Technicians of the 537th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah have earned a gold level Shingo Prize for their depot-level maintenance work on the F-16 fighter. The Odgen maintainers join their counterparts at Warner-Robins ALC in Georgia in winning this second highest award for excellence in manufacturing. Last year, one of Ogden’s F-16 product lines earned a silver Shingo. According to Maj. Gen. Kevin Sullivan, Ogden ALC commander, the “complexity of F-16 maintenance and modification work done here makes this achievement that much more impressive.”
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.