A sweeping reorganization of the Air Force Aeronautical Systems
Center is expected to improve maintenance and logistics support
to combat units, officials said.
The ASC, based at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is an
$18 billion a-year operation that employs 11,800 people. It manages,
develops and maintains a variety of aircraft and related equipment.
The restructuring essentially allows ASC to match the Air Force’s
war-fighting units, which are organized in wings, groups and squadrons.
Previously, ASC consisted of at least 40 separate acquisitions
offices. The center now is made up of seven “wings”
for fighter attack, long-range strike, reconnaissance, mobility,
agile combat support, special operations and training aircraft.
Nine months after the official implementation of a wing, group,
and squadron structure at ASC, officials report substantial progress,
although some areas still require fine-tuning.
The biggest benefit is that combat units can better understand
what ASC does, says Robert J. May, deputy for support at ASC.
“Everybody in the Air Force knows what a wing is; they may
not understand what a systems acquisition wing is, as opposed to
an operational wing, but a wing is a wing,” May tells National
Defense.
Before the restructuring, Lt. Gen. Bill Looney, former ASC commander,
had more than 60 units directly reporting to him. “I’m
good, but I’m not that good” he says. The reorganization
cut that number to fewer than 20.
“ASC is a much more manageable organization,” adds
May. In the past, a program acquisition officer would work with
procurement officials. “Now, he can go to the fighter attack
wing commander, who owns a portfolio of programs, and can hold him
accountable for integrating cross platform capabilities,”
explains May. A case in point is the Sniper targeting pod, which
was delivered and installed on F-15 fighter jets deploying to Iraq
in less than 90 days.
May described the reshuffling as the “most sweeping organizational
and cultural change that has been implemented in ASC in 30 or 40
years.”
Civilian employees, who make up 70 percent of the ASC workforce,
naturally were concerned about their jobs. They feared that the
new wing, group, and squadron structure would mandate only military
leadership.
Gen. Gregory “Speedy” Martin, commander of the Air
Force Materiel Command, was “very sensitive to these concerns,”
May says. He asked the Air Force senior management to allow civilians
to lead wings. “Two of our five wings have civilian leaders,”
says May. “We have a lot of civilian leadership positions
and are creating more.”
The change in the power structure was another issue that ASC had
to resolve. As authority shifted to wing commanders, much time and
energy went into developing a new concept of operations. “That
has probably been the toughest thing for folks to swallow because
for years and years it was one way and now we’ve changed it
quite dramatically,” says May.
He noted that the changes have not yet “captured the hearts
and minds of all the work force … Our wing commanders and
our functional leadership are committed to making it work.”
The workload at ASC, meanwhile, is expected to grow, May says.
The center, for example, will be taking on broader responsibilities
for supporting unmanned aircraft.