reliability, maintainability and support- ability. OSCR facilitates the improvement or replacement of individual components, assemblies or modules for presently fielded systems to reduce operations and support costs.
Trough OSCR and VE, Reynolds’ team investigated contaminated hydraulic fluid on the Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.
“We found out that the filament, the screen inside these filters, is made of fiberglass. With the high pressures and vibrations, the fiberglass would start to crack and break down. Te contaminant in the fluid was fiberglass. So the filter that was supposed to be cleaning it was actually making it dirty. We redesigned the filter using stainless steel. Now the fluid is actually cleaner comes out of the can.”
than when it
SAVING LIVES THROUGH ENGINEERING Another VE success is the Black Hawk medevac Interim Mission Support Sys- tem (IMSS), a kit that converts a Black Hawk into a medical evacuation aircraft for onboard medical care. Reynolds and his team, applying VE principles, pro- vided analysis and design that resulted in more efficient placement of rescue lit- ters against cabin walls, positioned along the helicopter’s longitudinal axis, and a plan to rotate the litter platform toward the door to facilitate loading. Tey also redesigned the medical attendant seats for efficient patient care.
Te initial investment of $1.8 million for the IMSS yielded a projected 10-year net savings of $8.4 million, reflected in an increase in patient capacity per flight and a reduction in the cost of obsolete parts. More important than the money saved, the IMSS resulted in an improved
capability to save Soldiers’ lives, includ- ing one of Reynolds’ friends.
“When somebody gets wounded, it’s somebody’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend. A guy I know was wounded in a firefight. One of these converted medevacs came and picked up him and his two buddies. Had we not had that, he could’ve died. It probably saved his life,” said Reynolds.
RECOGNITION FOR A TEAM EFFORT Reynolds and the members of his VE team have earned numerous team and individual awards. Te most recent were the Value Engineering Achievement Awards presented by the Hon. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (USD(AT&L)), to recognize their $167 million in savings and cost avoidances in FY12.
Noting that more than 100 VE initiatives were implemented in FY12, Reyn- olds said the results attained were the achievement of many dedicated profes- sionals who improve lives and capability for Soldiers while reducing costs.
“It takes literally hundreds of people to do all this,” Reynolds said.
Member organizations of the Team Red- stone VE Program include the AMCOM Logistics Center, Corpus Christi and Letterkenny Army Depots, Redstone Garrison, AMCOM Acquisition Cen- ter, PEO Aviation, PEO Missiles and Space, and the Terminal High Alti- tude Area Defense, sensors and X-band radar programs of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
Together, Team Redstone won nine awards in the following categories. U.S.
Army: Organization, Team, Individual and Special; and MDA: Program, Orga- nization, Team, Individual and Special.
Te VE principles that Reynolds applied to his Monte Carlo, he continues to apply today—although he has been driving his wife’s 1994 van. He does this not because he likes old cars, but because of his mission to put his four children through college. Reynolds is the first to admit, however, that he would love a new car.
“What do I really want? What I really want is to win the lottery so that I can go out and buy a new one,” he said.
Despite the many awards and recogni- tions that Reynolds and his team have earned, what
is most important to
him is their dedication to Soldiers and their missions.
“Awards and savings are important, but more important is
the impact these
projects have on our Soldiers’ lives,” Reynolds said. “Many of the projects mit- igated obsolescence, improved reliability, inserted new technology, enhanced capa- bility and reduced Soldier burdens. As we all know, these are not luxury items, but equipment that our Soldiers rely on to complete their missions and lit- erally bet their lives on every day, even in peacetime.”
MS. HEATHER R. SMITH, DCS Corp., is a writer supporting AMRDEC at Red- stone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. She holds a B.S. in journalism from Indiana State University and a graduate certificate in technical communication from the Uni- versity of Alabama in Huntsville. She is co-author of the book “Bold They Rise” about the early years of the space shuttle program, due to be published in 2014.
ASC.ARMY.MIL 177
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