5th Bomb Wing Awarded Best Commanders Inspection Program

In the hallway leading up to the Inspector General’s Office in the 5th Bomb Wing headquarters is an award given at the Air Force level for commanders and special programs for the entire Air Force.

This is the second time in 3 years that the 5th BW Inspector General has been awarded the Maj General Junius W. Jones Inspector General award. The wing Inspector General Office is given the task of evaluating the Commander’s Inspection Program.

“The Commander’s Inspection Program is the grading criteria we have for all of the different units across the wing” according to SMSgt Jessica Velasquez “We sit down with the commanders over an inspection cycle of 3 years. Over those 3 years, when we inspect the different agencies, there are grading criteria that we try to hit. We work with the commanders on the areas that they would like to hit. Once the areas are identified we put together an inspection team. We have a team leader and he/she in turn gets us together and reviews the criteria and what we would like to have happen.”

After the inspection, the team once again gathers and looks at all of the deficiencies. Those deficiencies are transferred into a computer program call IGEMS. The commanders are able to continuously track the history of the various inspections.
The Maj General Junius W. Jones award puts all Inspector General offices into a competition that grades efficiency and accuracy in the completion of an inspection program and awards the best Commander’s Inspection Program in the Air Force.
“The award entry outlines everything we do” says Velasquez “the sheer amount of inspections and what was accomplished over the fiscal year, any of the deficiencies, any recommended improvement areas, strengths, or weaknesses that we identified.”

The 5th BW IG team identified 3 areas that were worthy to “route up to Global Strike to make sure that the information gathered was put into guidance for the B 52s, so it affected the entire B 52 fleet…that was pretty big” says Velasquez.
Even though it can be a very small discovery, in this case (the award-winning inspection) affected all of the B-52 planes.
The inspections are a team effort between the Inspector General’s office and the commander’s office. “The commander’s office receives a schedule of events and runs through the criteria that we (the Inspector General’s Office) have identified. If there are other areas identified, we hope they will please let us know and we’ll add it to the inspection” says SMSgt Velasquez.

It should never be a surprise that the Inspector General Team is coming. With the schedule of events, the commanders know well in advance when we will arrive.
For the Inspector General team “it was a big honor a few years ago, and it certainly is a big honor today” says SMSgt Velasquez, “it’s a very big deal.”