ADPE ensures assets in good hands

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Robert Hicks
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  The 36th Communications Squadron Automated Data Processing Equipment Office is responsible for managing 14,000 assets including computers, radios and cell phones here.

The work center ensures Andersen AFB has proper accountability of $23 million in information technology equipment. They are also responsible for installing the correct operating system, updates and software on all base computers, which helps secure the installation's network by allowing only software that has been tested for security loopholes on computers.

"Most people think we just track assets and it's an easy process," said Tech. Sgt. Alejandro Hernandez, 36th CS base equipment control officer. "However, when you have 14,000 items to track and people are moving them around without letting their equipment custodian know or even us, it begins to become a lot of work to locate them."

The 14,000 assets are currently divided among 350 equipment custodians who are responsible for conducting inventories on the equipment assigned to their work sections.

The ADPE office is responsible for the training of all the equipment custodians, ensuring they meet all Air Force guidelines when they are performing their duties. They also make staff-assisted visits to ensure equipment custodians are compliant in their duties.

Hernandez explained how they rely heavily on the equipment custodians to help maintain all the base IT assets and paperwork to ensure equipment transfer and ownership is maintained from one equipment custodian to the next.

"All of our assets fall into several different categories," said Airman 1st Class Sarorn Sek, 36th CS asset management technician. "The toughest part about this job is organization and being accountable for all your items."

He added ADPE is like a "big brother" for IT assets; they make sure the equipment custodians are responsible enough to do their jobs, and correct any issues.

When something goes wrong with the equipment, they coordinate the acquisition and repair actions with commercial vendors for radios and cell phones.

If the base acquires new items, then the old assets are sent to the Defense Reutilization Marketing Office on Naval Base Guam for eventual reutilization somewhere in the Department of Defense or a different government agency.

"If ADPE didn't exist, the Air Force would lose the focal point for oversight of all IT equipment that is acquired and used on base networks," Hernandez said. "The Air Force spends a lot of money on keeping our IT infrastructure mission ready and they want to ensure the investment is handled properly and in accordance with Air Force Instructions."