Air Force Materiel Command plans a number of organizational changes, including consolidating its acquisition mission under the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. AFMC’s three acquisition centers—Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson, Armament Systems Center at Eglin AFB, Fla., and Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass.—will fall under the AFLCM “eliminating layers of management overhead,” AFMC announced Tuesday. The AFLCM also will claim the new Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, formerly the Air Force Security Assistance Center, also located at Wright-Patt. Program executive officers located at ASC, AAC, and ESC will continue to report to the Air Force acquisition chief from their current locations. AFMC’s new Air Force Sustainment Center, to be located at Tinker AFB, Okla., will lead the command’s maintenance and supply mission, consolidating oversight of most missions performed at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker, Ogden ALC at Hill AFB, Utah, and Warner Robins ALC at Robins AFB, Ga. Materiel Command also plans to consolidate its test mission under the new Air Force Test Center, currently the Air Force Flight Test Center, at Edwards AFB, Calif. The AFTC will include the 46th Test Wing at Eglin, the 412th Test Wing at Edwards, and the Arnold Engineering Development Center, which is to be renamed the Arnold Engineering Development Complex, at Arnold AFB, Tenn. (For other actions, see the AFMC release.)
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self Defense Force recently, as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S., as the bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.