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‘State of AFLCMC’ Commander visits Tinker, speaks at annual Dining Out

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is "on the path" to becoming "an integrated team focused on acquisition and product support for the warfighter," the commander, Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II, said recently. "We have made significant progress toward forging into one team delivering integrated, innovative, dominant air power capabilities on time and at cost."

General Moore made those comments at a "town hall" meeting here May 3 during which he reviewed "The State of the AFLCMC."

The organization's end-of-year expectations include showing more positive indicators of its "movement toward a geoagnostic, efficient way of doing business," and ensuring that installation and information technology networks "remain safe and secure," the general added.

AFLCMC was created last year in the Air Force Materiel Command reorganization, and today has 26,000 personnel at 77 locations worldwide, supporting 102 nations, the general related. Tinker, Hill, Kirtland, Robins, Hanscom, Eglin and Wright-Patterson Air Force Bases, plus Gunter Annex, are among the bases with a large AFLCMC presence.
Tinker is home to approximately 1,500 AFLCMC employees, according to Rafael Garcia, director of the AFLCMC's Propulsion Directorate here.

AFLCMC's responsibilities include acquisition and product support for aircraft, engines, munitions, electronics and cyber systems. The AFLCMC manages 500 sustainment programs, 450 investment programs, and more than 2,000 joint/international cases.

AFLCMC supports "nearly every National Strategic Priority," General Moore said, including counter-terrorism; deter/defeat aggression; provide power despite area denial; counter weapons of mass destruction; operate effectively in cyberspace and space; maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent; defend the homeland; and provide support to civilian authorities. "That's a tremendous amount of responsibility," he said.

Objectives of AFLCMC are to: deliver cost-effective acquisition solutions; deliver affordable and effective product support; launch high-confidence, sustainable programs; standardize and continuously improve Center processes; develop and place the right person at the right time; and assure a safe, secure and quality work environment.
To achieve those goals, "We are establishing and collecting relevant metrics," General Moore said. "We are measuring to ensure we are focusing our resources in the right areas."

Opportunities and challenges facing AFLCMC include meeting mission requirements in a resource-constrained environment, capitalizing on the new organization by implementing more efficient processes, and improving acquisition and product support.
"In the near term, resources are going to be tight," the general said. Consequently, there is "a need for meaningful process improvement" because of the budget uncertainty.

The general addressed concerns about sequestration and the potential furlough. He explained that while decisions are still being made at the highest levels of the Department of Defense, his policy is to be as open and transparent as possible, and to share furlough information as soon as he receives it.

In the evening, the general was the featured speaker during Tinker's annual "Dining Out" banquet. Setting aside discussions about mission and fiscal challenges for the moment, General Moore expressed his appreciation for the contributions provided by Team Tinker. He explained how his perception of Oklahoma had evolved over the years, starting with his experience with his tough-as-nails retired Marine uncle, an Oklahoma native, and continuing through the current shared journey between AFLCMC and the Air Force Sustainment Center.

He asserted that "the firm duty" of each American is to "place the cause of the country before personal comfort and convenience."

To date this year, 46 American servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan, he noted. Nine of those were Airmen, including Staff Sgt. Daniel Fannin of the 552nd Operations Support Squadron at Tinker. All of them "placed the cause of the country above all else, and in doing so paid the ultimate price for our freedom," the general emphasized.

When America is threatened, "We come together and answer that calling; we set aside personal interests to do what is right." Oklahomans did it after the Murrah Building was bombed in 1995; the entire country did it after the terrorists attacks of 9/11/2001; and Bostonians did it after the bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 this year. "And we will do it again and again -- when called," the general vowed, "because that is who we are!"

The general spent 20 years as a fighter pilot and test pilot, and he deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has commanded a squadron, a group and a wing, and previously he was the AFMC vice commander. General Moore has more than 32 years of commissioned Air Force service.