as QAIs but remain part of their respective work
centers. Should it become necessary to assign an
individual below the paygrade of E-6 as a CDQAI, a
letter must be submitted informing the cognizant type
commander (TYCOM) of this decision and the
assignment must not exceed a period of 90 days without
the approval of the cognizant TYCOM. In no case an
individual below the paygrade of E-5 be appointed as a
CDQAI.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR QUALITY OF
MAINTENANCE
To establish a successful QA program, everyone in
the maintenance organization must fully support it. It is
not the training, maintenance instructions, or other
facilities that determine the success or failure of a QA
program, it is the frame of mind of all assigned
personnel.
Each person must know that quality work is vital to
the effective operation of the maintenance organization.
Each must know the specifications required to achieve
quality work, as well as the purpose of those
specifications.
The person most directly concerned with and
responsible for quality workmanship is the work center
supervisor. This stems from his responsibility for the
proper
professional
performance
of
assigned
personnel. It is the direct responsibility of the work
center supervisor to ensure that the proper level of QA
inspection is assigned to the job when the job is
assigned to maintenance personnel. This procedure
allows the inspector to make a progressive inspection as
required. This also ensures that an inspector is not
confronted with a job that has been completed before he
could inspect it.
Direct communication between the QA branch and
the maintenance branch is a necessity and must be
energetically exercised. Although the maintenance
officer is responsible for the overall quality of the
maintenance in the division, branch officers, branch
supervisors,
and
work
center
supervisors
are
responsible for ensuring that required inspections are
conducted and that quality workmanship is attained.
QUALITY ASSURANCE BRANCH
RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS
The
QA
branch
is
responsible
for
the
implementation, management, and monitoring of
specific programs designed to improve the quality of
maintenance, the training of personnel, adherence to
general and specific safety rules, and the analysis of
maintenance deficiencies, while minimizing man-hour
and material expenditures.
To carry out these responsibilities, personnel
assigned to the QA branch perform the following
duties:
Maintain the central TPL for the division.
Review incoming technical publications and
directives to determine their application to
individual maintenance branches, and monitor
the management of the dispersed TPLs in the
maintenance branches.
Ensure that all work guides, equipment guide
lists, and maintenance requirement cards, and
other information used to define or control
maintenance are complete and current before
issuing to work centers.
Prepare or assist in the preparation of main-
tenance instructions (MIs) to ensure that QA
objectives and requirements are defined.
Provide a continuous training program in the
techniques and procedures used to conduct
inspections. Participate as members of task
forces to study trouble areas and submit
recommendations for corrective action.
Establish requirements and qualifications for
QAI/CDQAIs
and
CDIs;
review
the
qualifications of personnel nominated for these
positions; and develop and administer written
examinations to test the knowledge of personnel
nominated for QA positions.
Provide technical assistance to CDIs and
periodically accompany CDIs on assigned
inspections and evaluate their performance.
Monitor and review all requests for departures
from specifications, requests for engineering
information (REIs), hazardous material reports
(HMRs),
fast-action
discrepancy
reports
(FADRs), feedback reports (FBRs), technical
publications
deficiency
reports
(TPDRs),
quality deficiency reports (QDRs), and technical
manual
deficiency/evaluation
reports
(TMDERs) to ensure that they are clear, concise,
and comprehensive prior to submission.
Monitor the use of precision measuring
equipment (PME) to ensure compliance with
calibration intervals and safety instructions.
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