Not Your Father's Air Force, Yet Again

This lil blurb in the Daily Report cocked my eyebrow this morning:

Let That Be a Lesson To You: Members of 13th Air Force's analyses, assessments, and lessons learned directorate at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, are the Air Force's Lessons Learned Outstanding Team of the Year for 2009. The group was recognized at an awards ceremony in late October in San Antonio for its work to improve Air Force operations at all levels by incorporating the experiences of individual airmen engaged in organizational changes in the Pacific theater. "Regardless of how successful a mission is, there is always something to be learned and captured for future missions," said John Trifonovitch, who heads the winning directorate. He said the lessons learned also impact the joint community to help ensure that "we thrive as a team." (Hickam Nov. 24 report by TSgt. Kerry Jackson)

OK, all you MBAs and management types who live by the guidance and wisdom contained in the Harvard Business Review will probably kick my ass for being incensed over this, but... WTF?  The Air Force has entire directorates devoted to "lessons learned?"  And there is a formal awards and recognition dinner for these directorates... for which people fly from Hawaii (not to mention other places, one assumes) to frickin' Texas to accept said rewards?  I'm gonna flog this dead horse some more, if only to ask what happened to IG inspections?  What about ORIs?  Are there not "lessons learned" in those activities?  Lessons that, if NOT learned, result in leadership turnover or termination of  careers for non-performance or failure to meet mission criteria?  Doesn't the IG... at ALL levels, USAF, MAJCOM, and Operating Agencies... publish and circulate their findings any longer? Or has that gone by the boards (heh) in favor of "Lessons Learned Directorates?"

OK, rant off.  We have the finest Air Force the world has ever seen when all is said and done.  But stoopid shit like "Lessons Learned Directorates"  really irritates me.  There's simply no need for organizations like this and the money could be better spent elsewhere... like O&M funds or maybe even buying new tankers.  The Air Force ain't a corporate entity, nor is it an academic institution.  We used to exist "to fly and to fight."  Now it appears we fly, fight, analyze, evaluate, and publish.  Damn.   

―:☺:―

Well, yeah... I DID get up on the wrong side of the bed today, why do you ask?  And I apparently cracked my coffee pot while washing it this morning, to add insult to injury.  Coffee slowly leaked all over the warming plate before and after brewing, making a helluva mess for me to clean up once I realized what was going on.   That bad news (the leaking) happened as I wrote the rant above.  But... and this doesn't happen all that often... there is GOOD news, as well:  I had a spare carafe in my kitchen cabinet.  The morning was saved... believe it or don't.