Home town Air Force Master Sergeant Gabrial Valenzuela asked for Hobbs’ support in making it to the top of Spark Tank, the Air Force version of Shark Tank.
Valenzuela was born and raised in Hobbs before joining the Air Force in 2004, and going to Germany seven years ago.
Spark Tank is something the Air Force put together three years ago, and Air Force members had until Nov. 1 to submit ideas they had. This year Valenzuela said there were close to 300 ideas submitted.
Valenzuela and his team came up with a way to increase the loading of an aircraft quicker, with a smart checklist. And that submission became one of six ideas that were chosen for final pitches by a panel of senior Air Force leaders.
“In my 16 years of serving (in the Air Force), I never thought or dreamed of having my home town support me in something like this,” said Valenzuela. “It’s been a pretty lonely journey up to this point, so it really feels good.”
The new smart checklist is supposed to save the Air Force time and money by making the loading time faster by up to 36%.
“We’re also saving 682,000 man-hours and we’re saving the Air Force $27 million annually,” said Valenzuela. “Additionally some of the bigger impacts are, the increase in safety because our airmen are no longer having to sort through, and be fixated on these complicated checklists, and they’re able to perform a safer and reliable load.”
This smart checklist was described by Valenzuela as if you have a simple chair with simple instructions, with steps one through 10. Compared to normal, you would have to find out what model you are building and it would make it more complex to figured out.
A part of Spark Tank is recruiting votes from people in Hobbs and around the country, so Valenzuela can go all the way with his invention and get to the top. According to Valenzuela he is currently in second place and is reaching out for the community to support him in his efforts. Anyone can vote in the contest.
“Currently, right now, we have what you call the “airman’s vote” — for anyone who can vote really,” said Valenzuela. “Which stands for one vote, so collectively people who vote for my idea outside the judges will count for a vote, and then I’ll get a vote from each judge.”
To show support for Valenzuela go to www.polltab.com/kTWASVJXV to vote. The video for Weapons Loading Smart Checklist for Spark Tank 2020 can give you more information.
