SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- All Airmen use government-issued equipment, but not everyone may realize most of that equipment is tracked on a list.
Equipment lists provide an inventory of what Air Force units already have and identifies what they need because an asset was lost or damaged.
Delia Russell, the 52nd Fighter Wing Report of Survey program manager, said “It’s just like when you go grocery shopping; you check what you already have in your kitchen so you don’t waste time or money…That’s the true goal of the ROS program: to save the Air Force time and money by investigating the cause of assets loss or damage.”
AFMAN 23-220 provides Air Force guidance on the ROS process, but it primarily begins when equipment is lost or damaged and helps to determine accountability. That said, according to Lt. Col. Andre Bradley, 52nd Logistics Readiness Squadron commander, “The focus of the ROS program is accountability of government assets, not to conduct a witch hunt of Airmen who break or lose something, so the program uses an investigation mechanism to assess responsibility, liability and process flaws.”
The ROS process also helps account for assets found on base. This could include small items like key boards to larger items like vehicles that are not accounted for on an inventory for your unit. If it is an overage of the inventory, this could lead to an ROS as well.
Recently, the 52nd FW commander made the ROS program a special-interest item to heighten wing leadership's awareness of trends and costs associated with lost or damaged assets. The assets are usually communication-type equipment items like government-issued cellphones, laptops, printers and desktop computers, according to Russell.
If the investigation reveals that loss or damage of an asset is due to negligence, accountability methods may include financial restitution, counseling, reprimands, appropriate remarks in performance evaluations, service to the installation or the community and other possible non-judicial punishment. That said, Russell reiterated “another intent of the program is to ensure we’re all good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
Russell’s position was an additional duty before a full-time civilian position was created in 2014. Before then, a three-year backlog developed as the responsibility changed hands multiple times due to deployments, reassignments, and other mission requirements. Since she took over the ROS program, the backlog has been closed out and more than $707,000 worth of equipment has been recovered which saved the Air Force the trouble of unnecessary equipment purchases.
For questions about the ROS process, please contact Russell at 452-4347 or via e-mail 52FW.ros-02@us.af.mil.