Air Force volunteer web application traces roots to Aviano

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Matthew Lotz
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  A retired senior master sergeant's local webpage application design will soon be available Air Force wide since the highly-effective local release, January 2014.

Shon Wagner, 31st Force Support Squadron community readiness specialist, originally created the web application to help Aviano community members track volunteer hours more efficiently. After the release, more than 28,000 volunteer hours were successfully recorded.

Wagner's innovation will serve as the core Air Force volunteer application for service members and families.  This will allow a user-friendly way for members to track the hours they dedicate to the local community. 

"Volunteering is a way to show we care for our friends, family and neighbors in Italy and this application helps us develop and track our community involvement on a daily basis," said Mechille Braden, 31st Mission Support Group deputy director.

Submissions for the Presidential Volunteer Service Award have more than tripled, serving as a testament of the webpage application's effectiveness.

"I went on the volunteer website and saw why users didn't like it," Wagner said.  "The site was difficult to use on a mobile device, I wanted to try to make one more user-friendly."

Wagner researched how to provide a better way to capture volunteerism's impact at Aviano.

"The first thing was to ask what leadership wants and what volunteers need," he said. "Everyone wanted something easy to use and accessible from their mobile devices."

The retired jet-engine mechanic is familiar with the task. He created a similar application that managed deployments for the 654th Combat Logistics Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. The application consolidated multiple tools such as mobility records, feedbacks and daily reports for field operations into an online system.

Wagner doesn't have formal web design training, but with a successful webpage application underneath his belt it gave him the confidence to create the efficient volunteer webpage.

The self-taught web designer never expected to receive the attention he did after showcasing the web application to Mrs. Betty Welsh, spouse of General Mark A. Welsh, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, during a recent visit here.

"She took down my information and a week later I was in contact with web developers about using my application for the Air Force," said Wagner. "All the feedback I receive for the Aviano application is going into the Air Force application I'm building to ensure everything is perfect."

Wagner can assure users the program will remain the same although there has not been a release date posted for the Air Force application.

"A lot of spouses and family members that are dedicating their time to volunteering, don't have access to [common access card] login websites," explained Wagner. "It's not my intent to have this program go onto a specific military server. I created this application for everyone to use."

Wagner says his next plan is to partner with www.myairforcelife.com. He says that volunteering is a part of "my Air Force life" and a simple link between the two websites can create a lot of traffic for both web applications.

"Wherever it ends up, I'm just thankful for everything that has happened," Wagner said smiling. "It never mattered to me how many hours I put into this project because I have enjoyed it so much."