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Show Hilltop Times Thursday, May 1, 1997 AFMC Commanders' Conference update Bradbury wins Air Maintaining quality by Lisa Ryan facilities, medical major challenges by Col. Carl Critchlow 75th Air Base Wing Commander During the first week of April, Maj. Gen. Pat Condon, Ogden Air Logistics Center commander, CMSgt. John Brewer, Ogden ALC senior enlisted advisor, and I attended the Air Force Materiel Command Commanders' Conference, which was hosted by Gen. Henry Viecellio, AFMC commander. The conference was also attended by AFMC's senior staff, as well as commanders and senior enlisted advisors from across the command. The purpose of this article is to share information presented at the conference. The two main topics IH cover are how we plan to maintain quality installations in this time of fiscal austerity and an update on the Air Force medical service. Quality installations First, what do we mean by quality installations? In the words of Brig. Gen. Todd Stewart, the AFMC civil engineer, quality installations work well, look good, and cost less to operate. The difficult task before us is to operate quality facilities with less manpower and with reduced funding for operating support, maintenance, and major construction. Prior rounds of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission have resulted in fewer facilities, but the fact is that all Air Force facilities and infrastructure are aging which has resulted in a growing backlog of repair. I know you've seen it in your facilities and I see it every day on my rounds. Our engineers are doing well in making the scarce dollars stretch further but we're simply going to have to find new ways to maintain our aging buildings. The command's strategy for responding to this challenge is to reduce requirements, increase available resources, and improve process efficiencies. Now, that sounds very official, but what does it really mean? In the area of reducing requirements, it means that while we are reducing the number of people in the Air Force, we should reduce the size of the physical plants we maintain. Simply put. we're closing installations as we get smaller as a service. That means we're reducing the requirement for maintenance and construction. While we're reducing the number of bases, we're also revalidating performance and support standards. Do we have to still do everything we did when times were better? .And. if we still need to do it. how much? How well? How often? And how fast? The command is also looking for ways and working with Congress to increase the amount of money well have available for maintenance and operations. In another initiative, some bases in the command. Warner-Robintor example, are "privatizing" military famd That is, they are transfening Air ily housing. will housa the who maintain to contractor housing private ing and provide "first light of refusal" to AF families who will be wish to live in those houses. The about the same as Basic Allowance for Quarters, plus any Variable Housing Allowance authorized. s Force-owne- Hilltop Times staff Brent Bradbury's just as Col. Carl Critchlow How does this help the Air Force? It means that Warner-Robin- s will save money that would have to be spent on maintenance of aging houses and on utilities. The families benefit because they still get affordable housing. We don't plan to try that here, at least, not yet But, we're trying our own innovations in stretching scarce dollars. Have you heard that we turned off the heat a month earthis winter lier this year? Natural gas prices and we're short more than $3 million in the account we and use to pay utilities. Our hope is that some short-terutilities in minimal discomfort will translate into savings dollars and an opportunity to spend money on quality of life rather than on natural gas. Another concept we're trying is 'Take Pride in Hill" Day. On May 14, people from across the base will be spending the day helping to make Hill a better place to live, work, and play. And well be joined by members of the local community. Boy Scouts, members of the local chambers of commerce, and people who work at Hill will work side by side on a wide variety of projects designed to improve the base's appearance and improve the quality of life for all of us. One project which you may have noticed is the new athletic field we're building just east of the hospital. On May 14, wreH drive the final nails into the new concession stand and comfort facility which well have built using A contractor bid about $45,000 for this work and well complete it for about $17,000 using volunteer labor. This is only one of many examples of work well complete on May 14. By the way, each unit has a coordinator who will be organizing labor for the day. Please consider volunteering. All of Hill's units have been given an opportunity to suggest projects in their areas and well also be improving many of the common areas of the base. That big pile of dirt you see just to the west of South Gate Drive by the ballfield parking lots is a landscaping project which the men and women of the 75th Civil Engineering Group have taken on as one of their "Hill Pride" projects. is great but it isn't enough to make up for Now, all the lost dollars. We're currently investigating ways to save even more money through increasing efficiencies. Here are some examples. We're going to review our contracts to see if we can still afford and need the level of service previously provided. In other areas, we may reduce the hours of operation for certain facilities, reduce our level of support, turn off lights, defer maintenance or repair work, reduce communications support, cancel discretionary TDY. and flexibility will be built into future-yea- r contracts. Now, before you decide that the w hole point of this article was to tell you that we're going to turn off the lights and stop providing service, let me hasten to add Gen. Viccellio's direction on this matter well make sure we talk to you before we reduce services. Fewer resources for base support are a fact of life, at least sky-rocket- m self-hel- p self-hel- p. self-hel- p self-hel- p See Challenges, page epotir nhancement rogram What's the difference between a Materiel Manager and an Item Manager? .Aren't they the same? Under the Depot Repair Enhancement Program, materiel managers will do much of the same as item managers did in the past with some changes, item managers monitored customer requisitions and negotiated quarterly repair workloads through their production management specialist-buyers- . Materiel managers inherit the above functions. However, they review the computerized EXPRESS priority repair list daily, and ensure the right assets are repaired. They perform the production managefunctions. In addition, they ment specialist-buye- r honors Force-wid- e 14 excited about who is presenting him the Air Force Small Business Special Achievement Award as he is about winning it Bradbury, director of Hill's Small Business and Source Development Ofto will travel fice, Washington D.C., next week to receive the prestigious achievement from Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall, at a 50th Force Air rd Brent Bradbury Anniversary luncheon for small business personnel. "I figured how to get an inexpensive flight back there for my wife," Bradbury said, "and, hopefully, I can get a picture with the secretary and Tony Deluca, who is the head of the Air Force Small Business Directorate." He's never won at Air Force level before and he said he is ecstatic. "I am so honored and pleased," Bradbury said. "Professionally, it's a validation of what I do and that's really nice," Bradbury said. "But, personally it's kind of neat because I've got kids. They're in their late teens and early 20s and I've been going to work all of their lives and so they know I do something. It adds credibility to the family to know their dad accomplished something." Besides being in the military, Bradbury has worked in industry and business all of his career. He managed the minority program at the Small Business Administration in Fresno, Calif., before coming to Hill's Directorate in 1985. He first served as a Con-tractin- g supervisory contracting officer before moving over to the Small Business and Source Development Office, where he has been director for three years. The Small Business and Source Development e exists to help small business and minority-ownebusinesses compete for government contracts. Bradbury said the award-whi- ch recognizes him personally-real- ly post-awar- d Of-fic- d to his staff. "The reason the award is given is for our efforts in helping the small business community gain access to contracts it might not have otherwise have been able to get," Bradbury said. "But that's only one facet of what we do. We also manage and reach out to the minority community and develop viable businesses through Air Force contracting dollars. "We counsel all contractors on how to do business with the government, how to bid contracts, and what to do if they're in trouble," Bradbury said. "If they're having bureaucratic problems, we go to bat for them and try to correct those problems." Bradbury's office has also set a goal regarding be-lon- women-owne- businesses. d "We're trying to have five percent of our contracts going to women-ownebusinesses," Bradbury said. "And the reason we do that is because Congress has passed laws so the industrial base of small businesses can be maintained." Bradbury himself has also accomplished many things: He has facilitated the award of $211.9 million to small businesses. $31.7 million to small disadvantaged businesses and $7.1 million to women-owne- d businesses. I le has ensured that a small business was awarded a share in the $50 million Depot Contract. He has teamed with industry to design a prototype u.iLiudM- mr a regional, woman-ownebusiness reieri u system 10 ensure increased participation in tn wuimui-tiwiieBusiness program. With a team of Air Force directors, he has worked to establish a training program for newly appointed small business specialists. The program will be implemented Air Force-widand may extend to all Department of Defense employees. And the benefits of working with small businesses are many, according to Bradbury. He said his office tries to lind qualified, quality firms that still fit within parameters that meet the mission of the Air Force. "If we find a small business capable of manufacturing something that was once done by large business." Bradbury said, "we can cut the cost of that acquisition the average of 50 percent." probably He said he's excited about being able to give companies a chance to compete for government work. ou take a small firm that maybe would have never Mad a chance to be in business and they a few contracts, and they start walking a little bit," get Bradbury said. In lour or five years, with some help, bidding they're on contracts out Ihtc and them, successfully winning also driving down the price of what we do. giv.''eyusre alternate sources of supplv and then we've ing made a viable business out of them." d Main-tenanc- e - - d u e small-busine- look at overall asset requirements and take appropriate action. Materiel managers have a key role on the DREP team. Through new automated computer worldwide programs, they have the "big picture" status of their assigned assets. They are the "quarterbacks" of the team. Your DREP points of contact are: Aircraft Directorate. Tom Garcia, Ext. Management Directorate. Dale Code. Ext. Commodities Directorate. Steve Black. ICBM System Program Office. Wendy Peterson! Ext. ISSii: and Technology and Industrial Support Directorate. Lt. Col. Dennis Piper, Ext. I'-l- ti ii); ss |