LeMay Center holds first Service Core Function Symposium Published Aug. 4, 2009 By Capt. Jennifer Lovett LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) -- The developers at the LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education here concluded a symposium July 28 that helped define the new service core functions enabling Airmen to accomplish the full gamut of missions the Air Force provides to the joint force. "The Air Force's first Service Core Functions Symposium works to provide everyone from a new Airman to the most seasoned Pentagon veteran an understanding of where they fit in the Air Force enterprise," said J.P. Hunerwadel, the LeMay Center symposium director. The list of service core functions was recently approved by Air Force officials to support the service's core mission areas. They are broadly defined as activities mandated by Department of Defense officials as requirements to achieve the strategic objectives found in both the National Defense and National Military Strategies. Each function is accompanied by an initial list of underlying elements intended to tie the service core functions to specific missions and tasks accomplished by Air Force units. "But those elements required further development and refinement," said Lt. Col. Fred McNeil, the LeMay Center Doctrine Development division chief. "This symposium brought together leaders and experts from around the Air Force to gain consensus on those missions and definitions." According to Mr. Hunerwadel, there was a real need for common language between the Air Force's warfighters, the usual audience for doctrine, and those on the "corporate management" side of the Air Force, the programmers, planners and "budgeteers." The two groups lacked common terminology and have sometimes worked against each other, he said. The symposium brought together many of the key players in both communities allowing them to decide on common terms and frames of reference. "We were able to define the missions for the benefit of the warfighter, which should help Airmen better communicate airpower with our joint partners," Colonel McNeil said. "Unfolding those capabilities for the Air Force enables us to speak a common language and articulate our mission in a joint environment in a succinct manner across the spectrum." Once the chief of staff of the Air Force approves the symposium's results, the service core function missions will be incorporated into Air Force and joint doctrine.