCI will only evaluate 66 ABW offices, said Patricia Sabine, ESC IG Office deputy director. 

The TCI will examine individual functional areas to determine if they comply with their respective governing directives.

 The inspectors will use a three tier rating system: In Compliance; In Compliance with Comment (the unit being evaluated is in compliance, but has one or more issues to correct); and Not In Compliance, Ms. Sabine said. 

A key to preparing for the TCI is examining checklists prior to the AFMC IG team visit, said George Fisher, 66 ABW Self-Inspection Program manager. "As you run through the checklists, if you find something that you could be doing better or if you haven't quite hit the mark, now is the time to be making improvements and annotate that you are working on it."

Identifying that a problem exists is not enough, however. 

Personnel should develop a "get-well plan" to address discrepancies and put this plan into action before the TCI, he said. All compliance checklists are "fair game" for evaluation, Ms. Sabine said. 

However, certain areas that received attention during the most recent AFMC IG TCI at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are common compliance areas such as safety programs and risk management programs. Other programs the IG team may want to look at are Electronic Records Management, and Financial Management. Additionally, the AFMC IG will evaluate Special Interest Items along with functional checklists. 

Details on preparing for the TCI and the ORI, including a 2007 ORI preparation guide, are available on the ESC IG Office's Community of Practice Web page that is accessible through the Air Force Knowledge Now Web site. Additional guidance is also available on the AFMC IG Community of Practice Web page that is accessible through the Air Force Knowledge Now Web site.

Those who desire more information on conducting self-inspections should contact their unit self-inspection program manager or the ESC IG for help, Ms. Sabine said. 

Col. Tom Schluckebier, 66th Air Base Wing commander said, "In preparing for both the ORI and the TCI, remember keep your attitudes positive, stay focused and be ready for an inspector to visit your work area. If you find a discrepancy you just can't fix before the TCI, don't try to hide it or assume an inspector won't discover it. It's much better to develop a comprehensive plan to become compliant and brief the inspector on your plan and the positive actions you are taking." 

(First Lt. Geoff Buteau, 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this article.)