Charleston reserve wing transitions to single UTA

y Staff Sgt. Bobby Pilch
315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

9/7/2014 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Beginning Oct. 5, Airmen assigned to the 315th Airlift Wing here will conduct a three-month trial and evaluation period executing a single unit training assembly weekend.

With leaner financial times forecast in fiscal year 2015, which begins Oct. 1, a comprehensive study was conducted by wing leadership to identify potential cost savings and operational efficiencies by combining the current musters of two UTAs per month into one.

"A business case study was performed 18 months ago," said Maj. Kimberly Y. Champagne, 315 AW process manager. "All squadrons had an opportunity to add feedback and give their limitation factors. Then, over the next 18 months, unit-by-unit assessments were conducted with leadership and members from across the wing. We studied the gaps between the current state and proposed future state and then an action plan was created for each unit with countermeasures to execute. "

After an exhaustive study, the 315 AW identified substantial financial savings by converting to a single UTA construct. The wing is projected to save $1,349,700 in salary and per diem costs with personnel who will not have to support two UTAs per month. An additional cost savings of $300,375 will be achieved by streamlining processes and operational tasks that were identified during the study.

"Given the challenges of today's fiscally-constrained environment, we have to optimize all available resources and find ways to more efficiently train to maintain mission readiness," said Col. Scott A. Sauter, 315 AW commander. "We owe this to our airmen, as well as the taxpayers, and based on our analysis and unit feedback I believe we can do this."

At the conclusion of the trial period, wing leadership will assess the overall effectiveness and make the final determination on the way-ahead. Mission accomplishment of the new construct will be based on the wing's data-driven measurements of success before a final decision is made to continue the single UTA schedule for the remainder of FY 2015.