[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 21, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LAMAR SMITH

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 2008

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I submit the following:
  Requesting Member: Congressman Lamar Smith.
  Bill Number: H.R. 5658.
  Account: Department of Defense, Air Force RDT&E (R-1 Line #18).
  Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Texas Research Institute.
  Address of Requesting Entity: 9063 Bees Cave Road, Austin, Texas 
78732.
  Description of Request: Provide an earmark of $2,000,000 for the Air 
Force's ``Improved Inspection Reliability for Optimized Maintenance 
Program.'' Regularly scheduled nondestructive inspection (NDI) and 
maintenance of Air Force aircraft requires that these key assets are 
removed from service for extended periods of time in addition to 
routine maintenance issues. This program will develop and validate 
model-based approaches to the measurement of inspection reliability, 
and data mining methods to assure continued performance over time in 
Air Force field and depot inspections. This will result in improved 
confidence in the reliability of NDI to assess damage without costly 
and time-consuming maintenance will increase availability and reduce 
maintenance costs over current practices. This one time program of $2M 
will use $1.7M for the development and testing of the systems and the 
remaining $300K will be used for required reports. As the Air Force is 
scheduled to decrease in manpower over the FYDP it is critical that 
those in the Air Force will have the tools and equipment to do complete 
their jobs. This project fully supports the 2008 Air Force Strategic 
Plan which calls for ``Smart Operations across the total Air Force'' 
and specifically calls for ``Efficient processes free up resources for 
recapitalization and modernization, increase the availability of our 
aircraft by reducing the time they are in Depot''--This effort is 
termed Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century (AFSO21).

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