MANAGEMENT ACTIONS FOR IMPROVED AIRCRAFT READINESS

The Problem. Historically, during periods of world peace the Armed Forces of the United States have been reduced to a size not much more than adequate to perform custodial duties on the limited amount of equipment in the inventory. Planners generally agreed that there would be from one to two years available to mobilize both personnel and industry to meet any hostile challenge.;World events in recent years have indicated a high probability that only minimal time will be available for mobilization. In that event, only military equipment that possesses a high state of material readiness will be available during the early, critical stages of hostilities.;All new military aircraft development programs require that a high degree of readiness be designed-in. Until those new systems become operational, existent systems with their lower readiness characteristics must be maintained at the highest possible levels of readiness.;Based on study of accepted management practices, observation of results of management actions in similar situations, and previous experience in the area of aircraft maintenance and supply, it was considered that significant improvements in material readiness could be obtained by emphasis on sound management practices, innovative leadership, and more efficient use of available assets.;The importance of the study derives from the fact that it fits into the void in doctoral research on actions that a manager may take to improve readiness of aircraft in the operational environment.;Method. A United States Marine Corps aircraft group was selected for study. The four management actions which were identified for evaluation as to their impact on aircraft material readiness were applied to the study's aircraft group as policy changes.;To verify that any changes in readiness resulted from application of the selected management actions and not from some other source, a control was established. A hypothetical aircraft group was constituted from the maintenance records of other aircraft units operating the same model aircraft under similar conditions.;Readiness was measured for the study and the control groups. The policy changes were instituted in the study group and readiness was monitored for an additional six months.;Results. Data collected and analyzed for the study indicated that the material readiness for the study group improved significantly, while that of the control group remained essentially unchanged.;The findings supported the contention that readiness of aircraft weapon systems presently in the inventory could be improved by changes in management policy. They indicated that application of policy changes of the type instituted in the test to other aviation units probably would result in increased material readiness. They further suggested that managerial policy changes in other areas possess the potential for improving readiness.