Training Needs Assessment
Inspector General Team
The Headquarters AMC Inspector General has a team of 83 inspectors who go from base to base performing inspections to give the AMC Commander an idea of each wings compliance and readiness.
The team performs many types of inspections; however, the two largest inspections are the Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) and the Compliance Inspection (CI). During an ORI, airmen undergo evaluations that measure the ability of their unit to perform in wartime and during a contingency or a force sustainment mission while at any deployed location. During a CI the IG assess the wing's adherence with by-law requirements, Executive Orders, DOD Directives, and Air Force and MAJCOM instructions. The team is already fully operational however, because the majority of personnel only remain on the team for 2 to 3 years, keeping trained and certified inspectors is a priority.
Recently, Headquarters Air Force has established new guidance requiring each MAJCOM IG to establish a training and certification program for all their inspectors. Identifying the needs of Headquarters AMC will consist of organization, person, and task analysis. The methods used to collect data will be focus groups, interviews, documentation, and observation. Because the team is already fully operational and budget cuts are affecting all government agencies, training needs should emphasize a concentration strategy focused on development of the existing workforce, skill, currency and reduced operating costs.
Organizational Analysis
The AMC Inspector General Team (IG) is one of many directorates within the HQ AMC staff. As such, the Inspector General reports directly to the AMC Commander. The mission of the IG directorate is to “Improve Readiness and Capabilities through Inspections and Complaint Resolution.” This mission statement captures the two main components of the directorate: conducting inspections and resolving IG type complaints. Because traditional training had not been incorporated within the IG previously, a focus group with experienced inspectors was put together to decide if there was a need for specific MAJCOM training that needed to be added to the new headquarters requirements. The focus group identified several training areas specific to AMC that were not included in the requirements sent down by headquarters. Some of these findings were, that new inspectors struggle to complete their inspection checklists correctly, improperly evaluated deficiencies, did not understand some of the terms used during ORI’s and could not use the software program to document their findings proficiently. Their findings were briefed to the Inspector General who agreed additional training was needed to ensure they could meet mission requirements and would receive support from all division chiefs and inspectors as well as ensure all resources needed were available for training as long as funding was kept to essential needs to ensure training effectiveness. In order to meet the IG’s strategic direction, the IG directed that the training program meet the following requirements:
- Align with all HQ Air Force and AMC directives
- Be supported by division chiefs
- Include best practices from other commands
- Incorporate both hands-on and classroom instruction
- Involve general steps for preparing for, conducting, and documenting an inspection
Person Analysis
In order to determine if trainees have the basic skills, motivation and confidence to perform their duties, a person analysis had to be completed. Because of the uniqueness involved with conducting inspections and the differences in functional areas, it was decided that the team chief from the task and analysis branch interview all new functional area managers with less than 6 months on the team. The interview consisted of questions like:
- Did the training you received prior to coming to the AMC IG team prepare you to be an effective inspector?
- How comfortable are you performing an inspection on your own?
- Is there something you learned during your first inspection that you wish you would have known prior to leaving? If so, what?
- Do you feel you are a valued member of the team?
- Do you feel you have the support needed to complete your tasks?
- What was the biggest problem you encountered during your first Inspection? What can be done to ensure that problem doesn’t occur to other new inspectors?
- Do you feel the prerequisite requirements on the application to become a member of the IG team were adequate to prepare you as an inspector or should something be added?
The results of the interviews revealed that new inspectors were very motivated and loved their jobs; however, they felt more training was necessary to give new inspectors more confidence prior to performing their first inspection. The interviews also uncovered other issues like a lack of resources for inspectors to turn to for assistance and a lack of guidance.
Task Analysis
Due to the uniqueness of the job it was important that all functional areas get involved with the task analysis. To do this I used the four steps in task analysis as described by Noe in Employee training and development. For each step we utilized the information gathered during the interviews, as well as recommendations from the focus group which was made up of functional area experts to ensure the training is aligned with the goals of the IG. The first step was to select the jobs and areas to be analyzed. We selected three main areas: Formal training requirements, AMC core inspector training, and Continuation training (as needed per functional area). Next a preliminary list of tasks performed in each area was developed then validated by the functional area leads and team chiefs for accuracy and validity. After the tasks were identified the frequency of each task was decided and finally how the task would be trained was determined. The list of tasks is as follows:

TASK Frequency Hands-On/Classroom/CBT
Formal Training:
- Attend USAF Basic Inspector Course 36 Months Classroom
- Attend NSI Course (NSI Inspectors Only) 24 Months Classroom
- Attend Train-The-Trainer USAF Basic One Time Req. Classroom
Inspector Course (Instructors Only)
- Ancillary Training Complete Annually CBT

AMC Core Inspector Training:
- Participate in CI One Time Req. Hands-On
- Participate in ORI One Time Req. Hands-On
- Perform MSEL Review 36 Months Classroom
- Operate NEXTEL Radio One Time Req. Classroom
- Review SIM/LIM One Time Req. Classroom
- Use IGEMS to Document Results One Time Req. Classroom and Hands-on

Continuing Education:
- Perform as Outbrief Narrator One Time Req. Hands-On
- Perform as MGA Chief (as required) One Time Req. Hands-On
- Perform Report Assistant function One Time Req. Hands-On
- Participate in Murder Board Process One Time Req. Hands-On
- Submit Individual / Team Recognitions One Time Req. Classroom and Hands-on

The goal for the IG is to ensure there is an effective training program in place that will successfully train and certify new inspectors to be able to perform all duties required to perform inspections. The Inspector General is confident that training new inspectors appropriately will ensure continuity throughout the team and ensure units receive inspections that will add value to their wings as well as the Air Force as a whole.

Noe, Raymond Andrew. Employee Training & Development. 5th. New York, N.Y.:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010.