SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- In alignment with priorities set by the Air Force chief of staff as well as Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, AMC has begun its transition to the new Air Force Force Generation model to increase high-end readiness, improve predictability, and provide a more sustainable and consistent mobility force to meet force presentation requirements in the future fight.
“Our nation’s next fight will have a warfighting environment that is more demanding, challenging, and volatile than ever before,” Minihan said. “The Mobility AFFORGEN model will help us better integrate and present forces faster and smarter, while preserving readiness and increasing deployment cycle predictability for our Airmen and their families.”
The previous Air Expeditionary Force generation model, in use for more than two decades, crowdsourced Airmen and resources to meet readiness or deploy to dwell requirements, which often meant deploying individual Airmen, separate from their teams, on short notice. As a result, leaders had limited visibility into Total Force Readiness, force generation capacity, and the impacts of both long and short-term surge requirements.
In response to the findings of its 2018 Readiness deep dive assessment, the Air Force announced its new force generation strategy, Air Force Forces Generation or AFFORGEN, which consists of a four-phase, two-year readiness cycle. Mobility Air Force Force Generation, or MAFFORGEN, is AMC’s unique version of this model, which reconstitutes AMC manpower, aircraft, and equipment into force elements that train, deploy, and recover as cohesive units throughout each phase of the cycle. MAFFORGEN consists of the following cycles:
Reset - Reintegrate and reconstitute; prioritize movement functions; and resource equipment and aircraft
Prepare - Begin training to identify, evaluate, and improve manning and equipment deficiencies
Ready - Build towards Combat Mission Ready status by continuing training, validation, and certification processes
Available - Fully resourced force elements, certified and ready to conduct combat operations
As force elements move from the Reset towards the Available phase, Airmen can expect an increased operations tempo and longer-term taskings. Unlike other AFFORGEN models, AMC force elements will maintain a minimal level of manning during all phases of the cycle, including Reset, to support the critical mobility mission. Instead of redlining force elements in a particular phase, MAFFORGEN provides the flexibility to meet surge and contingency requirements while streamlining the readiness cycle and reducing uncertainty in decision making across the command.
In the coming weeks, AMC force elements will receive their phase assignments as the command works towards MAFFORGEN interim operating capability at the end of Fiscal Year 2022.
“Our competitors have dangerous agendas and will not wait for America to be ready,” Minihan said. “MAFFORGEN will drive the readiness needed to win. Let’s go!”