EVOLVE Initiative Part One: ARPC's Path to Organizational Excellence Published April 9, 2025 By Tech. Sgt. Cory D. Payne Headquarters Air Reserve Personnel Center BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Amid rapid technology change and new strategic competition, the Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC) launched the EVOLVE initiative. Standing for Excellence, Value, Operational, Leadership, Velocity and Enterprise, this initiative is a strategic transformation designed to enhance operational efficiency and workforce capability. Serving as the cornerstone of ARPC’s journey toward organizational excellence, EVOLVE provides a structured framework to drive meaningful improvements for our members and customers. “EVOLVE is a framework for organizational success. When you're trying to go from one point to another point, you need a path.” said Brig. Gen. Harold Linnean III, ARPC commander. “You need something to guide you, a road to travel down, and that's what EVOLVE does for ARPC.” More than a set of values, EVOLVE reshapes how ARPC adapts to better serve its customers. The program comprehensively re-optimizes programs and processes using proven Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) and lean management techniques commonly employed in the private sector to increase efficiency. “We started the EVOLVE initiative for the customer, because what we realized is we had massive backlogs, we had very long cycle times, it was taking an Airman forever to get what they needed, and so we needed a way to get after this,” said Linnean. “[In the past] we threw manpower at this through the years and we did a lot of CPI events, but they were all independent of one another, and we still weren't quite cracking that code on how to deliver greater value to that Airman,” continued Linnean. “EVOLVE enabled us to do that. EVOLVE focused on the process, it focused on eliminating waste and focused on reducing cycle times.” One of the key components of EVOLVE is optimizing operations by identifying all production lines and business areas, applying lean principles, implementing lean leadership and management systems, and improving organizational efficiency. The initiative began in fiscal year 2024 by identifying all products ARPC provides to customers and analyzing each process step by step. Once these processes were mapped, each work center examined opportunities to increase efficiency under the guidance of the EVOLVE implementation team. "Applying lean management principles and mapping everything ARPC does was a tremendous task,” said Maj. Angela Martin, ARPC EVOLVE program manager. “Every work center could have several different products they manage and produce, so putting that all on paper to visually reference took quite a bit of dedication for members.” Although a challenging undertaking, technicians understood the importance of the EVOLVE process and its long-term impact on ARPC’s operations. "The process map was the foundation for identifying duplicate tasks and inconsistencies in our standard work," said Master Sgt. Adam Van Horn, ARPC Regular Retirements branch manager. "By eliminating redundancies and standardizing procedures, we’ve improved clarity and efficiency." Additionally, one of the most significant changes EVOLVE introduced was daily meetings to address concerns and review productivity from the previous day. "EVOLVE has carved out time every day for my team to focus on problem-solving and continuous improvement," Van Horn said. "It has also provided a clear framework for tracking metrics based on an objective standard of work, giving technicians a defined sense of success when they meet their goals." Beyond efficiency, EVOLVE has positively impacted morale within the section. "The evolution of our processes has established objective goals for success, which allows for real-time acknowledgment of achievements," Van Horn said. "This has boosted motivation and created a more engaged workforce." Just one year into the EVOLVE initiative, many work centers have reported significant progress in streamlining processes and improving operational efficiency. Under the guidance of the EVOLVE implementation team, the adoption of lean principles has resulted in measurable reductions in processing times, enhanced workflow automation and better value for customers. “Since we've implemented EVOLVE, we have seen tremendous progress in our folks' ability to understand the CPI techniques and concepts, terminology and embrace the tenets of EVOLVE,” said Linnean. “They're using the terms, they're using the concepts, they're following the framework, it's wonderful and very enriching to be able to see that happen.” While EVOLVE has already driven remarkable improvements, this is only the first step in ARPC's long-term vision. The next phase will focus on further certifying all work center tasks, expanding the tracking of key data points and increasing process effectiveness to better serve customers. "The work doesn’t stop here," said Martin. "As we continue to refine and improve our processes, we will focus on certifying additional production lines, leveraging data to make informed decisions and continuously enhancing our ability to deliver top-tier personnel services. EVOLVE is an ongoing journey toward excellence." "Through this bold approach, ARPC is not only meeting today’s challenges but also preparing for the demands of the future," Martin concluded. "EVOLVE is our way of ensuring that we continue to provide the highest level of support for all our customers." *This is part one in a series about how EVOLVE has changed and improved ARPC’s programs, look forward to future articles about what training ARPC’s members have completed and how EVOLVE has impacted specific work centers.