Establishing C-5 TNMCM standards.(Special Feature)(Report)

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Introduction

This article details the process for calculating and establishing Air Force aircraft total not mission capable maintenance (TNMCM) standards. It is impossible to discuss the TNMCM rates and standards without including discussions of the mission capable (MC) and the total not mission capable supply (TNMCS) rates and standards. These three rates are dependent upon one another. Because the rates are percentages of total unit-possessed time, one rate cannot increase or decrease without impacting the other two. The Air Force standards applied to these metrics are interrelated as well. As discussed in this article, the TNMCM and TNMCS standards depend on the MC standard. Thus, the formulation of the MC standard is the foundation for the TNMCS and TNMCM standards.

The 2003 CORONA directed that Air Force-wide standards for MC, TNMCM, and TNMCS be established. While directed toward TNMCM, the research detailed in this article also revealed that the MC standard is the foundation for calculating the other two metric standards. As the process exists currently, the Air Force MC standards are based on requirements which are determined in one of three ways:

* The flying hour or flying schedule requirement

* Contract logistics support (CLS) contract

* Another requirement based on major command (MAJCOM) input determined by the designed operational capability (DOC) statement, readiness study, or any operational requirement the MAJCOM may use