Acquisition roadshow comes to Tinker Published Sept. 24, 2009 By Brandice J. Armstrong Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Acquisitions are a hot topic in Washington, D.C., And, while some Tinker personnel may think those issues originated here, an acquisitions expert said that is not the case. On Sept. 16, Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, Military Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, dispelled rumors and briefed base personnel on the Acquisition Improve-ment Plan, his road-show topic. Held in Bldg. 282's auditorium, approximately 220 people including Col. Paul Waugh, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center vice commander, John Over, OC-ALC executive director, and Col. Keith Weyenberg, 747th Aircraft Sustainment Group commander, attended the first of his two briefings. "The farther I get away from Washington, D.C., the more I get the questions, 'What's the issue? What's going on? What's the big deal?'" said General Shackelford. "But, there's more to it than that and it has much greater, far-reaching effects than to placate the political environment." General Shackelford said on the surface, the Air Force was plagued when it replaced two high-ranking officials -- secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff of the Air Force -- in 2008. That happened during the same timeframe as the KC-X tanker source selection protest from the government accountability office. Neither issue originated at Tinker. Furthermore, none of the other acquisition issues involve Tinker or the work being done here, General Shackelford said. "The sustainment piece of the acquisition-sustainment lifecycle is not where the problem areas are," the general said. "The things that you folks do here, in spite of your view of how many warts those things may have and how challenging it is to get things done, has not been where the Air Force has been taking heat on a very large scale." Instead, the general said the Air Force has had to face and correct decisions -- specifically downsizing the work force -- its leadership made several years ago. In the late 1990s, the workforce had been downsized by approximately 23 percent, while the dollars that acquisition professionals manage increased more than 50 percent. "We thought industry could do everything on our behalf," the general said, "and we lost in that process a lot of critical skills -- the kinds that might be germane to you here would be contracting, price analysis, systems engineering and program management." Now the Air Force is on a path to recapture acquisition excellence. A major initiative in that effort is to rebuild the workforce. Between 2010 and 2013, the Air Force acquisition work force will grow by at least 2,062 positions. Of them, 1,804 will be for civilians. The air logistics centers, probably excluding the OC-ALC as it is not undermanned, will get 195 of the slots. General Shackelford said the Air Force is also offering a retention bonus for military contracting officers since they deploy often. Recently, the general said the Air Force formed a "Configuration Steering Board," a group that will address mismatches in requirements and resources. "It's what I always wanted when I was a program manager," the general said, "an opportunity to get somebody to listen to me." Air Force leaders are also reorganizing acquisition units, to give proper authority and accountability. Despite the positive changes, the general said there are still bumps in the road, including the fiscal year 2011 budget. To avoid spreading money too thin, the general said programs might be cut. Air Force officials are learning from the mistakes and doing what they can to protect the acquisition future. "From the perspective of an ALC, the biggest gain you're going to see out of all of this is eventually some more people are going to show up to help you out as contracting officers, lawyers, program managers and system engineers," General Shackelford said. "These resources will flow into your world as time moves on and perhaps we can improve the Air Force's reputation in political circles," the general said.