ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England -- The 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron ground transportation section implemented a U-Drive-It vehicle fleet to support the safety of Airmen during coronavirus at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
The section, which provides transportation services around the base to aircrew and other mission essential personnel, offers vehicles to customers on official business who require a ride.
Starting in May, vehicles were outfitted with lockboxes containing car keys, enabling customers to retrieve and drop off borrowed vehicles without having to enter the facility and come in contact with Airmen.
“The idea behind the U-Drive-It concept is to protect our personnel from coronavirus,” said Master Sgt. Gregory Laing, 100th LRS ground transportation section chief. “However, it was also an opportunity for us to modernize our vehicle fleet and how we operate on a daily basis.”
Although the ground transportation section conceived the U-Drive-It concept over the concern for the safety of Airmen, their idea has resulted in other benefits.
“It saves customers time because they don’t have to enter our facility and wait for us to inspect the vehicle with them,” said Staff Sgt. Eddie Kruse, 100th LRS ground transportation section vehicle operations dispatcher. “Under the U-Drive-It system, we can have the vehicle inspected prior to the customer arriving. This way, when the customer arrives, all they have to do is punch in the combination on the lockbox, get the keys and be on their way.”
The U-Drive-It concept has spread beyond RAF Mildenhall to impact the larger U.S. Air Force. Nine other installations are in the process of adopting the idea, while an additional two installations have already implemented the program.
“We engineered, developed and implemented it,” said Laing. “The U-Drive-It concept has been benchmarked by the Air Force Installation Mission Support Center, and it’s potentially going to be pushed out across the career field. It all stems from RAF Mildenhall ground transportation.”