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Show .'NEWS mm urn ea rod Apri 12. 1991 AFSC Office of Public Affairs y cornerstone of the new command. "The IWSM concept is defined as development and of each with a 'single face' the Prosystem support gram Manager for the user to work with across the weapon system life cycle," said General Yates. "Our philosophy is to create a seamless weapon system organization that integrates the eight key acquisition processes requirements, financial management, systems engineering and configuration, technical insertion, testing and evaluation, contracting, logistics, and system management across the life cycle of the system. This seamless organization will receive the support it needs from throughout our network of test centers and laboratories," he said. IWSM will be implemented using a process development approach involving 16 major programs. Under the guidance of an IWSM Steering Committee, chaired by the AFLC and AFSC vice commanders, the program managers will develop and test IWSM concepts. The programs are divided into three groups and will be phased into process development to allow later programs to take advantage of the learning of earlier groups. Among the first programs to begin IWSM process development are the Global Positioning System, Joint STARS, Life Support, AGM-65- , and the program. As a companion effort, process action teams will be chartered in each of the eight functional areas to define the best practices. A major input will be the experiences of the 16 programs doing process development. The results of the program and process action team efforts will lead to an integrated IWSM policy in July 1992 for use throughout AFMC. General McDonald and General Yates kicked off the IWSM implementation phase at Wright-PattersoAFB, Ohio, Thursday. They say the results of IWSM process development will shape the early years of AFMC. The integration of AFSC and AFLC results in a cradle-to-grav- e Secretary of the Air Force Donald B. Rice and Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill A. McPeak took another major step April 2 toward making Air Force Materiel Command a reality by approving the Integrated Weapon System Management concept and the AFMC headquarters organizational structure. Approval came following the interim report to the top Air Force leadership by Gen. Charles C. McDonald and Gen. Ronald W. Yates, commanders of Air Force Logistics Command and Air Force Systems Command, respectively. AFMC will begin operation on July 1, 1992. The interim report represented more than three months of closely coordinated planning between the two commanders. They are supported by an integration team that coordinated the planning and more than 50 functional teams made up of hundreds of people from across both commands. The team reviewed the experience of acquisition commands in the Army, Navy and the British and Israeli armed forces. Assistance was also provided by the Defense Logistics Agency, senior Headquarters Air Force acquisition leaders, and past AFLC and AFSC commanders. 11-mem- Tofal Quality From the beginning, integration planning has followed a Total Quality Management approach, "Using TQM to analyze, process and derive organizational structures is key to acceptance by our people," said General McDonald. "We've applied the TQM process to look for more effective ways of improving our business practices. The bottom line is we are letting the people with production responsibility do the planning. This is resulting in many great new ideas." Integrated Weapon System Management is the B-1- F-1- 5 n single command responsible for all acquisition and h of the Air Force popu- support. With nearly one-fift- lation and more than 40 percent of its civilians, AFMC will be responsible for executing 52 percent of the service's budget. Challenge Designing the headquarters to run this major acquisition command has been a tremendous challenge. Under the direction of the commanders, the functional directors of both AFLC and AFSC, executive committee, detogether with a senior-leve- l veloped the headquarters structure. Their efforts were guided by an organizational strategy focused on improved business practices, employment of standard Air Force organizational principles, streamlined management and functions essential to organizing, training and equipping the new command. The new Headquarters AFMC organizational structure is consistent with the recent Air Staff re organization and other major commands. Several organizations were built to carry out AFMC's unique mission. Engineering reflects the command's technical orientation, and Science and Technology underscores the technology focus of AFMC. The requirements organization will be responsible for all acquisition policy and will be the command focal point for IWSM. Field units will see little organizational change as a result of initial planning. The four AFSC product divisions will be redesignated as AFMC product centers. This will standardize AFMC units as centers, and that's in line with the Air Force move away from the Air Division level. The command will consist of 13 major bases housing five logistics centers, four product centers, three test centers and a number of direct reporting units. A phased implementation approach to building HQ AFMC is essential to early integration. Secretary Rice and General McPeak approved establishing a provisional AFMC headquarters at Wright-attersoAFB starting this month. n r ( Q :. JJ w u Military - Zr-AU- VJ U ( Q Civilian Personnel Convenient and Quick Cash!! Cash for personal needs, vacations, etc. TL VI! Military ID or Civilian ID and Post Dated Check is all you need. IF YOU NEED AN INSTANT LOAN, COME SEE US AT 300 EAST GENTILE ST. 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