AFMC officials restructure to cut overhead, make command more efficient

  • Published
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) --  Air Force officials announced an Air Force Materiel Command-wide restructure Nov. 2 that is aimed at providing greater military capabilities, improving readiness and operating effectively in the current fiscal environment.

AFMC officials will reduce the number of its centers from 12 to five. This will cut overhead costs, redundant layers of staff and is expected to generate Air Force savings equal to $109 million annually, while improving AFMC's overall management and lines of communication. The restructure will allow AFMC officials to eliminate 1,051 civilian positions in a way that preserves mission capability, and another 1,088 AFMC positions will be reduced as the Air Force streamlines installation support functions.

"We owe it to the warfighter and the American taxpayer," said Gen. Donald Hoffman, the AFMC commander. "In these times of tight budgets, our success will depend on a fundamental change in culture across our command. This is an opportunity to do things better and replace a culture of perceived endless money with one of efficiency, savings and restraint."

The restructure, which will be implemented by Oct. 1, 2012, is one of many efficiency initiatives across the Air Force. With known cuts of at least $400 billion over the next five years, Defense Department officials have challenged all the services to increase funding for mission functions through efficiency savings in overhead, support and non-mission areas. In response, the Air Force identified $33.3 billion in savings over the next five years, to include savings garnered by reducing civilian workforce numbers.

The command will move away from the traditional management-staff model, with a center and headquarters staff on each AFMC base, officials said. By creating a "lead" center for each of its five mission areas, it will streamline the way it accomplishes its work without harming its ability to perform its mission.

Additionally, the restructure better integrates the command workforce.

"We'll approach our business in a more integrated fashion rather than thinking separately about research, test, acquisition or sustainment in a center-by-center, base-by-base mindset," Hoffman said. "The restructure will drive us to more standardized processes."

Under the new structure, the command's acquisition mission will be led by a single organization -- the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center here, officials said. The AFLCMC will consolidate the missions now performed by the Aeronautical Systems Center here; the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass.; and the Air Armament Center at Eglin AFB, Fla. These three acquisition workforces will report directly to AFLCMC, eliminating layers of management overhead. Also joining AFLCMC will be the new Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, formerly the Air Force Security Assistance Center. It will continue its foreign military sales mission from its location here.

Program executive officers will remain at their respective bases and continue to report to the under secretary of the Air Force for acquisition at the Pentagon, officials said. Also, the current Aerospace Sustainment Directorate program offices at Robins AFB, Ga.; Tinker AFB, Okla., and Hill AFB, Utah, will align to a respective PEO while mission work remains at these locations.

The command's maintenance and supply mission will be led by the new Air Force Sustainment Center to be located at Tinker AFB, officials said. The AFSC will consolidate oversight of most missions now performed at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB; the Warner Robins ALC at Robins AFB; and the Ogden ALC at Hill AFB. Like the current acquisition centers, the three ALC headquarters will stand down and their combined workforce will report to the new AFSC. Each location will continue to operate one of the Air Force's three air depots, to be named the Oklahoma City, Warner Robins and Ogden Air Logistics Complexes, respectively.

Maintenance wings at each location will stand down, and all subordinate groups will directly report to their respective air logistics complex, the officials said. The current aerospace sustainment directorates will be known as aerospace sustainment divisions and will report to their respective logistics complex. The Air Force Global Logistics Support Center at Scott AFB, Ill., responsible for Air Force-wide supply chain management, will stand down.

The 635th Supply Chain Operations Wing at Scott AFB will align to the AFSC, officials said. The 448th Supply Chain Management Wing will become the 448th Supply Chain Operations Wing at Tinker AFB and also align to the AFSC. The 591st Supply Chain Management Group here, which was a direct-reporting unit to the AFGLSC, will stand down and become a logistics operations division.

The command's test mission will also be consolidated, the officials continued. The center for test management will be the new Air Force Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., presently the Air Force Flight Test Center. The 46th Test Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., and the Arnold Engineering and Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn., to be renamed the Arnold Engineering and Development Complex, will report to the AFTC, along with the 412th Test Wing, at Edwards AFB.

The Air Force Research Laboratory, headquartered here, will continue in its role as the command's center for science, technology, research and development, officials said. AFMC's nuclear support mission will continue to be led by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M.

All centers will be led by general officers, and the AFLCMC and AFSC commanders will each be a lieutenant general. AFRL, the AFTC and the AFNWC will each be led by a major general.

The air logistics complexes at Tinker AFB, Robins AFB and Hill AFB will be led by brigadier generals, as will the test wings at Eglin AFB and Edwards AFB. The AFSAC commander position here will become a director and remain a brigadier general.

AFMC officials said they will use all personnel management options available to mitigate impacts on civilian employees, to include using normal attrition and early retirement and incentive opportunities where possible.

(Courtesy of the Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs)