TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla -- “Sir, I assume command.” With those four words, Lt. Gen. Tom Miller became the new commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center during an Aug. 17 ceremony held in Bldg. 3001 at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
“When you look at Tom’s background and experiences, it is easy to see why he is here today,” said Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., commander, Air Force Materiel Command, and presiding official of the ceremony. “He has excelled everywhere we have put him.”
Having served previously as the deputy commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, the vice commander of the center and the commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, Miller is experienced in sustainment center operations and the Art of the Possible methodology used within the center to create efficiencies and eliminate constraints.
“The mission of this center is vital to our nation. I don’t have to convince the team that is gathered here of that,” Miller said. “It is not hard to imagine we live in a very complex world, and it’s changing. When Chief of Staff General Brown talks about accelerate change or lose, he is talking about us; about a burning platform for change.”
Miller stressed the importance of working effectively with other government entities, industry partners and local communities to ensure the nation’s weapons systems are cost-effectively sustained.
“It will take all the know-how and knowledge and dedication that you’ve already shown doubled over to be successful in competition to avoid a conflict,” he said. Taking care of the resources that we’re entrusted with in the Air Force Sustainment Center will have everything to do with how much readiness our nation has.”
The leadership skills Miller possesses are exactly what he looks for in a leader, Bunch said.
“He is technically competent. He is extremely calm under pressure. He is a true team builder and communicator, and he is a servant leader who will always go the extra mile for our Airmen and their families,” Bunch said. “You are already performing at an extremely high level. If you follow his vision and support him, he will take your performance to even greater heights.”
Before taking command of AFSC, Miller served as director of Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.