Air Force Materiel Command declared initial operational capability on Oct. 1 for its new five-center organizational construct. “We have spent many months working through very deliberate phases of planning, implementation, and transition with an ever-present goal of providing more efficient and effective support to the warfighter,” said Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, AFMC commander, in a release on the milestone. AFMC last November announced its reorganization into the five centers in response to the Defense Department’s call to find efficiencies and shed waste across the US military. In July, the command began activating the new centers and consolidating others as it transitioned from 12 centers to the five: the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Air Force Research Lab, Air Force Sustainment Center, and Air Force Test Center. The new set-up is expected to reach full operational capability in late 2013. She noted that AFMC is developing a strategic plan to measure the success of the construct.
Unlike nearly every other innovative technology throughout history, Maj. Gen. DeAnna M. Burt believes the space enterprise emerged backward. “Every other domain started with an entrepreneur who built something,” Burt, the special assistant to the Chief of Space Operations, told an audience at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.