The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Regional Development Planning Branch hosts the annual Air Force Encroachment Management, or AFEM, training event Aug. 1-3, at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The symposium provides encroachment management stakeholders with the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure mission readiness across the enterprise and includes a web-based broadcast of the presentations for those unable to attend in person.
"This will be the third annual Encroachment Management Symposium, and building upon previous e-Symposium success, this year our warfighters have the ability to attend in-residence,” said Col. Dean Hartman, AFCEC director of planning and integration. “This three-day symposium will provide an amazing opportunity to inform policy, address emerging issues, review roles and responsibilities, and share best practices from experienced senior leaders.”
The agenda for the symposium covers policy overview, sustaining operations, and outreach and engagement. Policy overview will focus on the revision of AFI-90-2001, Mission Sustainment Program, providing direction and guidance for identifying, assessing and addressing encroachment issues throughout the Air Force enterprise.
Sustaining operations will include discussions on the protection and sustainment of the mission as it pertains to flying missions, managing spectrum resources and the effects legislative actions can have on mission readiness. Outreach and engagement will be presented to focus on defense mission sustainment and assessing potential hazards, followed by proactive engagement with stakeholders and the community to limit impacts on mission activities.
In today’s interconnected world, a fence line hardly divides the defense mission from the surrounding communities. Readiness can be affected by a wide variety of encroachment issues.
Air Force encroachment experts emphasize that the warfighter’s readiness requires a plan beyond the fence line and working with neighbors to ensure mission sustainability through collaborative planning.
“The AFEM Program provides a framework to assist installations in identifying, preventing and reducing encroachment and sustainment challenges. A fundamental tenant to the success of the program is cross-functional communication and integration,” said Chuck Cyr, branch chief for regional development planning. “This in-person training event will provide the first networking opportunity available to share real-world experiences, lessons learned and accomplishments in sustaining missions Air Force-wide.”
The learning opportunities available through the symposium are unrivaled by any other course offerings throughout the year, Cyr said. Providing knowledge and skills necessary to protect and sustain military mission is the objective every year for those in attendance. Through the involvement of Encroachment Management Teams, or EMTs, component stakeholders such as airspace managers, community planners, communications, environmental, legal officers, public affairs, operations and tenants are the catalysts for establishing encroachment solutions.
“An important part of our mission, as the planning and integration directorate, is to provide a viable framework to enable comprehensive planning capabilities across the Air Force enterprise,” said Hartman. “Events like the AFEM Symposium ensure the right capabilities and implementation strategies are available to execute the mission, not just within the civil engineer community, but the entire Air Force enterprise.”
For more information or registration details, visit the AFIT Encroachment Management Symposium website here.