Got an idea? Trainers earn $ by saving the Air Force $ Published June 10, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Tanya Holditch Keesler News Staff KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- Two Keesler members were each awarded $4,119 May 29 for a money-saving idea they submitted to the Innovative Development through Employee Awareness Program. Through the IDEA program, Airmen can submit ideas which have the potential to save their units money. In exchange for the possible long-term Air Force savings, Airmen receive a portion of the projected saving as a reward. Capt. Darrell Apilado and Master Sgt. Len Finnie, 338th Training Squadron, submitted an idea to use money allocated for manning they didn't need in order to purchase updated equipment. When the two learned that five of their military manning slots would be eliminated in fiscal year 2009, they said they saw an opportunity. Four of the five positions were already unmanned, yet funded because they had not received replacements for those they had lost to other bases or retirements. The fifth position belonged to a retiring major. This meant that for the rest of FY 08, those positions were funded, but unmanned -- those were wasted dollars. "We realized we could do the mission with fewer people and use the money to buy equipment," said Sergeant Finnie. "We needed resources to continue our mission because Keesler is the center of excellence for communication and maintenance training," said Captain Apilado. "We wanted to make sure we had a plan for that mission." "This is filling four years of no computer funding," said Sergeant Finnie. By converting manning dollars to equipment dollars, the two were able to purchase 100 computers and 140 monitors. "The good ideas are out there," said Lt. Col. Stacy Yike, 338th TRS commander. "You have to push the idea through and these gentlemen did it. They saved the Air Force money and they got us a whole bunch of great equipment."