Reporternews has more details on the story from last month that the Dyess Air Force Base has been FOD free for more than 1000 days.

Zero damage from foreign objects is practically impossible. Jet engines sucking in massive amounts of air will inevitably ingest something they shouldn’t.

Recognizing this, Air Combat Command decreed a “chargeable” FOD as an event that results in more than $50,000 in damage. It also set an acceptable FOD rate of 1.0, based on the number of chargeable incidents divided by flying hours.

The staff at Dyess should be applauded for their efforts, and although the article does mention the use of the FOD Boss, ,there is no mention at all of automated FOD detection. This is yet more evidence that, for some reason, the automated detection systems are not yet considered to be part of the standard arsenal in the fight against FOD. And with one of the biggest players in this industry, QinetiQ, no longer actively marketing their Tarsier system, it is starting to look like automated FOD detection might not have the future many in the industry had hoped.

Update:

It has been pointed out to me (i.e. I have been corrected) that the previous article covering the same story does indeed mention an automated FOD detection system i.e the FOD Finder from Trex. From the previous article:

“Keeping the flight line clear of FOD is a total team effort,” Smith said. “Things we do to minimize FOD are monthly base-wide FOD walks, handing out awards, such as “FOD Fighter of the Month,” using the FOD BOSS, Sweeper, FOD check points and the FOD Finder Radar Truck.”

Source (Reporternews & Dyess Air Force Base Homepage)

Xsight, the Israeli manufacturer of foreign objects detection (FOD) systems, sees air force customers as a big potential market in the coming years.

The company’s FODetect system is already operational at Boston’s Logan airport in the USA, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport in Thailand, Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France, and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport in Israel.

Xsight chief executive Alon Nitzan says indications show that 30% of sales in the coming years will be made to air force customers. “The FOD problem is very acute in a base that operates fighter aircraft, many with one engine,” he says. “The detection of objects on the runway is part of the base’s operational readiness.”

Read the whole story at flightglobal

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Peter Thompson/ Released)

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas  — The 7th Bomb Wing is in a constant battle to eliminate foreign object debris from the flight line, and is winning, with more than 975 consecutive days of FOD-free incidents.

Read the full article at the Dyess Air Force website

To show the importance of conducting a FOD walk, Hood, Sigala and Llerena coordinated a base-wide FOD walk. Each of the classes — more than 100 airmen from the 571st MSAS and Honduran Air Force — participated and collected more than 50 pounds of FOD from the flightline.

Source (Defence Professionals)

by Staff Sgt. Daryl Knee, 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

The 52nd Fighter Wing’s foreign object damage manager, in collaboration with base civilian agencies, provided free reusable grocery bags to Airmen and their families at the Spangdahlem Commissary Nov. 15 in an effort to enhance recognition of the dangers loose debris has on the base’s flying mission.

“It only takes one grocery bag to damage a jet,” said Master Sgt. Matthew LaNew, FOD manager. “The agencies on base have donated thousands of reusable grocery bags to get people in the mindset that loose bags truly are a FOD hazard.”
Foreign object debris is the actual rubbish on the ground or in the air. It becomes foreign object damage when that debris damages government equipment. For example, when the vacume created by an aircraft’s engine sucks in hardened trash fragments, it can destroy a turbine.

Wing leadership spent $14.7 million on FOD-related incidents in fiscal year 2011. As such, LaNew charges Airmen to actively watch for debris.

“If you see trash,” he said, “just pick it up. It’s easy; plus, it’s everyone’s responsibility. As service members, we should be doing our part to reduce spending.

“If we don’t increase our awareness of this problem, we’re saying, ‘It’s okay to pay for FOD-related damages and not the stuff we need,'” he added.

With plastic bags being a high-threat item, LaNew said he hopes base stores will soon switch to a more environmentally-friendly style of commerce: shoppers carry their personal, reusable bags into the store and leave with them secured.

“This is one step we can take to help prevent unnecessary damage,” he said. “It’s a new idea on base to shop this way, so we’re asking people to take baby steps. We have to get used to the idea, and it won’t happen overnight.”

Staff Sgt. Idris Royal, 52nd Force Support Squadron and recipient of a reusable bag, said he thinks the bags will get people to start seeing base trash in a new light.

“This is a really good thing we’re doing,” he said. “I already try to pick up any trash when I can, and I’m sure people are more likely to hold onto these bags.”

As of now, there is no set date to require Spangdahlem agencies to stop issuing plastic bags, LaNew said, but he and wing leadership are evaluating when such an initiative could take place.

“This is all for a good cause,” LaNew said. “FOD is not just plastic bags, but if we can control one facet, we need to.”

Source (US Air Force in Europe)

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Thanks to the quick actions of three Team Holloman members, a foreign object debris issue was handled before any Holloman asset was compromised…….

“We were at the right place at the right time,” said Mr. Vaughus. “Someone’s life could’ve been at stake and possibly our own if it didn’t get cleaned up. It could’ve gotten ugly, so we did what we were supposed to do.”

Source

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Reservists from the 920th Rescue Wing Maintenance Group are charged with not only maintaining life-saving aircraft here, but also saving millions of dollars in equipment damage with a few simple steps.

See the full article here.