WWRS reaches round globe to fill Tinker’s critical need

  • Published
  • By Daryl Mayer
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio-- --  An urgent request for a small but critical part for an F-100 engine ended up traveling halfway around the world to find a credible source.

Fortunately for the Air Force and the overhaul production schedule of the 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group at Tinker AFB, Okla., a system to find that source and facilitate the sale and transfer of the parts was already in place.

Originally designed to help the Air Force's international partners buy and sell parts acquired through the foreign military sales system, the Worldwide Warehouse Redistribution Service proved its value to the U.S. military services as well.

In addition, the parts were shipped and received within 14 days and at a cost 20 percent below normal Department of Defense prices, according to Pete Heron, who manages the WWRS program for the Air Force Security Assistance Center.

"Sometimes better, cheaper and faster really is attainable," said Mr. Heron.

The spring clip is a small bit of metal barely two inches long and cost under $3 a piece. But it is a critical part of the F-100 inlet fan and problems with raw material supply meant the next shipment of new parts from industry wouldn't arrive until April.

To avoid the shop going idle, they put out an urgent request to find the parts.

This request was channeled up the chain of command where it came to the attention of Lorna Estep, Deputy Director for Supply for Air Force Materiel Command. Having recently attended an executive briefing on WWRS, she instructed the maintenance group to contact AFSAC.

"I'd heard of the possible uses for WWRS and thought this would be a good opportunity to see if the program could live up to its billing," said Ms. Estep. "It passed with flying colors."

When Mr. Heron first checked the system, none of the spring clips were listed as available. He then checked the records for a list of countries that had purchased that part and sent them a message to see if they could spare the spring clips the maintenance group needed. An affirmative reply followed soon afterward.

"From there it was just a matter of Tinker providing us the funding document to pay for the items. It was just like a normal sale process in the system," said Mr. Heron.

The items shipped through Baker and Associates in Centerville, Ohio where they were inspected according to standard WWRS procedures. After repackaging, they were delivered to the maintenance group at Tinker less than 24 hours after Baker receipt.

The shipment's arrival allowed the shop to "get out of work stoppage and start producing modules for the warfighter again," said James Patterson, 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group deputy director.

He sees the system offering potential for future transactions.

"We're seeing shortages in a number of areas," said Mr. Patterson. "Using WWRS is a great opportunity that could go both ways [between U.S. and international partners]. There is a real synergy that occurs."

Mr. Heron agrees that growth is a plus for WWRS.

"Participation from U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy units has increased a great deal over the past year or two, but we still feel WWRS is not being used to its full capacity," said Mr. Heron. "Adding more participants will only make WWRS stronger in the long run."

As he explains, increased participation means more parts will be available to international partners which only makes the system more attractive to prospective users. It also makes it easier to sell items that are no longer needed and reinvestment of proceeds into new U.S. manufactured equipment.