Hobby earns intel Airman $10K

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Simpler, easier to use and saves time; this is not an ad for a new cleaning product -- these are qualities being used to describe a new Web-based program the intelligence office here is employing to track training requirements.

The new program dubbed "SpIDER System" is the creation of Master Sgt. Erich Reichley, 52nd Operations Support Squadron NCOIC of intelligence operations. The computer savvy sergeant created this replacement for an Excel based system and walked away from the project with more than a satisfied shop - he earned $10,000 for his efforts through the Innovative Development Through Employee Awareness Program.

Sergeant Reichley began playing around with the idea of creating a databased training program in hopes of overcoming the limitations of working with an Excel based program.

"The old system did not have a lot of flexibility for maintaining historical information," Sergeant Reichley said. "It did not flow very well, was very time consuming and difficult. On top of that it was not user friendly when we had to add new personnel or change requirements, so I developed a Web-based program."

Sergeant Reichley created "SpIDER System," the Specialized Intelligence Development, Evaluation and Record System, as an Access calendar driven database versus an Excel based program.

"It is really not any different than going to a Web site like Amazon.com to order a couple of books," he said. "It is just point and click user interfaces, as opposed to using Excel where you have to know different formulas and functions. You pull up the main page and there is a training calendar to track our training throughout the year."

The intel shop's leadership and unit compliance inspectors were so impressed with the program that they started spreading the word about it - five U.S. Air Forces in Europe bases have been selected to test the program.

"After seeing the 'SpIDER System's' demonstrated capability, I knew Sergeant
Reichley had a program that far exceeded the Air Force's system of record," said Capt. Ryan Wood, 52nd Operations Support Squadron intelligence officer. "I wanted other units to benefit from his efforts, but I also wanted Sergeant Reichley to receive a financial award for the countless off-duty hours he spent making this program a world-class application."

So, Capt. Wood encouraged Sergeant Reichley to submit the "SpIDER System" through the IDEA program.

"I knew the IDEA program existed, and I knew people were getting paid through it," Sergeant Reichley said. "I had always thought it was something better suited in the maintenance career field. But I was asked to investigate it so I started talking to the IDEA program manager."

While the IDEA program does see a number of maintenance based submissions, it is open for recommendations to make any job better, safer, faster or cheaper, said Tech. Sgt. Jesse Boyd, 52nd Fight Wing IDEA program manager.

"There is a section for uniform changes which are reviewed by the Uniform Board," Sergeant Boyd said. "People can submit ideas concerning traffic issues on base as well as ideas concerning other units on base. For instance, I could submit an idea that concerns a section in the logistics readiness squadron."

Sergeant Reichley, a self-taught computer guy, said he was surprised by how easy it was to submit his program.

"It was actually very simple, I thought it was going to be a lot more complicated," he said. "Basically you just have to highlight three different components -- the present process, the proposed process and what sort of expected benefits you are going to get from moving from the old process to the new process. If you are able to adequately explain those, the program will usually go through."

Sergeant Reichley said he believes the IDEA program is a great tool for people to share their suggestions.

"With manpower draw downs anything we can do to improve or create a cheaper process is definitely worth submitting though the IDEA program," he said. "Considering how easy it ended up actually being, I think it is worth anyone's time to take a couple days to put together a package."


The gateway for submission is https://ipds.randolph.af.mil.