436th CS uploads Team Dover to the digital age Published May 12, 2015 By Airman 1st Class William Johnson 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- With innovation being a hot topic in today's Air Force, Airmen are always looking for a refined way to conduct business that is both effective and efficient. One Team Dover office has been working behind the scenes for years to keep Team Dover on the cutting edge. In July 2013, Air Mobility Command nominated Dover Air Force Base, Del., to represent AMC in the first knowledge management center pilot program. Since then, the 436th Communication Squadron's Knowledge Management Cell has been leading the way in innovation efforts to help bring records and information into a single, share-point solution. "We had one of the largest knowledge management cells in the Air Force at the time," said Mark Muñoz, 436th CS knowledge management chief. "We had already started with some innovation, and that began with the Appointment Letter Management Tool." Approximately two years ago, the Appointment Letter Management Tool , or ALMT, was initiated to help reduce the time it would take to have appointment letters drafted and approved. Airman 1st Class Chad Lewis, 436th CS knowledge manager, said ALMT replaces hard copy appointment letters, thus making the approval process faster and reduces the chances of the letter being lost in the shuffle of daily work. "Traditionally for just one appointment letter, it could take up to two weeks for it to get through its entire lifecycle, which includes drafting it physically, printing it out, receiving a wet signature and finally building the file structure and sending through the chain to get approved," said Lewis. "ALMT provides one location within the share point where each appointment letter can be filtered out individually and then only requires one approver which is typically your commander." After completing the pilot program, the knowledge management cell continued its innovation work and introduced E-Readiness and E-Continuity. Both are tools to help bring paper records into a single, digital location. The E-Readiness tool takes all the information and data you need to deploy and houses it in digital files. In late 2015, when Airmen deploy, they will no longer carry mobility folders, but a single thumb drive. "They will take a USB with them when they go overseas," said Lewis. "They will provide that to the Unit Deployment Manager downrange, which they can use to view all of their information." Lewis said, on average, it takes nine hours to completely build a single mobility folder. With approximately 2,248 mobility folders it cost Dover AFB, on average, 20,232 man-hours to build mobility folders. The electronic solution takes only 4,496 man-hours to populate digital folders saving 15,736 man hours. Finally, E-Continuity takes individuals' records that are required to be maintained by various units and arranges them in a simple, easy to navigate structure. It assists record custodians by keeping records in compliance with AFIs. "I think ultimately these tools save money," said Lewis. "AMC did the calculations for us and it was just over $1 million saved in one year based off of paper savings and man-hour savings." Muñoz credited his Airmen for their work and said they have only scratched the surface on the innovation front. "There is no other Air Force Base that is doing what these guys are doing," said Muñoz. "We have spent a lot of money training them, both internally and externally, so these guys are the tip of the spear right now in our career field."