JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- For years, Aerospace Maintainers have used land mobile radios or corded landlines to communicate with Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) dispatchers, in requesting delivery of equipment needed on the flightline. With this process, radio transmissions can be muddled due to factors like noises on the flightline and enunciation of words, all leading to errors in communication. This has posed various challenges when it comes to AGE operations.
To remedy this issue, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jacob Sullivan, the 62d Maintenance Squadron’s AGE production superintendent, created an idea for an app called Jet Dash. The app provides Airmen the capability to request support equipment without the use of land mobile radios or landlines. With this application, customers will be able to schedule requests prior to maintenance start times and customers will maintain visibility of the exact time they request support, equipment, and have an estimated time of arrival via their assigned mobile device.
“There are gaps in relaying the priority for delivery that can result in degrading maintenance efficiency,” said Sullivan. “Without face-to-face interaction, supervision has no visibility of what dispatchers are being tasked with. We are in an era where data collection is vital to making strategic decisions to optimize production.”
Starting on April 23, 2024, the 62d MXS collaborated with Tesseract, the Air Force’s office of Logistics Innovation, and Technergetics, a software and mobile app development company, to conduct a field test on the groundbreaking Jet Dash app.
The test was conducted to evaluate the functionality, usability and effectiveness of the app in real-world maintenance scenarios with the goal of improving efficiency and streamlining processes for maintenance personnel within the 62d MXS and potentially across the Air Force.
Sullivan, and representatives with Tesseract and Technergetics, worked to collect data and feedback directly from the Airmen who will be utilizing the technology.
“The flightline is a complex environment often comprised of multiple mission sets all competing for constrained resources,” said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Kosty, the program manager at Tesseract. “Jet Dash provides maintainers with the ability to order the tools and equipment they need to keep our aircraft flying while being informed along the way. This capability plays a big part in our effort at Tesseract to bring full kitting to the hands of maintenance units across the enterprise. That's where we see tremendous value, along with the time and effort it saves AGE technicians daily.”
During the field test, one Airman was assigned to receive and carry out all incoming orders through the app. Airmen putting in orders for equipment and the Airman who received and carried out the orders, were able to give feedback to the app developers and creators on improvements and ways to make it more specific in executing today’s global airlift mission.
After working with Team McChord Airmen to identify and assess any issues with the app, Sullivan, Tesseract and Technergetics will take the feedback with the hopes of improving the app to be used at U.S. Air Force bases around the world.