Air Force's cost experts analyze Academy's wind tunnel effort Published June 22, 2007 BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- When officials from the Air Force Academy decided to pursue the possibility of building a new wind tunnel, they called on the Air Force's cost experts at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., for advice. The Financial Management Center of Expertise is the Air Force's single repository for cost analysis expertise. The FM Center of Expertise supports commanders at both major command and base level with analysis work that allows them to make fiscally informed decisions. "We were called by the Air Force Academy to look into several different facets of wind tunnels," said Aron Swyers, a cost analyst for the FM Center of Expertise. "First, what type of wind tunnel should be considered? Analysis showed that there is a shortfall in the United States in the trans-sonic wind tunnel capability." Trans-sonic wind tunnels provide a controllable test environment with wind speeds between 0.75 Mach and 1.2 Mach. "Once we determined the capability gap, we wanted to use the FM Center of Expertise to help teach the cadets," said Dr. Steve Green, professor of management at the Academy. "The analysts at the CoE really stepped up and used the development of a thorough business case analysis to teach our cadets how to evaluate projects and determine whether they are operationally and fiscally sound," he said. The project for the Academy is one of about 25 that the FM Center of Expertise has completed since they opened their doors for business in April 2006. "It was a very enjoyable and challenging project, and working with the Academy was a great experience," said Mr. Swyers, the analyst who performed the research for the wind tunnel. "It was a terrific opportunity to provide hands-on decision support training to the cadets," he said. Eighteen months ago, the FM Center of Expertise was merely a concept, with no secured location, no manning document, and no funding, said Mr. Roger Bick, Director, Air Force Financial Management Strategic Planning and Transformation Program Management. "Standing up the CoE was one of the six lanes of Air Force Financial Management transformation," he said. "This transformation is the largest in the history of the career field, and involves literally every aspect of Financial Management. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) Click here to view the comments/letters page