RAF Mildenhall -- Airmen in the 352nd Maintenance Squadron are inspecting and returning aircraft to the war fighter 20 days faster than they were last summer.

Thanks to the 'Lean Flow' management program that was implemented about nine months ago, the average time operators take to complete an isochronal inspection is 32 days rather than 52, and they're working on decreasing that time even more.

The goal is to get it down to between 22 and 24 days, and it's a target maintainers here said they believe they can achieve.

Working to ensure special operations MC-130s are airworthy is the primary mission of 352nd MXS Isochronal Inspection flight.

Its maintainers inspect and repair some 85 different aircraft systems covering about 2,400 individual carded items.

During 2006, the flight inspected, tested and repaired nine aircraft. Checking just the engine instruments alone means verifying 32 little light bulbs the size of a peanut illuminate and are serviceable. That's one check of about 400 on the flight deck.

Isochronal special operators completely dismantle the airframe in order to find defects not apparent to the flightline mechanic. In this case, it really is about the nuts and bolts.

Lean is a management concept adopted by the Air Force from private industry, and it's paying big dividends for maintainers, allowing time for training, deployments and shop upkeep.

The better numbers allow more fly days, and their efforts were mentioned in the citation to accompany the award of Best Maintenance Squadron in the Air Force Special Operations Command.