Ideas save Air Force millions Published July 29, 2009 By Senior Airman La'Shanette Garrett 2d Bomb Wing Public Affairs BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Active duty military and civilian employees with insight on how to increase productivity or work efficiency can use their ideas to improve their workplace and earn extra money through the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness Program. "The program allows an individual to talk to management if they have an idea they want to present," said Jon Hutchins, IDEA Program coordinator. "How else do they get it presented unless they put it in the idea form and have it seen by the appropriate level? It's a big plus - you're able to give your idea to someone that will be able to do something with it," he continued. Under the provisions of the IDEA program, the innovator receives 15 percent of the tangible savings to the Air Force in a year. The maximum compensation any one idea can create is $10,000. In 2006 Tech. Sgt. Jason Baldwin, 2d Maintenance Operations Squadron, submitted an idea and it won him the maximum of $10,000. "My idea was to repair rather than replace a balanced mixer in the Receiver Transmitter Modulator system that mixes two signals together to get terrain avoidance radar in the B-52," said Sergeant Baldwin. When the parts were found to have failed and need to be changed out, they were being discarded at a cost of more than $18,000 each. So, I suggested that the part be repaired at a cost of $5,000," he continued. The last notable idea submitted from Barksdale that has been processed and approved was submitted by Staff Sgt. Frank Castonguay, 2d Maintenance Squadron. His idea consists of cost savings for a proposal involving the X-Ray Lorad Unit. Tangible savings were calculated at $8,693 and he received $1,304. During fiscal year 2009 Air Combat Command has paid $139,794 in rewards which has saved the government $1,829,463. This year so far Barksdale has had 87 ideas submitted to the program, which is the second highest in Air Combat Command Forty-nine of those have been accepted and approved, which is the highest in ACC. In 1999, the IDEA program converted from a manual process to a fully automated system where individuals can submit proposals on line at https://ipds.randolph.af.mil/ipds For more information or to submit an idea to the IDEA Program, please contact Jon Hutchins at 456-3977.